Remember, the 'movement'consisted of thousands of people, not just the few that Rand had as the leaders.
Well, sure - if you're going to set the cook up as a font of Oracular Wisdom, it won't do to have him be Joe Schmoe, fry cook. No, he must be The World's Greatest Living Philosopher, who can then properly bloviate about why the mystery motor's inventor has vanished from the face of the earth. He is the Hidden Buddha, found dispensing sagacity in the place where you least expect him to be. Of course he's working some menial job - the Hidden Buddha isn't very hidden if you find him in the stacks at the library, is he? It's a standard plot device, repeated ad nauseam year in and year out - the same device whereby Crazy Joe the Homeless Guy teaches everyone the True Meaning of Christmas, coming up next on a Very Special Episode of ER, or some such. And who didn't see that coming a mile away? I don't want to keep seeing the same hands, now...