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In the poem "Patty's Charcoal Drive In" by Barbara Crooker the young woman
realizes that she is paid a wage for providing service and enjoyment for the people of her
community that eat and frequent there. She's working this job as a means for a better life
by using the community as a stepping-stone, as they use her for their convenience. They
drive up and she brings them their desires on a silver tray. In hopes of spare change she
starts up a little friendly conversation. Her life is working while the public enjoys
their spare time and food comfortably.
Everyone including myself knows what it is like to work a minimum wage job. I remember
when I got up at 5 am to pour cups of coffee that made me sick to my stomach, but others
happy. Hoping for a tip I would serve them with a smile, when I would rather be the one
served the latte.
No one enjoys getting up at the crack of dawn or working late, especially on weekends;
but we all work a few undesirable jobs in hopes of achieving a better career. I have made
many friends and acquaintances that I see around town at the mall or even the grocery
store from working at the job I disliked the most. This just shows there is light at the
end of the tunnel. The toughest part is hanging in until you get there, and in some way
you will be rewarded.
In the passage "I'm sixteen and college-bound" (Crooker line 5) the young
woman is reflecting that she works at the drive in only because it's necessary to survive.
The community is just helping her get there by paying the way until she reaches the next
phase of her life. "This job is temporary as the summer sun, but right now, it's the
boundaries of my life," (Crooker line 6 and 7) is an insight to how much a job
restricts what you do in order to pay the bills. The young woman is doing everything that
she possibly can to get through school as quickly as possible without reaching burn out,
which is obvious in the quote "the moon sitting like a cheeseburger on a flat black
grill, this is enough" (Crooker lines 36 and 37.)
In a way she is saying that she pushes herself hard enough just by working this job.
"After the first few nights of mixed orders and missing cars, the work goes
easily" also coincides with that fact that she is doing everything she can at the
time. Her job is routine to her but she did have to put some work in to get where she is.
Her job is one of the simplest lessons in life. You have to work to get someone. All your
prior jobs working up to your final choice in a career help contribute to your disposition
that makes you a good employee.
The young woman cut's herself away from society because she is shut up in a hamburger
joint serving burgers all day and night. The perimeters of her life are going to work and
school. In reality her boundaries are very small to what is going on in the world. The
outside world still continues on, the sun rises and sets every night though she might not
even notice. She knows with everyday she struggles through an unsatisfactory day she's one
step closer to her goals in life.
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