NO MISSING

RE: Dear service industry. I will not miss you

Restaurant management, angry customers

A few thoughts

Note: After a year working in restaurants during a global pandemic, UP editor Olivia Malick has some heartfelt observations.

To my dirty apron that will forever smell like crawfish seasoning and warm tortilla chips, thank you for catching every stray chip for me to find later crushed at the bottom of my pocket. I will not miss you.

To the numerous work T-shirts I bought (at halfoff, what a steal!) but no longer wish to wear, I will not miss you.

To the non-slip shoes that now have nowhere to go except my garage, thank you for never giving me the support I needed. I will not miss you.

To all of the random bruises from bumping into too-close-together tables and chairs and scratches from too-sharp corners, thank you for the physical reminders of emotional pain. I will not miss you.

To my stained blue jeans that I can’t afford to throw out, see you next week.

To my former place of employment, I have some things to say:

To the soda machine that never failed to coat my entire hand in syrup, thank you for always making me sticky. I will not miss you.

To all of the brand-new equipment that never seemed to work right, thank you for at least being consistent. I knew I could always count on you to fail. I will not miss you.

To the phone that I spent the better part of two years answering, thank you for hanging up for no reason. Thank you for blowing out my eardrum and simultaneously being too low for me to hear. Thank you for keeping me on my toes — there’s nothing I love more than anxiety. I will not miss you.

To the unleveled floor, thank you for giving my legs the work out they desperately needed. Thank you, too, for always having at least an inch of water for me to tread through. I will not miss you.

To every customer I had the absolute pleasure of serving, I have some things to say:

To my very last table, thank you for making me stay three hours after the end of my shift. Your tip did not make it worth it. I will not miss you.

To the group of people who left me $0.17 earlier that same day, your generous contribution made it so I no longer had to work. I will not miss you.

To every drunk old man waiting outside to greet every woman as she walked in, thank you for the creepy compliments. It in no way made me feel uncomfortable or unsafe. I will not miss you.

To every person who complained about having to wear a mask while not wearing one, thank you for giving me COVID — I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I will not miss you.

To the man who threatened me with physical violence because I reminded him of a mandate I did not write, thank you for your insight on the current political climate — I will surely bring your points to the governor at our next meeting. I hope you look back fondly on the day you threatened to pull a gun on a 21-year-old waiter for asking you to wear a piece of cloth for 30 seconds. Good thing I didn’t let the high schoolers intervene, they might have been too tough on you. I will not miss you.

To every person who called with a question that could be answered by Google, thank you for giving me acting experience. My customer service character is bulletproof — I think I’m taking her to Hollywood! Thank you for believing that I could accurately guide you from your house in Louisiana to Beaumont, Texas. I tend to doubt myself since I sometimes can’t tell the difference between left and right ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I will not miss you.

To every customer who made a mistake for which I got in trouble, thank you for teaching me my place in this world. I will not miss you.

To customers that forgot or never realized that I, too, am a human being, thank you for showing me just how entitled you could be. It made losing my faith in humanity a bit easier. I will not miss you.

To all of the rude people I encountered daily, thank you for “thickening my skin” or helping me with my “character development.” I’m sure your verbal assaults will really come in handy later in my life. I will not miss you.

To the nice customers who didn’t actively try to make my life a living hell for no reason, thank you for letting me retain my (dwindling) faith in humanity. I might miss you.

To my coworkers, I have some things to say:

Some of you were no better than the outstanding customers I thanked above. Thank you for making sure each shift was as dramatic as possible. Thank you for picking favorites — it totally didn’t make the work environment hostile. I will not miss you.

As for the others, thank you for being a little glimmer of relief through truly horrible shifts. You were the only friends I was able to see for the last year — without the banter, I think I truly would have gone insane. Sorry we had to meet under such horrible circumstances. I will miss you.

Lastly, to the service industry:

Thank you for always being a reliably shitty industry. Even on your best days, you’re still usually pretty bad. Thank you for never giving me a stable income that I would still rather have than most other jobs. Thank you for showing me the American way — work really hard for not a lot and don’t complain about it because at least you’re getting something, am I right? I hope we never have to meet again, but with a journalism degree in this economy? Looks like I might have to keep the apron in my closet just in case.

