A little over a year ago, I graduated from Wellesley College with my bachelors in neuroscience and little to no knowledge of the direction I wished to take my career. I definitely knew what I didn’t want to do: research, medical school, lab work, or basically anything that would further my career as a scientist (sorry mom and dad). However, which direction I was supposed to go in was a complete mystery to me. What do you do with a degree in neuroscience if you don’t exactly want to do any more neuroscience? So I did what I’m sure all parents want their children to do after obtaining a very expensive and difficult degree: I started bartending.
Now there is some logic behind this, believe it or not. I knew that I didn’t want to pursue any of the options that were laid out before me so I needed more options- I needed to meet more people; exciting, weird people who are doing exciting, weird things (and meet weird people I did). I needed more options.
Working in the service industry has been both a breath of fresh air and a reminder that I definitely do not want to work in this industry for the rest of my life. When I talk to my customers, they are excited about what I am doing and where I might be going. They offer stories, connections, advice (some helpful, some not), and provide a glimpse into the many different walks of life. I wanted to meet as many different people as I could, and something that comes with meeting people different than yourself is a clashing of interests, beliefs, and/or morals. There are times when I really don’t wish to serve someone, or find myself being judgemental of a total stranger due to my perceived understanding of their beliefs. At college, as much as I loved my experience, being judgemental was not only normalized, but encouraged by my peers. We were totally judgemental, and felt good for being so! So the transition from that atmosphere into one where I must be welcoming to those who I wished not to be welcoming to was difficult, especially considering I have found that more often than not, people can definitely tell when you’re poorly faking it. Showing hospitality is one thing, but showing hospitality without grumbling? That’s a whole different beast. It is difficult to put aside your own preconceived notions of how life is supposed to be lived and how people are supposed to behave when faced with ideas that contradict your own, especially if the people that surround you encourage you to hold certain beliefs that align with their own. However, I am a firm believer that the only way to truly live in community with everyone is to show hospitality without grumbling, not just to the people that we like, but especially to the people that we don’t: the people that make us feel uncomfortable, live a different lifestyle than us, or hold ideas that contradict our own. I know that I struggle with this very often (especially at work), but when I am able to bridge the gap and connect with someone it is very much worth it.
1 Peter 4:9 ESV
Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.