Restaurant servers are great actors. They must present the image that they are happy to be at work and eager to serve people while behind that facade, they are very often the exact opposite. If it was possible to earn money with a “poker face” waiters and waitresses wouldn’t need

Some people might not fully grasp this concept, but there is a difference between a server and a servant. Merriam-Webster defines a server as “one that serves food and drink” while the word servant is defined as “one that performs duties about the person or home of a master or

I’ve got some awesome news! We received a grant from the Civic Joy Fund to put out a literary magazine celebrating SF and acting to counter the stupid “Doom Loop” narrative. It’s a gift to the people of San Francisco. And after months of working on this project it’s now available

For decades, customers have been spoon-fed the notion that no matter how ridiculous their request is or how absurd their complaint might be, the customer is always right. They’ve seen the slogan on signs in restaurants and at businesses and there is probably someone, somewhere who has the immortal catchphrase

Every single person who has waited tables has, at some point, had someone tell them their job isn’t “real.” When a server hears those words, their blood begins to boil, quickly becoming hotter than the inside of a fried cheese stick that just came out of the deep fryer. There

On the last shift I worked in my restaurant, business had already slowed to a trickle with fewer and fewer customers feeling comfortable going out in public, but it was before anything had truly been shutdown. That night, my husband and three of our friends came in to have a

Let’s get real: the American system of “Fuck you, I got mine!” has been proven to be woefully unprepared for the coronavirus pandemic. What a surprise! This plague is laying bare the fact that not having Universal Healthcare or other social safety nets is terrible for society. If we had Universal

By Ian Firstenberg Bosses suck. It’s not exactly their fault. They suck for largely structural reasons — unless they’re just abusive and mean — but overall, they’re positioned to exploit your labor as much as possible. Because that’s what drives profit.  This sentiment is not new or even particularly radical,

Bob Dylan once wrote, You’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed you’re gonna have to serve somebody. As a long-time server and resident of San Francisco, that couldn’t be more true