273: Put Your Heart In It
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A couple weeks ago, I got into an argument with a 13-year-old about algebra. "Why should I bother learning algebra?" he asked me. "Have you ever used algebra as an adult?" You know, every possible thing you can say as an adult in this situation, you've heard adults say, and you know how stupid they sound. When you're a kid, you're expected to be a renaissance man. You're supposed to be interested in math and science. You're supposed to read literature. You write poetry. Maybe you play an instrument. You're athletic, you play sports, you learn a foreign language. And you're supposed to be enthusiastic. You're actually graded on effort. You get a grade for the effort, not just for the work. And somehow, in America especially, I think, this idea that you're supposed to put your heart into everything. You know, any tasks that you're given, you're supposed to show a can-do spirit. You're supposed to show enthusiasm, no matter what the task. It's been transferred to all sorts of things in adult life where really, probably doesn't belong. Kenneth, for example, got a job as a greeter. And they create your own stir-fry, chain restaurant. As a host, I just stayed at the door, and I greeted people as they came in, and like, the manager is supposed to seat them. Like, say someone walks in the door, I'm like, "Hi, how are you doing?" And they'd say, "Hello," and I'm like, "How many?" And they'd be like, "Two." Then I would turn to the person standing next to me and be like, "Two people for dinner." So I think I could do it like very, very well. "Hi, how many, three?" All right, she'll be right back over to seat you. And like, that was it. Like, I can, I mean, pretty much a five-year-old can handle that. Say hi to people and repeat the number that they say to you. So the owner always had a problem, because he said I wasn't enthusiastic enough in my job. I needed to smile wider, and like I had, he said in his exact words, "I had no sense of urgency." And I didn't realize what was so urgent about getting people to sit down and have stir-fry that they make themselves. Every time that he would run the floor, which he was not very good at, you could really see how people would get scared when they walked in the door. As soon as the people would come in, he would like jump in front of me. Like, literally jump in front of me and go, "Hi, how are you doing?" And then like, every now and then, like, customers would like, as they were going to the table, they would even look back at me and like, shoot me at a glance, like, "What's up with dude?" Like, is everything okay? Then he'd always turn around and be like, "See, that's how you're supposed to do it." And I used to just like, shrug my shoulders at him, like, "Yeah, don't worry about it." Coming from me, it wouldn't have been genuine. I don't really want to be giving anybody food. Like, but I get what I make money doing and I want to, like, have a phone and light and water.
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