Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

48° Evanston, IL
Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Wall: Helping workers means more than just talk

As is probably apparent from the repetitive mention of Norbucks in my columns, the Starbucks at Norris is one of my favorite places and in my daily visits I have become well-acquainted with some of its employees. One is a woman named Lisa.

Lisa, a bubbly, 30 something woman whose energy would still surpass mine after consuming 2 of her espresso shots, acknowledges my friends and I as the “half and half crew.” We’ve bonded over our love of French (she served my coffee last week “with all the accoutrements”) and through brief discussions of Lisa’s life aspirations which often tellingly follow the question of “how are you today?”

Many times this quarter I have left Norbucks, five-dollar drink in hand, feeling warm and fuzzy – as if I have done a good deed by learning a little about Lisa – humanizing the laborer in a Marxist way. But after a recent conversation with Lisa, I’ve realized that I shouldn’t stop with the contented feeling I get upon learning about her two children or hearing about a course she took in school and instead should seek to make a change in a society where wealth disparity is astounding.

The other day Lisa told me of her plans to go back to college and her interest in theatre with hopes to begin freelance writing in the near future. She mentioned an invitation she received to try out for the cast of Rent here at Northwestern, to which she responded that she was more concerned about when she would have time to buy groceries for dinner for her children, her shift ending at midnight.

These comments, related in a light-hearted, conversational way, struck me. Plenty of my friends are theatre majors with everything lined up to ensure their success: they’ve got a $200,000 education, unpaid internships, connections with talent agents, Broadway directors and four years to perfect their skills. Employees at many of NU’s facilities, on the other hand, spend their days serving us coffee or cleaning our dishes, usually making less than a living wage.

Though Lisa calls hers a “success story,” having risen from homelessness, other employees are still in dire straits. According to the NU Living Wage Campaign, some are currently homeless, spending the night in shelters but making it into work in time to mop our floors with a smile.The reasons that support this disparity are complicated and confusing and often not agreed upon.

However, one would be

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Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881
Wall: Helping workers means more than just talk