a cruel frugality

As the lunch rush cavorted from course to course, a wiry busboy made his way to the back and clunked another tray of sullied dishes onto the rinse rack. Henry, the dishwasher, pulled his hand like a fish from the sink and plucked a solitary meatball from a plate smeared with bleu cheese and tepid marinara … and popped it into his mouth.

Henry, along with his colleagues the busboys and food prep crew, cannot afford even his most elementary necessities. At 48 he earns $9 per hour and is scheduled to work no more than 27.5 hours per week. Not only does this arrangement preclude him from receiving employee benefits, but after rent and utilities, he has little money left for food.

In order to survive, Henry and his colleagues buy only enough food for one meal daily. They typically skip breakfast entirely, and for lunch depend on the scraps from the dishes of the restaurant’s patrons, which of course, is strictly prohibited by restaurant policy. 

“Enrique!” It was the manager who like an angry dog had followed the busboy into the back of the restaurant. Enrique snapped to attention next to the tray of dishes he had just set down at the washing station. “Where is that meatball?” The blood vessels began to bulge from the manager’s neck and forehead as he ransacked the piles of dirty dishes in search of the meatball that Henry, with his back to the drama, tried quickly to grind down to swallowing size.

The busboy pleaded his innocence in broken English, but the manager wanted proof. “Get in there,” he growled, laboring for breath and pointing to the 30 gallon garbage can filled with two hour’s worth of waste, “Get in there and find it!” At that point Henry gulped, turned, and confessed his crime.

In retrospect, Henry won the confrontation due to the element of surprise. The manager glared at Henry, then noisily tromped away amidst the fog of his false accusation. Henry kept his job, but feels that he long ago lost his dignity.

  

I spoke with Henry earlier this week. It was 9:00PM, and because it was his day off, he had not eaten. “I’m just trying to be frugal,” he said. "But I don't know if I'm going to make it."