I will not miss you. See you in the summer (probably).

Sincerely, Olivia

7 FACTS

you might not know about ExxonMobil in Beaumont

ExxonMobil is committed to producing the energy and chemical products that are essential to modern life, economic development and improved standards of living. In doing this, we are also committed to protecting our people, the environment and the well-being of communities where we operate. Built along the banks of the Neches River in 1903, ExxonMobil’s Beaumont refining facilities have grown into an integrated petrochemical complex that today supports the energy needs of our nation and the world. We’ve maintained ongoing dialogue with our surrounding community for decades, including informing our neighbors on how we’re complying with all environmental laws, regulations and permits. Take a look at some facts you might not know about how ExxonMobil, and specifically our people in Beaumont, are working to deliver the energy and products the world needs, while managing environmental impacts, including the risks of climate change.

Note: Some photos presented in this article reflect pre-COVID-19 pandemic activities. ExxonMobil adheres to established public health and safety guidance, including physical distancing and facial coverings, to safeguard our workforce. #7: We’re working to deliver real results to address the risks of climate change. Few would disagree that one of the most urgent societal challenges we face today is addressing the risks of climate change. We believe that climate change risks warrant action and it’s going to take all of us — business, governments and consumers — to make meaningful progress. In 2020, we announced plans to reduce the intensity of operated upstream greenhouse gas emissions by 15–20% by 2025†. This will be supported by a 40–50% decrease in methane intensity, and a 35–45% decrease in flaring intensity across our global operations. Last year, we achieved a 15% decrease in methane emissions and a 25% reduction in flaring†. In Beaumont, we’ve successfully reduced our overall emissions 70% since 2002 – including an annual reduction of 600 tons in nitrogen oxide emissions and 10,000 tons in sulfur dioxide emissions since 2005. We are also not on any air pollutant watch lists monitored by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. †Compared to 2016 levels

#6: We support the Paris Agreement and other efficient climate-related policies. We believe in efficient

policies that reduce climate-related risks at the lowest societal costs and accelerate energy transitions while stimulating economic growth. Through our own efforts and collaboration with others, we support the goals of the Paris Agreement, an economy-wide price on carbon dioxide emissions and industry-wide methane regulation. In Beaumont, we engage continuously with city, county and state lawmakers to contribute to the development of sound policy solutions. Our monthly Community Advisory Panel meetings also allow us to provide additional information to our neighbors and address environmental, safety and other concerns.

#5: We’re helping our customers reduce their emissions. As consumer demand continues to grow, we continue to work on developing and delivering advanced products to improve energy efficiency and help customers reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. These products include lightweight plastics and advanced fuels and lubricants to improve fuel economy and transportation efficiency. The Beaumont lubricant blending and packaging plant manufactures lube oils and greases including those used in the wind turbine industry, and is the only manufacturer of Mobil aviation greases. Mobil 1, the world’s leading synthetic motor oil, is manufactured and packaged in Beaumont.

#4: We’re ready for severe weather and other emergencies. Managing the risks of emergencies and natural disasters, like hurricanes on the Texas Gulf Coast, remain a core value for ExxonMobil. In Beaumont, we have an emergency response team of about 140 rigorously trained employees to ensure world-class response capabilities. Our response teams routinely test emergency notification equipment and simulate emergency scenarios in collaboration with city and county teams to ensure preparation and coordination. We also work closely with the city and county to coordinate mutual aid and off-site assistance, helping to safeguard our employees, contractors, neighbors and facilities. Most recently, the combined impact of freezing weather conditions and curtailment of natural gas supplies caused by Winter Storm Uri resulted in a temporary shutdown of our manufacturing units across the Beaumont area. During that time, our remaining operating units successfully exported 200 megawatts of electricity back to the grid, enough to power 140,000 homes.

