by Jo Ann Henderson » Thu Dec 04, 2014 5:17 pm
I'm sorry, but there is always an argument to be made for low wage workers and the appeal to the public for offering up what they can to make it right. It is not our responsibility to provide "your workers" a living wage. If so, put it into the cost of the food, and pass it along as a purchase of goods and services, not a surcharge. If this is how we are going to do business, I suggest we take a look across the spectrum of jobs at the lower eschelons of our society. How about adding a surcharge to hospital stays to be passed along to LPNs who empty your bedpans, or all those African immigrants working in nursing homes who do the bed baths and clean up after your elderly who no longer can take care of their daily bodily functions? Eating out is a luxury and it should be treated as such and reflected in the cost of the food, allowing restaurants to charge according, not only for ambiance and reputation, but also for the top notch staff who prepares and serves their fare. Then the restaurant will take responsibility for the people they hire and I am not stuck with the surly waiter who thinks s/he is entitle to the 20% gratuity no matter the service, or the poorly prepared steak because you hired a short order rather than a line cook.
"...To undersalt deliberately in the name of dietary chic is to omit from the music of cookery the indispensable bass line over which all tastes and smells form their harmonies." -- Robert Farrar Capon
