Beyond Caring

I went to see the play Beyond Caring yesterday at the Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago and I largely enjoyed it. The play focuses on the four temporary janitorial workers (all minorities: two black women, one black man, and one Latina) and their white male supervisor. Beyond Caring shows how low-level employees are treated by management and by each other in the workplace. Doing menial work should not mean that you're a menial person, yet too often this is the perception. The play originated in the UK and was changed somewhat to reflect the challenges that American low-level workers face (mainly the racial aspects). I found the play interesting and occasionally funny. One funny part was when the white supervisor instructed the temporary workers to come to the factory where they worked on their own time to attend a party with the "regular" employees. Oh, and the temps were expected to bring a dish and dress in a superhero costume of their choice. These people, who worked for minimum wage, were supposed to come to their workplace on their time off, bring a dish to share, and dress up in a costume. Yeah, right.