>>SALON | Nov. 6, 1998
>>
>>Annalee Newitz
>>[...]
>>What I want, finally, is for Ph.D.s to be proud of what they've
>>learned, not because they've been granted the title of professor,
>>but because they've done something useful with their minds.
>>Likewise, I hope that professors will come to appreciate that all
>>teaching does not have to end in the production of more professors.
>>We should not be wringing our hands over the loss of tenure-track
>>jobs, but trying instead to build an honorable tradition for
>>thinkers who work outside the university system. [...]
"With few exceptions, the workers want one thing more than anything else: to no longer be workers in a restaurant."
"This doesn't mean we want to be unemployed. It means that restaurant work is an alienating and miserable way to make a living. We are forced to be there. Work does not feel like part of our lives. We feel like ourselves when we're not at work."
"The fact that restaurant workers hate work is obvious to the point of being a cliche. In most restaurants you can find people who 'aren't really restaurant workers.' They're actors, or writers, or musicians, or graphic designers. They're just working in a restaurant until they can save up some money and start up a business of their own, or until they get through school and can get a 'real job.' One way we try to escape from work is by quitting, hoping another restaurant will be better. Restaurant work, has a very high turnover. Often the majority of employees in a restaurant have only been working there for a few months. Of course, whatever our illusions, most of us just keep moving from restaurant job to restaurant job, from bistro to bar and grill to lounge to diner to cafe."
-- from "Abolish Restaurants", prole.info
Chuck