he must be stupid”, “Something is missing? Better check those lower on the payroll [all ethnic groups]
after that, better check with all of the blacks and Latinos [even if they make good money].” The article did not surprise me.
WS:
When I got off the boat in 1981, I worked for a while as a janitor at the corporate offices of a local retail chain (Meyer's if memory servers). One day I showed up for work and saw my boss engaged in a friendly conversation with some guy. She motioned me to join them, and we had a chat on various subjects. In the middle of the conversation, the guy realizing than I am a new employee said 'Sorry I forget to introduce myself - I am Fred Meyer" (the CEO of the company). Evidently he did not mind having friendly conversations with janitors - and the labor relations were also good - vacations and health insurance, discounts - even for janitors. But this was at the onset of the "Reagan revolution." - may he rot in hell.
As far as my current place of work is concerned - it depends on the person. Our previous long-time janitor was a black guy who was a personality and friends with everyone in the office - we had a few nice political conversations (he liked my politics) and when he switched jobs, everybody was missing him - I still see him on the campus (he is a driver now) from time to time, and chat when time permits. With janitors after him, it varied from person to person, some showed up and disappeared without a trace, others were on more friendly terms.
The bottom line is however, that janitors are definitely treated "as crap," their actual treatment depends on their personality. I would say that office workers are more likely than janitors to be treated like crap.
Wojtek