The swine flu food

I've been updating constantly all weekend about the swine flu outbreak at the Schmuckraker site, and I'm about ready to go nuts from just reading about it. See, I'm a little bit of a hypochondriac.. So the outbreak of a global pandemic is probably enough to send me soaring into a state of personal panic.

But one interesting aspect a little related to the point of the Soup on my Fly blog: Food. And in this matter, pork.

It appears, according to the government, that you can't get the swine flu from eating pork. Just as, I suppose you can't get the bird flu from eating bird..?

I guess.

But I can almost think a drop off on pork sales will occur.. Good thing the news of the swine flu didn't really start getting covered until after Easter, when hams across America were prepped with the finest drizzles of pineapples and brown sugar..

I think there is also a good question as to whether something like this, if it continues to dominate the news this week, will start to make even more people consider staying home from restaurants..?

Too early to tell. Not too early to take precautions.. And never too late to eat a pork sandwich.

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Socialism in the food industry

Who splits tips?

I was asked a few weeks ago by a fellow server: What is socialism? Obviously they heard Republicans claiming that it was socialism that Obama wanted. I didn't want to get into a political argument or talk about who I voted for, so instead described socialism the best way I could to someone who never voted until last year: It's when you split tips. She got it, quickly.

The idea of splitting around the house can have serious drawbacks. Of course, everyone leaves with the same share. But if you bust your ass for 5 hours to make 80 or 90 bucks but leave with 55 or 60 since everyone splits even around the house, you're obviously going to be a little peeved. And conversely, if you take the laid back approach and make only 40 but leave with 70, you're sitting pretty.

Splitting tips has other serious drawbacks when you split with kitchen staff or buspersons, which many places do. Especially buspersons, who are supposed to be making minimum wage anywhere, and not the low server wage of $2.83, or as the federal standard says, $2.13..

And the kitchen staff? Who didn't wait on a table and should be compensated by the owners of the facility getting a cut is even worse.

At my job of secondary existence, under most occasions, splitting around the house with servers is typically the norm. And again, with it comes arguments, hostility over someone else being "lazy" or not doing enough.. and also coming with it, often leaving the restaurant with a substantially lower amount of money than what I saw my hands taking off of tables..

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