Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right - A 54-Year Old Waitress Speaks Out On The Applebees Debacle [View all]
Not only have I been working in the restaurant/service industry for almost 40 years, I'm also an active union member.
I saw many of the same comments a while back when the book "Nickeled and Dimed" came out. I held my tongue then. When there are already a couple hundred comments on a thread, I don't see much point in adding my $.02. Also, too many people see every little point as a pissing contest, thread gets hijacked off topic, yada yada. This is why I've only racked up a tad over 300 posts in 9 years here. However, I just can't get this off my mind, so here goes.
Sure, the pastor was a douche. The holier-than-thou stance pressed a lot of buttons, especially those of atheists, agnostics, or other-than-mainstream belief holders, like myself. But you know what? You'll have this, and much, much worse, in the service industry. If you live and die by every table or customer like that, you are going hurt your health. I've seen it too often: ulcers, heart attacks, alcoholism are rampant in the biz. Not only that, you'll hurt your income, because that bitter attitude carries over, whether you realize it or not.
In my opinion, it was right that the server was fired for putting the customer's identity up on the internet. That's just wrong. Breach someone's privacy over what? 18% of $28 is like 5 bucks and change. Yes, it means a lot to those of us who make less than minimum wage, but it really does even out in the long run if you don't let it get to you.
As far as doing away with tips, raising the wages of tipped employees, or getting unions to take up the cause, I say "No. Please don't. Butt out." It ain't broke, don't go trying to fix it. Boycott Applebees? I already do - because it is rubber, assembly-line reheated, pre-made garbage, not because they fired some young girl who put a customer's private info online. If all restaurants were forced to pay servers $8/hour and do away with tips, cool diners and wonderful Mom and Pop places would not be able to afford it. We'd be left with nothing BUT Applebees and their ilk. Obamacare is for places that employ 50 or more workers for the same reason.
Waiting tables and tending bar are among the few jobs left where you can make a decent living without a college education, and the subsequent crippling school loan payments. It's all true about long hours on your feet with no breaks - starving with food all around you! It's true that some people make assumptions about your intellect and your value as a member of society based on your occupation. I laugh at those people all the way to the bank, after which I go home without a briefcase full of paperwork.
It's also true that the amount of physical labor you do in the restaurant business is inverse to how much money you make. Servers in chain restaurants or truck stop diners wait on 20 tables for 5 bucks each to make a hundred dollars. "Fine dining" places are the opposite: I'll wait on 4 or 5 tables to make $20-$25 on each, sometimes even more. Thing is, I had to start out working in the former in order to gain knowledge and experience to get hired at the latter.
Sure felt good to get that off my chest.
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