Chicken Wings and Noodles.
It’s past 3AM.
I’m eating.
I host at a diner nearby. We close at 2AM…usually.
Anyway, this girl came in to train to be a host tonight. Second time I’ve had to train her. I could focus on her negatives, what annoys me about her, things to poke fun at…but the reality of the life she leads is much more important and dare I say, interesting.
She is a mother. She is a student. She is an employee. She is a daughter.
She has a 13-month old son that her mother takes care of when she goes to school and goes to work. Father of the baby? I thought it would be rude to ask. So I didn’t. She attends a county college hoping to eventually be a Special Education teacher. Eventually. A “normal” undergrad at a four-year institution would finish that within…four years. She’s looking at at least six. With work. With baby. With mom.
She’ll be working a closing shift, meaning 10PM-2AM…Her son wakes her up at 5AM everyday. She doesn’t always have the time to fit in a nap.
Feminization of poverty? Did she ask to be in that position? Does she deserve it? Is it justified?
It doesn’t sit right with me.
Just like these chicken wings and noodles at 3AM.
