An Ex-Bartender’s Apology to the Addicts I Enabled

I’m not talking about alcoholics.

Making Gratuities Gratuitous

Depending on who you ask, tipping as practiced in the contemporary United States is either a crassly exploitative transfer of economic risk from a business to its employees which leaves them vulnerable to wage theft, sexual harassment, and economic uncertainty or a great way to earn a good living working part time for cash in … Continue reading Making Gratuities Gratuitous →

When You Say ‘My Owner’

I don’t know if this is just a Seattle thing, or if people do it other places. Maybe it’s just something that comes up in the kinds of joints I worked in back when I was still bartending. It’s a dumb little thing, but it always bothered me, and in light of a few months … Continue reading When You Say ‘My Owner’ →

On Tips, Wages, and Tips ARE Wages

It started on facebook. A friend from work posted about a meeting another friend at work had called, to be held in a spare room at a restaurant downtown. For weeks we’d been hearing that the proposed minimum wage hike in Seattle was going to ruin our way of life. Restaurants, in particular, were going … Continue reading On Tips, Wages, and Tips ARE Wages →

The Work Itself Has to Be the Reward

The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy. -Albert Camus This is one I wrestle with a lot. I want a career so bad I can taste it. I want to spend all my working time writing and get paid enough to keep doing it. … Continue reading The Work Itself Has to Be the Reward →