It's gotten rather absurd. If my interaction is with a kiosk short of being handed something, it's an insulting extra step. I'm already paying the price for my employer's pay scale ... I can't take on someone else's stinginess.
The title of this article is an example of manufacturing consent.
Culture is defined by people. If “Americans” as a whole are confused, this wasn’t a cultural shift.
This is a direct result of companies asking their patrons to subsidize the wages of their workers. The capitalist class is asking the rest of us to pay their workers instead of pricing it into their business, and we comply because we have empathy for our fellow workers.
Just pay your workers a dignified wage so I don’t have to have a moral struggle when I order my fast food. Please. I’ve just started buying less.
Disclaimer: I can’t read this article because it’s paywalled. Most of my own wages are from tips.
Might I suggest the provided archive link in the original post? It pairs well with the house Chardonnay.
I agree with everything you're saying, though the terminology seems a bit off. The hed is an example of framing, while the practice itself is manufacturing consent.
I'm not a huge fan of the Post's framing these days (see also, "Why Isn't There A Recession" a couple years back), but I take satisfaction each year when I forget to cancel that I'll be sharing free links.
I don't eat fast food at all anymore, short of when I'm moving. The appeal thereof was always "faster and cheaper than anything I could make," and my recent move made me aware that it's now slower and more expensive than getting Boar's Head sliced to spec at the deli in the grocery store, along with the rest of the fixings for about four sandwiches, and then going through the checkout line.
I'm homeless by choice because at $21/hour, this year's rent hike posed the ever-pleasant question: Food or Housing? And how is that not a game show yet? I'm settling in nicely enough to living in a van that two weeks in, I gave notice at work with nothing else on deck.
I have no kids, no house ... I'm society's worst nightmare at this point, as I have nothing making me afraid. Nothing I have to accept being demeaned and underpaid for. And I didn't take an auto loan out on my vehicle, so good luck repossessing that if it really hits the fan!
I have nothing to lose. I've filed for bankruptcy before and will happily do so again if finding a job where I'm creating or improving a product, or improving the workflow, once again is a bridge too far and why can't I just write or code to trick people or lie to them? Sorry, you already lost me, so I'm not going to spread your bullshit.
And all that said: Unless you're bringing rounds of things to my table, fuck off with this tipping thing.
I’m sorry to hear about your struggles, friend. It’s so distressing we’ve built a society that forces people who work into homelessness (actually I’d rather nobody be homeless. Housing is a human right). If we can’t even guarantee the basics for people who work, why are we even bothering with this society thing? So tiresome. I count my lucky stars every day I am as fortunate as I am, because I remember when it was harder for me. I didn’t change, I just got lucky. I hope you are able to find happiness regardless of circumstances.
You really should be angry. Housing is of course UN-defined as a human right, but as with everything, we set it up and then excluded ourselves. I like my little house; it has brought true importance into specific relief, and I'm for the first time in my life able to define needs on my own.
I'm lucky enough to have a family where while left to fail on my own because the job market hasn't changed since 1985 according to my parents, they'll fund food while telling me what a fuckup I am. It's food, and I'm keen on the idea.