The Underrated Profession

 The collapse of a bridge in Washington, DC and the a condominium in Surfside, Florida offered me a new perspective in the importance of the engineering profession. As I begin to prepare for state licensure, I could not help but think about how people within the profession view this position of trust: "Always have a job"; "The headhunters will find you"; "The paper looks good on the wall". Now, engineering for some time has been regarded as the most "9-to-5" learned profession, not the type to throw lavish parties for clients, or work overtime. A select few study research and development from the laboratories of universities, and put it into their practice; continuous professional development is often overlooked. Most, though, prefer work-life balance.

Nor does industry wish for engineering to be a cohesive, comprehensive profession. Architectural and engineering review requirements are being waived on larger and larger building projects, and licensure is generally not required when working on industrial design projects. Builders and manufacturers, in theory, then take on extra responsibility and liability to increase their profit a tiny bit. Thus, everyone is an "engineer" until nobody knows who an engineer is. In contrast, the medical profession has taught the public how to differentiate between a "Medical Doctor" and a "Doctor of Nursing". As a major infrastructure renewal bill nears approval in Congress, it's time for engineers to remember what the profession is about: to ensure public safety in the built environment. 

Forgotten Sustenance: Nutty Cheese Sandwich and New York's Greatest Era

 

New York of the 1950s could be categorized as a worker’s paradise. Liberalism of the era prioritized affordable housing, tuition and healthcare. Immigrants from war-torn Asia and Europe, penniless artists and thinkers from the heartlands came to build their American dream. This was the “Old New York” of the pre-Bloomberg era, a time before capital reigned supreme.  How did these strivers live, and how did they dine? Low-cost diners, public cafeterias, and lost recipes like Date Nut Bread were not glamorous, but sustaining for a day’s work.

The Nutty Cheese Sandwich comprised of Date – Nut Bread, lathered with cream cheese and served with “regular” coffee (cream and sugar, please). Served at Chock Full of Nuts cafes once ubiquitous in the city, it was a Depression-era favorite whose price mirrored that of subway fare: 5 cents in the early 1930’s, and 15 cents in the 1950s.

I made a loaf from a recipe posted by Politico: Lost Foods of New York City: Date-nut bread sandwiches at Chock Full o' Nuts (politico.com)

Everything I needed to make the loaf was in my pantry. I substituted dates for raisins, which I had on hand. The rich aroma of nuts and fruits filled my home as the loaf baked.  Taking a slice of this loaf and layering it with cream cheese made a creation that closely resembled a carrot cake, but with more wholesomeness than sugar. The outside of the slice was crusty, and the inside soft, but substantiated by the nuts and fruit. It was everything a hungry artist would want.

One might say that the fast-food dollar menu replaced the cheap restaurants of bygone decades. But what would your three dollars buy? Four slices of bread, two thin pucks of ground meat, and French fries. You would get your calories, but not a balanced meal. No fruits or vegetables would be served, other than ketchup; or a packet of jelly, if you ask nicely.

What did the cheap restaurants in? Foodservice wages have been fairly stable. Rents have gone up. Business overhead, to pay consultants and managers, has certainly increased in the restaurant sector. But the cheap restaurant relies on volume to stay afloat; I would argue that the critical mass of working-class and middle-class diners dissipated when it became too easy to put a “dining experience” on the credit card: Buy now, pay later versus pay-as-you-go. Yes, that rising standard of living.  In a more money-conscious era, diners would have prioritized nutrition and heartiness; while today, these gaps are filled by eating more.