Recently I was reading an article about employee discontent over retailers opening on Thanksgiving evening rather than “Black Friday” morning. Basically, some retail employees would like to keep the tradition of stores remaining closed on the Thanksgiving holiday so that they can spend the time with their families. When I got to the comment section of the article, I was left in a state of near sickness over some of the sentiments expressed. There were three main themes among commenters– those agreeing that retail employees should have the full holiday like everyone else, those saying anyone who has a job right now should be grateful and not complain about extra hours, and those– this is the one that made me sick– who said that retail workers are uneducated and unambitious so they shouldn’t expect to have holidays free. The tone was often sarcastic, saying things like:

“May I ask what your level of education is? Oh, right– you dropped out.”

“If you don’t like it, start your own business. Didn’t think so. Don’t forget the cheese on my double stack next time.”

This is a frightening trend, not in terms of whether or not stores open on Thanksgiving, but in terms of the sheer number of people (granted through the anonymity of the internet), who really seem to tie human dignity to social status. The message from a large number of commenters seemed to be “you work a low-end job, you don’t matter”.

My husband works for a multi-national coffee chain. He says he encounters this type of attitude daily. There are friendly customers, of course, but there are also those who are downright mean and degrading. One comment I’ll never forget, for its sheer absurdity, is when a man dissatisfied with his coffee said to my husband “you drug addicted high school drop out!” Hmm… My husband has a masters’ degree and he’s never had so much as a cigarette, which makes this man’s assumption comical, but on a deeper level it is quite sad that there seems to be a whole set of preconceived ideas about people based solely on what job they happen to have at the time.

I will insist upon my children treating everyone well, with no distinction between those in a higher and those in a lower social position. People are people, and human dignity is not contingent upon the amount of one’s salary. If my children ever feel it is okay to mistreat or condescend to others based on perceived social status I will consider it a parenting failure.