gnarchief wrote:No matter how safe a restaurant can make it feel for customers, I don't think there is any way for servers to truly be protected. It's just the reality of COVID-19. All states that opened outdoor dining saw spikes and we will see it here as well, especially with people pushing for indoor dining.
Everyone misses dining out, but I think we should just accept that our desire to eat on a patio should not outweigh the health and safety of servers who bear the brunt of the danger (and by all accounts I've seen, are making less money serving than collecting unemployment).
I absolutely agree in that I cannot understand the urgency some people are feeling to dine out again. I guess I'm just more cautious than others but for me, the risks so outweigh the benefits, it's not gnawing at me at all. Yes, I miss certain places and certain dishes but going to these places now would not be the same. No zombie version is going to satisfy in any reasonable way. I recently ate outside at a place I love and trust . . . and I'd be lying if I said I felt particularly comfortable during that experience, even though they did just about everything as I would have wanted. It was fine but I have no plans to repeat it any time soon. In some ways, I felt like I was just checking a box.
As for the servers and other staff, if they don't want to return to work, they shouldn't. I don't understand what pressure there is on any hospitality industry workers to return to work. Are their jobs being threatened? I'm not trying to be snarky here. I truly don't understand.
I too have heard from a few industry friends that they're doing better financially not working than they were while working in pre-pandemic times. So, if they don't want to be at work, they shouldn't be. When this ends, hopefully their places of employment will still exist and their jobs will be available. If not, other, similar jobs are likely to be, especially if there's a vaccine. But more importantly, I hope that the industry re-emerges at that point as a more sustainable one -- one that pays a living wage and provides benefits to its employees. Perhaps these workers staying home now is the best way to foment such change. Coming back, even in truly post-pandemic times, to more of what was, doesn't seem like it would be anyone's first choice, either.
=R=
Same planet, different world