#3: We share society’s concern about plastic waste in the environment. Plastics provide significant sustainability benefits versus alternative materials, and will continue to play an important role in helping society mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. However, they should not end up as litter, either in our oceans or anywhere else in the environment. The Beaumont polyethylene plant, located on 300 acres west of Beaumont, produces granular and pelletized polyethylene, which is used in the manufacture of plastic products. Since 2008, we have been a member of Operation Clean Sweep® (OCS), a voluntary international industry program for plastic manufacturing facilities that encourages the use of best practices for pellet management and containment to reduce pellet loss. We have incorporated OCS principles into our global Operations Integrity Management System, which is applied at our plastics production and handling facilities around the world, including Beaumont. In both 2018 and 2019, ExxonMobil had no reportable plastic pellet losses. In 2019, we also joined OCS Blue, which is a voluntary extension of OCS in the U.S. that includes enhanced commitments for the awareness, prevention, management and reporting of plastic pellet releases to help further reduce plastic pellet loss at industry facilities.

#2: We believe hiring local is mutually beneficial for Southeast Texas and ExxonMobil. We are committed to utilizing local suppliers and workers for the preparatory and construction phases of our major projects in Southeast Texas. Still, due to the enormous industry growth across our area, ExxonMobil and the rest of industry project a 50-percent shortage in skilled craft labor, particularly in the fields of welding and pipe-fitting. We work closely with Lamar University, Lamar Institute of Technology and other organizations to assist in developing a skilled, locally-based workforce. ExxonMobil contributes about $250,000 an-

nually toward education and training in furtherance of technical and engineering education. Education programs span elementary to higher education, including funding for engineering programs, technical programs, scholarships, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) development and workforce skills training.

#1: We believe in devoting our energy to being a good neighbor. We strive to support the Beaumont area economy through community investments that spur local development and improve quality of life, particularly in the Charlton Pollard, South Park and Amelia neighborhoods. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we donated 25,000 gallons of fuel to help keep local first responders moving. In 2020, ExxonMobil contributed more than $260,000 to local nonprofit organizations, including a $160,000 contribution to the United Way of Beaumont and North Jefferson County to support a variety of programs across the region.

We invite our neighbors to learn more about ExxonMobil in Beaumont on our social media channels “ExxonMobil Beaumont” on Facebook and LinkedIn and @exxonmobilbmt on Twitter and Instagram.

Important Additional Information Regarding Proxy Solicitation Exxon Mobil Corporation (“ExxonMobil”) has filed a definitive proxy statement and form of associated BLUE proxy card with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) in connection with the solicitation of proxies for ExxonMobil’s 2021 Annual Meeting (the “Proxy Statement”). ExxonMobil, its directors and certain of its executive officers will be participants in the solicitation of proxies from shareholders in respect of the 2021Annual Meeting. Information regarding the names of ExxonMobil’s directors and executive officers and their respective interests in ExxonMobil by security holdings or otherwise is set forth in the Proxy Statement. To the extent holdings of such participants in ExxonMobil’s securities are not reported, or have changed since the amounts described, in the Proxy Statement, such changes have been reflected on Initial Statements of Beneficial Ownership on Form 3 or Statements of Change in Ownership on Form 4 filed with the SEC. Details concerning the nominees of ExxonMobil’s Board ofDirectors for election at the 2021 Annual Meeting are included in the Proxy Statement. BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING DECISION, INVESTORS AND SHAREHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY ARE URGED TO READ ALL RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH OR FURNISHED TO THE SEC, INCLUDING THE COMPANY’S DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT AND ANY SUPPLEMENTS THERETO AND ACCOMPANYING BLUE PROXY CARD, BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Investors and shareholders can obtain a copy of the Proxy Statement and other relevant documents filed by ExxonMobil free of charge from the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov. ExxonMobil’s shareholders can also obtain, without charge, a copy of the Proxy Statement and other relevant filed documents by directing a request by mail to ExxonMobil Shareholder Services at 5959 Las Colinas Boulevard, Irving, Texas, 75039-2298 or at shareholderrelations@exxonmobil.com or from the investor relations section of ExxonMobil’s website, www.exxonmobil.com/investor. UPbeat

Performance — from page 11

are opening little by little — like a soprano section, a small group. We are paying attention to university guidelines, city guidelines and state guidelines to ensure that our safety is guaranteed.”

Han said he has been meeting virtually with students who are not comfortable with in-person classes yet.

“I have probably less than 30-percent of students (who) still want to stay virtual with many different reasons, and I have close to 60 percent of students that are OK with in-person setting right now,” he said. “I already finished one meeting individually and they are all OK expanding our meeting into small groups now. That’s where we are heading. Probably, at the end of semester, maybe there is a chance I can have everyone in person.”

