It is indeed the first time I've come across Kitchenette. Love the stories though and now I'm better educated, I can understand their pain!

Not only is this not explicitly banned by law, it's explicitly INCLUDED. It's fucking crazy! And pretty much the total of the $2 minimum is taken out in taxes straight away. And those taxes don't include sick days, statutory holidays, maternity leave, child benefits or the NHS! The servers are TOTALLY dependant on…

Ugh, the worst part is that he's bullied into asking. Oliver's a dishrag of a character but he's got reasons.

I know. I am mentally lighting match after match right now...watching them burn...

Maybe part of hostess training should involve some kind of wrestling or martial arts. That way, when someone dares lay a hand on you, you can get their arm twisted up behind their back and lay them out on the floor with a knee pressed against the back of their neck. "Oh, you wanna GET SAT? You're SAT."

Thanks, never knew it was such a low wage, that's crazy! Now I can see why tipping is so important to the waitering staff. Minimum wage, no matter the job, is £6.50 here (about $9.50) and slightly less for young adults, so I guess that's why we don't push tipping as much.

...my idiot GM had not only apologized to her but SAT the woman and her table at a reserved table then proceeded to berate me for letting her make a scene.

A-fucking-men. All of the rest of this nonsense witch hunt is giving me tsuris. The special snowflakes need to put in their big girl panties and get on with it.

I worked as a server at Dennys in Texas in 1998 (I don't know if the law is still the same) but state tipped minimum was $2.18 that's right around one pound an hour and more than $5 under minimum wage (which nobody can be expected to live off of anyway) Also, serving is HARD.

Servers in the US depend on tips. They make only about 2-3 per hour, well blew minimum wage.

1. I love BCO. Don't scare us like that again please. It is the best part of Mondays.

I looked hard at that one for a minute, and finally decided that the author meant that it was a small minority of regulars who didn't tip, but still proportionately a lot more than you'd be likely to see anywhere else, in his experience.

The jerk that grabbed the server, and started dropping F-bombs and C-bombs, and refused to pay - should have been arrested, plain and simple. That poor girls manager obviously has no backbone. I'm in management and have been for over a decade. Although no longer in food service (retail now), I have been.

I thoroughly enjoyed this edition of BCO and was going to write something pertinent to the post, but after reading the comments I'm positive it would be hijacked by some idiot about something that has nothing to do with this blog. Keep up the good work and looking forward to next Monday.

Hey, I'm not sure this is the right venue for this message, but as I don't have twitter (Luddite4life!) this will have to do. I assumed you taking a week off was for bereavement (and regardless if it was or not, sorry for your loss) but reading other comments that doesn't look like it's the case. I really enjoy what…

I haven't even read today's entry yet, but I wanted you to know this. I had a shitty day today. I knew it was going to be shitty. But at three separate moments, when I thought I was gonna throw myself out a window, I reminded myself that I could come home, pour a glass of wine, cuddle my Corgi and read BCO. And that…

C.A. Pinkham,

FINALLY. The only reason I visit Jezebel. To merely comment on this popular series being featured once again.

Can we get a week of just horrible parents/kids stories? People with kids are the fucking worst

Oh god, I thought I'd lost you, BCO. DON'T EVER SCARE ME AGAIN.