Our waitress approaches our booth. She introduces herself and seems to be on the tail end of a helium balloon binge. Her voice squeals with theatrics as she explains the specials. Somehow she has perfected the art of continuously smiling while talking.
She walks away and we begin our dissection of the menu.
A few moments later I get a text from Mother Nature. Turns out, even she doesn’t call anymore.
I pass by the open kitchen on the way to the bathroom. I see our waitress chatting it up with a co-worker. The helium pitch is gone, her voice and body language are natural. She is human after all.
I chuckle to myself as I contemplate her duality.
The waitress that showed up at our table just seems phony. I would prefer the genuine version I caught a glimpse of in the kitchen.
Working in a restaurant is not easy. I observed the mental and physical stress as I cooked for a couple years during college.
On a busy night, servers hustle their dinner buns off.
It is easy to measure physical stress on the body. I know if I run 3 miles tonight my feet and shins will be sore tomorrow.
It is much harder to tally the effects of mental stress.
It has to be exhausting to put on the serving voice and flip it on and off between the kitchen and floor. Who knows what kind of mental fatigue adds up.
Why do it then?
Perhaps someone a lot smarter than I can provide some insights.
Sigmund Freud developed a structural model of the psyche. More commonly referenced as the id, ego, and super-ego. Here is an excerpt from wikipedia on the super-ego.
“The super-ego strives to act in a socially appropriate manner, whereas the id just wants instant self-gratification. The super-ego controls our sense of right and wrong and guilt. It helps us fit into society by getting us to act in socially acceptable ways.”
Our waitress wasn’t using a different voice because she wants to be phony. She was acting in a way that she deemed socially appropriate.
We do this this from time to time in our own way. We jump into the phony-booth and emerge as a superhero when Clark Kent was perfect for the job. An exhausting exercise in futility.
What if there was an easier way, a non-calculated version of yourself that really resonated with people?
That’d feel like a hammock stretched between two shady palms.
There’s a chance you’re putting too much undue stress on yourself.
Maybe society actually believes an unaltered version of yourself would be perfect. No capes or masks required.
If you’re feeling fatigued from life, maybe you’re just trying a little too hard. Take a moment and…
check please.
Photo credit : Flickr
