Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Here to Take Your Order (and Biting Their Tongues)

The decline of American culture through the eyes of waitstaff...

When I began researching “Hey, Waitress!,” I had two inklings. One was that waitresses, among the underheard icons of America, would have many important things to say about their work. That inkling proved true. The second inkling was that they might challenge a revered notion: that the United States of America is essentially classless.

Challenge the notion? They obliterated it.

“I had this guy the other day say to me, ‘Are you ready to take my order?’ Because is not your existence to serve and take orders?” recalled one waitress at a seafood restaurant in Kennebunkport, Me.

“What do you want? Eye contact?” an impatient man asked another waitress, who had offered to recite the specials and was waiting for his response. The scene took place at an excellent restaurant in Seattle.

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