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I was in the fast food restaurant Slim Chickens a few months ago and there were two employees on break in a booth next to the table where my friend and I were sitting. My friend, Coach Bolware looked at me as we both could not help but overhear the inappropriate and vulgar conversation coming from the booth. One of the individuals appeared to be an adult supervisor and the other a teenage worker. They were loud and unprofessional. Their conversation about how they were sick of working and ready to go home may have been appropriate in a break room, but not around the customers.
Am I old school, or was this inappropriate?
About a year ago I was at a seafood restaurant in Florida eating with another coach friend. We were the only table in their outside seating area. We were there for lunch and noticed two employees rolling silverware two tables over from us. They would put a knife, fork, and spoon in a napkin and roll it together for future customers. As they sat there, we could not help but overhear their conversation about sex with their lovers. They went on to compare their sexual experiences from the night before. They laughed, giggled, bragged, and tried to one up each other. Both employees talked about how drunk and high they were and how the adventures from the previous night could affect their work performance during their current shift.
I simply don’t understand how people confuse private conversations with public conversations.
Yesterday I was in the airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Queen City. As I sat there at the gate waiting to board the plane I decided to finish eating my Panda Express dish of fried rice, super greens and honey walnut shrimp. There were two young people who worked at the airport in front of me having a normal conversation. However, the young man used profanity in every sentence. He was not upset or trying to make a point, but he was simply in uniform talking as if he was on his front porch.
This sort of unprofessionalism seems to be prevalent these days, however you would be hard press to find this type of unprofessionalism at Hobby Lobby or Chick-Fil-A. I believe we all do what we are allowed to do. I believe our world is changing and for some reason we don’t know the difference between professional language and personal language.
Some call it code switching. According to Betterup.com code switching is the ways in which a member of an underrepresented group (consciously or unconsciously) adjusts their language, syntax, grammatical structure, behavior, and appearance to fit into the dominant culture.
I don’t want my doctor talking to me like I’m her homegirl. I don’t want my banker talking to me like I am his childhood friend. I don’t want my Pastor talking to me like I’m his golfing or fishing buddy. I want professional language in professional environments.
Dr. Ruby Payne talks extensively about formal register in her books on understanding the framework of understanding poverty. One of the greatest deterrents from economic or social growth is ignorance of appropriate communication.
Now Hiring is a weekly article written by highly sought-after author and public speaker Willie Spears. Willie has written fourteen books and travels around the country adding value to the lives of others through his books and dynamic presentations. Learn more at www.WillieSpears.com.
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