Restaurant workers worthy of our respect
Dignity, Jackie Robinson wrote, “is the richest treasure anybody has.”
That’s why it’s time for diners here and across our great country to treat waitstaff with nothing but dignity.
The men and women who serve us food and drinks with professionalism deserve exactly that in return.
Marie Billiel, 28, works as a restaurant manager in Boston and spoke eloquently in the Herald last week on the eve of a #MeToo rally about being accosted while hustling for tips. Being a big tipper does not give you carte blanche to sexually harass.
Billiel said a former patron at a diner she started in suggested she’d “look good in this corset” that he had just bought for his wife. When you earn peanuts in base pay, telling that guy to choke on his eggs isn’t an option. Tips pay the bills. So swallowing your pride comes with the job.
But why should it?
Why should anyone tolerate being insulted, pinched or propositioned just because playing along is the go-to game when it comes time to tip?
Massachusetts has the largest gap nationally between the tipped minimum wage — $3.75 an hour — and the standard $11-an-hour minimum wage.
We should treat waitstaff like the professionals they are. Plus, for many youngsters, working in a restaurant or fastfood outlet will probably be their first job.
They should have memories of customers who return again and again because they are treated with respect. Not because it’s open season on waitresses.
“In this whole #MeToo movement, people are starting to speak out about people in my industry,” Billiel added. “But it’s a lot of work and this change doesn’t happen spontaneously, it comes from restaurant managers and owners who want to effect change and who are looking for ways to do that.”
Fellow diners need to have the courage to call out offenders — immediately.
We’re in this together. Breaking bread should be a time of joy.
Let’s bring that back for everyone who toils preparing, serving and cleaning up after our night out.