Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2005-02-09 04:19:24 - Graham Ellis
"You can't come in here to eat" said the Canteen 'Policewoman' at the site where I'm training, to one of the students on my course. And I thought that class segregation was out of the window ...
Lunch, 12:15 to 13:00. I've been given a canteen pass for 12:20 to 12:40 and that's when I may enter. One of the trainees I was with has the same timed passed and he's fine and allowed to eat with me. The other who was forming part of the group - asked if he could (shock, horror) eat with us even though he has only a "low season" pass to eat from 13:00 to 13:20.
I recall training at a company in Cheltenham about 10 years ago where they had at least 4 different lunch areas in one of their buildings - directors (served by formally uniformed staff), managers (served by less formally dressed staff), white collar (self service, but with table cloths and staff who cleared table) and blue collar (self service, formica topped tables, clear-it-yourself). And I recall hearing about the resentment that aspects of this system caused, especially at the setting and working of the rules for "boundary cases".
Talking with my host, I described what I'd seen in the past. "Oh" he said "until recently we had a waitress section in here too, and there was (rumour has it - still is) a manager's restaurant on the 25th floor - complete with a Maitre d'hotel to show you to your table. Formal dress required ...."