My Own “Never Forget”

How 9/11 ended my time in the food service industry

I’ve heard several stories from friends and loved ones about how the first year of the COVID pandemic helped change their lives for the better. As an essential worker, I have a hard time relating, but it’s true that opportunities come up and you can prosper during hard times. 9/11 was the furthest thing from a “good” day in my life or anyone’s, but for me it was a catalyst that eventually led to an opportunity to change my life. Even then, it was only through work and luck (and more than a little privilege) that I was eventually able to leave a horrible job working in a seafood restaurant and end my career in the food service industry altogether. Not unlike today’s workers, it took a tragedy to find out how little those who ran the restaurant cared about my well-being. When I hear people like Jon Taffer talk about how to rally restaurant workers “back to work” like cattle, it only reaffirms what I learned decades ago.

The recessions of 2000 and 2001 were not kind to service workers who relied on other people spending money. I had just gotten out of an insane roommate situation, which cost me nearly all my savings. I was in a long-distance relationship that demanded I take time off during weekends to keep it going, which meant less income (you don’t work weekends as a server, it’s like taking an…