Han said masks are required at inperson rehearsals, but instead of regular masks the students wear specially designed singers masks. Also, extra social distancing is implemented, above the CDC requirement. Han said he uses larger classrooms which allows the student to sing 12 feet away from him or more. He said the students are very courteous with regard to protecting him and themselves.

The band members’ fragmented practice originally contributed to a lack of cohesion when playing as a group, McMahan said.

“With regard to section cohesion and the ‘sound’ of the ensemble, it was a dramatic adjustment in the beginning,” he said. “However, we have gotten much better at rehearsing with everyone spread out over the past six months. Of course, some types of music works better being ‘spread out’ than others, so the directors were very careful with regard to repertoire selection, choosing works that we felt would be more successful with the challenges we faced, (for example,) players spread further apart than usual, never getting to rehearse with all players at once, etc.”

TAKING THE STAGE

Grothe said the decision to present in-person performances for the public affected the selection of performance choices.

“Essentially, this semester, we’ve done two shows so far,” he said. “They’re both in our smaller space. I directed a play called ‘The Good Doctor,’ which is mostly two-person scenes. The students were able to be self-contained and rehearse a couple of people at a time. The show also has a lot of jokes about spreading germs and sneezing, and things like that, so it just seemed appropriate — and also as a comedy. You know, comedy was an important choice right now, because people don’t necessarily want to see something really dramatic or tragic. Everything went fine. Everything went without an issue.

“We did a similar thing with dance, in the smaller space, smaller ensembles. They wore masks all the time. We kept our audience at about 30 people. They all have to wear masks. If you come with a group, you can sit them all together. But we just sort of adapted to it.”

Because of the aerosols instruments can produce, McMahan said he has adapted his rehearsals to be shorter, and also make adaptations to the instruments to make them safer to use indoors.

“Scientific studies last summer suggested that with good air circulation/ventilation, bands can safely rehearse as long as they are socially distanced and, when inside, that the rehearsals are not too long so that the ventilation system can ‘catch-up’ every hour or so,” he said. “There are some instruments that produce more aerosols than others, and we did buy bell covers for those instruments when used indoors. We also asked students to wear masks when not playing the instrument, both inside and outside.”

Han, McMahan and Grothe all said they hope things will return to normal in the fall.

“We plan to have a live audience in the fall as of right now — presuming it doesn’t get worse,” Grothe said. “But it’s hard for me to say. I don’t know at this point exactly what that’s going to entail. I’m optimistic we can do (live shows), and we could have close to a full audience or 75 percent or something.

“That’s a decision we’ll make probably closer to the start of next school year.”

UPSIDE

The pandemic gave the university a chance to do maintenance on performance spaces, such as the University Theatre.

“Because we didn’t have shows last spring, we thought it was a good time to do some assessment on our spaces,” Grothe said. “One of the things that we discovered when our spaces were assessed, was that the University Theatre needed some work so that it would be set up for shows later in the semester.”

which is mostly two-person scenes. The Lamar dance students practice in the Studio Theatre. The taped out boxes on the floor promote social distancing. Courtesy photo.

Eboni Bolton, Dallas freshman, rehearses a song in a practice room in the music building, April 6. UP photo by Tim Cohrs

Local law enforcement did nothing to reinforce the mandate, either, Jane said.

“So, funny enough, we were a gas station by the local high school,” she said. “A lot of times, we’d get security from the high school, and also a lot of police officers that’d come in with no masks.

“They definitely were not enforcing the mandate whatsoever. The one health inspection that we did during the pandemic was after the restaurant had opened back up to 50 percent capacity. Even though the people at the restaurant, workers included, didn't have to wear a mask, it was a virtual health inspection, so my manager made everyone wear gloves and masks, even though that wasn't required initially.

“Basically, the health inspector ‘walked through’ and made us show everything that was going on. I feel like it was just very easy to falsify, because the things that the health inspector saw weren’t things that were happening every day.”

The retail store where Jane works now heavily enforced masks during the mandate and still encourages them, she said, adding that she has faced more difficult customers working there as a result.

