You’re paying them though, both sides agreed to play the role. It doesn’t matter what your opinion on the matter is, the customer paid to be treated like royalty and it’s usually something the restaurant wants to offer and so pays their waiters to do.
I’d happily stand up and get my own food, in fact this is why I generally avoid restaurants, but imo ter “roleplay” is included in the price. It’s like those maid cafes in japan. Sure they “are not your servant”, but this is part of the experience, so you could argue that by ruining the experience you paid for, they “robbed” you.
That’s my issue with this bullshit, it reproduces a fucked up hierarchy. You might believe it is roleplay or whatever, but in fact the material relations are the same: a typically more affluent person is paying a less well-off person to be their servant for the day.
As long as there is demand for it, it will continue happening. You can choose to not encourage it, but this desire to be treated reverently by someone of lower status is something deeply engrained in humanity, I doubt it’s ever going away. Pretty much every civilization throughout the ages and around the world has had some form of it.
Being served at a restaurant allows someone who’s not upper class to get a taste of what it could feel like. What’s the difference compared to an office worker indirectly paying the janitor to clean his toilet? They chose the job and are getting paid for it. Maybe it’s degrading, but everyone’s got to start somewhere. Remove those jobs and these people just won’t make money, which is just a worst outcome for everyone involved.
this desire to be treated reverently by someone of lower status is something deeply engrained in humanity, I doubt it’s ever going away.
This can be overcome, just as we already (mostly) overcame men’s desire to look down at women as lesser beings, or look at people of other tribes/nations/races as slaves to be exploited. It’s not complicated, humans are social beings, and tend to like whatever is considered “good” in their social circles; we as a society have the power to redefine what “good” means.
To look at people in capitalist society and conclude that human nature is egoism, is like looking at people in a factory where pollution is destroying their lungs and saying that it is human nature to cough
What’s the difference compared to an office worker indirectly paying the janitor to clean his toilet?
There is a bit of a difference here though: it takes time and logistical effort (e.g. getting cleaning supplies) to clean a toilet; it doesn’t take almost any time or effort to pick up your own food from the kitchen, the only effort exerted by the waiter is that of “service”, which is the problematic part. I agree it would be good if all workers had one shift of their week cleaning their workspace though, it would provide useful perspective and eliminate a lot of bad habits that makes the cleaner’s job unnecessarily difficult.
They chose the job and are getting paid for it. Maybe it’s degrading, but everyone’s got to start somewhere. Remove those jobs and these people just won’t make money, which is just a worst outcome for everyone involved.
This is incorrect, they didn’t “choose” the job, they are forced to do it because they can’t get any other job and they will die on the streets if they don’t take it. If we provide better education opportunities and stop stealing value from labor, there would be no need in useless “entry-level” jobs. Perhaps there would still be a need for janitors and garbage collectors and such, but those jobs have to be well-paid and taken seriously, just as any other job; it has to really be a choice rather than something forced upon poor people who can’t get education in our fucked up society.
You’re paying them though, both sides agreed to play the role. It doesn’t matter what your opinion on the matter is, the customer paid to be treated like royalty and it’s usually something the restaurant wants to offer and so pays their waiters to do.
I’d happily stand up and get my own food, in fact this is why I generally avoid restaurants, but imo ter “roleplay” is included in the price. It’s like those maid cafes in japan. Sure they “are not your servant”, but this is part of the experience, so you could argue that by ruining the experience you paid for, they “robbed” you.
That’s my issue with this bullshit, it reproduces a fucked up hierarchy. You might believe it is roleplay or whatever, but in fact the material relations are the same: a typically more affluent person is paying a less well-off person to be their servant for the day.
As long as there is demand for it, it will continue happening. You can choose to not encourage it, but this desire to be treated reverently by someone of lower status is something deeply engrained in humanity, I doubt it’s ever going away. Pretty much every civilization throughout the ages and around the world has had some form of it.
Being served at a restaurant allows someone who’s not upper class to get a taste of what it could feel like. What’s the difference compared to an office worker indirectly paying the janitor to clean his toilet? They chose the job and are getting paid for it. Maybe it’s degrading, but everyone’s got to start somewhere. Remove those jobs and these people just won’t make money, which is just a worst outcome for everyone involved.
This can be overcome, just as we already (mostly) overcame men’s desire to look down at women as lesser beings, or look at people of other tribes/nations/races as slaves to be exploited. It’s not complicated, humans are social beings, and tend to like whatever is considered “good” in their social circles; we as a society have the power to redefine what “good” means.
There is a bit of a difference here though: it takes time and logistical effort (e.g. getting cleaning supplies) to clean a toilet; it doesn’t take almost any time or effort to pick up your own food from the kitchen, the only effort exerted by the waiter is that of “service”, which is the problematic part. I agree it would be good if all workers had one shift of their week cleaning their workspace though, it would provide useful perspective and eliminate a lot of bad habits that makes the cleaner’s job unnecessarily difficult.
This is incorrect, they didn’t “choose” the job, they are forced to do it because they can’t get any other job and they will die on the streets if they don’t take it. If we provide better education opportunities and stop stealing value from labor, there would be no need in useless “entry-level” jobs. Perhaps there would still be a need for janitors and garbage collectors and such, but those jobs have to be well-paid and taken seriously, just as any other job; it has to really be a choice rather than something forced upon poor people who can’t get education in our fucked up society.