My Birthday Wish for Denver

Not for the city itself.

For the people trying to survive in it.

I hope Denver remembers the workers holding this place together.

The cooks.
The housekeepers.
The dishwashers.
The warehouse workers.
The banquet servers.
The immigrants.
The parents working doubles.
The people taking two buses home after a long shift.
The workers smiling through exhaustion because rent is due again.

I hope employers start investing in people again instead of just looking for bodies to fill schedules.

I hope workers stop being treated as disposable the second business slows down.

I hope more people get real opportunities instead of dead end jobs that barely keep them afloat.

I hope people can afford to live in the city they work in.

I hope we bring back standards, pride in work, mentorship, and actual teamwork instead of this “everyone fend for themselves” culture that’s taken over so many workplaces.

And honestly, I don’t have all the answers.

I’ve just spent enough years working in hotels, kitchens, museums, stadiums, and event halls around Denver to know a lot of people are tired.

Tired of struggling.
Tired of instability.
Tired of pretending things are fine because the skyline keeps growing.

There are still good people in this city though.
A lot of them.

Good workers.
Good managers.
Good business owners.
Good people trying their best to build something better.

My birthday wish is simple:

I hope Denver becomes a city that values those people more than it currently does.