“If somebody came into the store without a mask, we were to ask if they had a mask with them,” she said. “If not, we provided a mask. Lots of times people would storm out, or get in our face and be, like, ‘Well, you've lost a customer,’ and things like that.

“Recently, before the mask mandate lifted, it was during our Valentine's Day rush. It was just a couple days before Valentine's Day, and these two older men had come in. They had worn their masks in, but once they approached the counter with the plexiglass where I was, one gentleman pulled his mask down while he was talking. I didn't say anything, personally, because I'm just not confrontational.

“But it did bother me and one of my coworkers came up behind me and she was, like, ‘Sir, please, your mask, (lift up your mask),’ and he threw his wallet down on the counter in front of me and turned to the man that he was with and he was like, ‘Pay for my shit. I'm getting the f--- out of this place with all these f---ing bitches.’

“I was so taken aback. I finished that transaction and I just had to go on break, because I was like, ‘What the heck was that?’ That was the first time I have been verbally cussed out like that because of masks. Otherwise, people are normally very accommodating. A lot of people do try to come in without a mask and we have to ask them if they have one, and most of them turn around and go get masks out of their car. But we did have quite a few people who tried to fight us on that.”

While her boss at the gas station didn’t require masks, Jane wore one, though she admits that she probably wasn’t as cautious as she should’ve been.

“When I was on the front counter, I wore one,” she said. “But for the majority of the time while I was there, after COVID at least, I was promoted to an office assistant position so it would just be me and the manager in the office. So, most of the time, I wouldn't wear it just because I was around this person every day. And probably being in that environment, I wasn't taking it as seriously as I should have.”

Numerous coworkers tested positive for the virus and were asked to stay home, following guidelines, Jane said. But they were asked to keep quiet about their diagnoses.

“(Management) didn't want it to get back to the restaurant or back to the business because they were afraid that people would have hard feelings about people being sick there,” she said. “So, while, yes, they were asked to stay home and they were respectful of that, they were also asked to remain quiet.”

Jane said other employees were not told if a coworker had tested positive, however, which she did not agree with.

“The only reason that I knew was because I was an office assistant,” she said. “Even then, I wasn't directly told. I was just there for the phone calls. I always, from the very beginning, thought it was wrong.

“Even though I felt like I couldn't say anything, it just never sat right with me. So many people got COVID, it's not going to be bad for the business or whatever. Just something about them telling (employees) to be quiet or not telling people. I mean, we all ended up finding out because these people would be gone for two and three weeks at a time, but still be on the schedule. So, we're, like, well, they're not fired, so they must be sick — everybody kind of figured it out anyway. But it was a respect thing — not being respected enough to be told, bothered all of us.”

Jane’s fiancé and grandmother, whom she lives with, both have asthma. She said she was constantly worried about exposing them to the virus.

“I was terrified,” she said. “For a while, I was taking so many vitamins because I was so scared. I still do. We always had Germ-X and things like that provided, and I was constantly using that, always trying to stay six-feet back away from people. I realized that a lot of times people didn't respect that kind of space and I would actually have to ask them to step back, because I just wasn't comfortable.

“I wasn't scared to get sick myself, I was scared for them to get sick, so I was just doing whatever I could. Looking back, I don't like a lot of the things that I did. I felt like it wasn't enough, probably. But I was in an environment that said that masks didn't need to be a thing. Everybody hated them. I think I really took a part of that to heart. I guess there's partial blame on myself there, too.”

By April 19, all adults in the United States will be eligible to receive the COVID vaccine. As more people are vaccinated, more people will be going out to restaurants all across the country.

Throughout the pandemic, there have been countless stories of people coming together to show their appreciation for frontline workers in the health industry. While the sacrifices and work done by healthcare professionals cannot be denied, restaurant workers have become the forgotten members of the frontline.

When disasters occur, communities can band together to recover. As the stories above have shown, the coronavirus pandemic hasn’t always brought out the best in people.

The experiences of Sally, Mary and Jane are just three of the many stories told by workers in the service industry — the stories of hardworking people just trying to live.

Remember them — and tip your servers.

Highest-risk setting for COVID-19 in restaurants: on-site dining with indoor seating and no restriction of capacity where tables are not six feet apart.

Source: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Sally and Mary both work in that environment.