Environmental portrait
It’s a tough gig, working in an industrial-style cafeteria kitchen. Hot, noisy, busy—even a little dangerous. The pay is generally pretty low, the rewards are few, and the nature of the work is such that the workers rarely get the respect they deserve.
So why is this woman smiling?
You can tell she works hard. She probably has children—children she hopes will go to college and get good jobs and never have to work in a cafeteria kitchen. After her working day is done she’ll probably go home to a series of unpaid domestic chores—laundry, house cleaning, mending. Cooking. And tomorrow she’ll do it all again.
So why is this woman smiling?
Because somebody cared enough to give her a fraction of the attention she deserves. Because she’s proud of herself and the work she does. Because she knows she’s important, even if people she serves will probably never see her…even if they see her. She’s smiling because that’s what heroes do.
Photo "5557887153" not found (invalid ID)Photo "5557887153" not found (invalid ID)Photo "5557887153" not found (invalid ID)Blog photograph copyrighted to the photographer and used with permission by utata.org. All photographs used on utata.org are stored on flickr.com and are obtained via the flickr API. Text is copyrighted to the author, greg fallis and is used with permission by utata.org. Please see Show and Share Your Work
