No, That Waiter or Driver Isn’t Being Lazy — They’re Just Taking Their Break

I recently saw a photo on social media of an Amazon worker sitting in their truck, clearly taking a break. The person who posted the photo announced to the world that this delivery person was looking at their phone for 10 minutes while their neighbor was waiting for a package. Never mind that the package they were waiting for was probably ordered only 12 hours before, but 10 extra minutes was too much for this neighbor to handle. I have an announcement to make: Anyone who works deserves a break. Sitting down and taking a few minutes for yourself does not make you listless.

Some jobs have very clearly defined break times. A union job might require a five minute break every hour with an additional 15 minutes every four hours. Or, maybe your job even allows you to leave for 60 whole minutes for lunch. Not every job gets that. There’s a drugstore in my neighborhood that closes the pharmacy every day at 1:00, so they can have lunch. I showed up at 1:15 once, saw the sign and decided to come back later. Someone next to me who saw the exact same sign was completely disappointed and angry that these workers had to, you know, eat. Personally, I would rather come back at 2:00 and be helped by happy, content employees than be there at 1:30 and deal with truly hangry ones. 

A uniform may make you a target

It seems that anytime someone sees a service worker sitting, that worker is deemed lazy. Maybe it has something to do with so many of these workers wearing uniforms. Someone dressed in business casual sitting on a park bench bench eating a sandwich doesn’t raise an eyebrow for anyone, but a person in a uniform sitting on that bench eating a sandwich makes some people think, “Why aren’t they working?” 

Customers are so used to seeing retail workers, servers, and delivery people always on their feet that when they see one sitting down it feels out of character for the job. But that’s what the job entails and where are they supposed to go when it’s time for their break? 

There’s nowhere to go

Not every job has a break room. Most restaurants I worked in never had a designated place to take a load off. If I had an opportunity to sit for 10 or 15 minutes, it was usually at a table or booth in the back of the restaurant. Sitting there with a coworker, we’d always notice when a customer was looking at us, wondering why we were sitting down at the job. “It’s because we work for six hours straight and we’re lucky if we find time between tables to take a bathroom break,” I’d want to yell. 

When it’s time for an Amazon worker to take their well-deserved break, where else would they take it other than their truck? Some of those trucks aren’t even air-conditioned, so how enjoyable can that break be? A 10-minute respite while looking at a cell phone in an un-air-conditioned truck during the heat of summer is earned and workers have to take a break when they get the chance. These jobs don’t allow them to sit in a frigidly cold office at a desk in front of a computer. I would guess that someone in that position can easily have multiple tabs open on their screen and click over to people.com when they need a  moment to think about something other than work. Nobody would ever know, but the second a service worker takes a deep breath, there’s always somebody ready to snap a photo and complain about how lazy they are. 

Take a stand for the people sitting down

Anyone who works at a job is entitled to take a break. Some breaks are more noticeable than others and instead of questioning why an Amazon worker is sitting in their truck doing nothing for a few minutes, maybe just be thankful that because of them we can order something online and have it in our home the next day. And maybe offer them a cold bottle of water when they show up with your package. I did that once and they acted like I had given them a pot of gold. Cold water, a quick break, and a warm thank you goes a long way for a service worker.