I'm not finished with the Rose paper, but am chewing slowly, seeing how
it squared with my own experiences as a waitress (from necessity - not as
a field work project) thirty years ago, also following the tipping
discussion, remembering what it was like from the other side.
Also some observations on just what that kind of work does to your
cognitive processes, and how it is similar to some other types of
classical "women's work" - like being a secretary (excuse me,
"administrative assistant") or even taking care of small children. The
common denominator - you yourself don't plan an actitivty and carry it
out. Rather, your action is fractured and characterized by reacting
rather than acting, shifting conscious attention constantly, and acting
as a mater of pleasing or placating someone else perceived as more
powerful or privileged.
Come to think of it, cognitively like playing a lot of computer games -
reacting quickly rather than planning and carrying out.
All of which sounds like a recipe for artificially induced attention
deficit disorder.
In fact, a friend of mine in the Ph.D. program I was in - a guy with a
diagnosed severe case of ADD - pointed out that this is why, in our
program at least, most students did well as long as they were doing
course work, but bogged down when having at long last to plan and carry
out extended research projects. "I was a great undergrad. I knew how to
be an undergrad - go to classes, write papers, please the teacher. No
one taught me how to think long-term and connected without external
direction."
Comments?
Thoughtfully,
Rachel Heckert
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