Editorial: Cure and Prevention

The Virginia Tech tragedy illustrates our industry’s support and service.

By Mary Boltz Chapman, Editor-in-Chief -- Chain Leader, 5/1/2007

I think it’s human nature. Whenever a tragedy occurs, we tend to ask ourselves how we can help and speculate how it could have been prevented, though not always in that order. In the case of incidents such as the one last month at Virginia Tech, where student Cho Seung Hui killed 32 people in a shooting rampage before committing suicide, restaurants are uniquely positioned to do both.

A Gathering Place

The ability for restaurants to help soothe people affected by this type of incident, either directly or indirectly, is obvious. The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. I don’t mean that in some June Cleaver way, but "man" meaning person, mankind, all of us. Food is comfort and safety. It satisfies a basic need.

Restaurants are places to come together. Breaking bread with family and friends—even strangers—builds community. People are able to share their fear or build hope. Or maybe just relax, have fun and forget the world’s troubles.

For employees, especially young people deeply affected by the shootings, their jobs—so many of them in restaurants—offer a sense of normalcy and a purpose. If nothing else, going to work is a distraction from watching CNN.

An Ounce of Prevention

Less obvious is our industry’s possible role in preventing people from losing control of their lives. I don’t think restaurants get enough credit for teaching and empowering the large volume of teens and young adults who work in them.

There are plenty of young people employed in chains that are not safe in their homes, neighborhoods or schools, but they are safe at work. There are those who learn discipline, structure, purpose and self-esteem on their first job, which is likely in a restaurant. And some teens have never had a functional social network before they had a fair manager and teammates. Our industry’s managers serve as teacher, coach, mentor, even parent.

My first job was in a restaurant. While I was fortunate to have many positive role models and a good education at home, at school and in Girl Scouts, I learned a lot from my job about how to be an adult and handle myself with adults in sometimes awkward situations.

A Pound of Appreciation

Would that young man at Virginia Tech have felt so alone and disaffected if he had a job in a restaurant with a manager and co-workers who supported him? I certainly can’t say he wouldn’t; he had psychological issues that experts will never fully understand, and his peers and professors did apparently reach out to try to help him.

But I’m confident in saying that restaurant chains improve the lives of teens and young adults every day. On behalf of Chain Leader, and as a person who cares about our country’s young people, I thank you for that.