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Comment on Hooters | Bankrupt in ~food
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Comment on Hooters | Bankrupt in ~food
Bet Link ParentI’m going to have to jump in here with a quick note: Queer people of all stripes visited where I worked all of the time. We actually had a club of queer poly people who booked for an event every...I’m going to have to jump in here with a quick note: Queer people of all stripes visited where I worked all of the time. We actually had a club of queer poly people who booked for an event every first Wednesday of the month, and they were an absolute riot.
Plenty of my regular customer base were gay men and women — and I’m not free-handedly labeling them; they were clear about who they were themselves — and they were some of my all-time favorite people to be around.
I’m not trying to take away from what you are saying here, only pigging-backing as I just realized that people might not know that queer people were also part of the picture.
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Comment on Hooters | Bankrupt in ~food
Bet Link ParentDrug use as an issue is pretty par for the course, but not in any way specific to themed sports bar type restaurants; it’s just one of those broadly acknowledged elements of working in the...Drug use as an issue is pretty par for the course, but not in any way specific to themed sports bar type restaurants; it’s just one of those broadly acknowledged elements of working in the restaurant business overall.
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Comment on Hooters | Bankrupt in ~food
Bet Link ParentI’m drawing a blank; what “less honorable reasons” could there be for simply… being waitstaff at a mid-tier, local restaurant? Also, you seem to have missed one very specific, glaringly obvious...There are less honorable reasons, too, I'm sure
I’m drawing a blank; what “less honorable reasons” could there be for simply… being waitstaff at a mid-tier, local restaurant?
Also, you seem to have missed one very specific, glaringly obvious reason a person might opt to work at one of these places: It’s fun.
And being surrounded every day by beautiful people isn’t exactly a hardship.
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Comment on Hooters | Bankrupt in ~food
Bet Link ParentNeither do I, and I’m struggling with how not to be sarcastic while pointing out the obvious here, so I’ll limit myself to simply saying that your uncle, along with many of the fathers described...I don't really understand the concept of wanting to be turned on as you're eating
Neither do I, and I’m struggling with how not to be sarcastic while pointing out the obvious here, so I’ll limit myself to simply saying that your uncle, along with many of the fathers described in other comments, just sounds like a certain type of guy. Plenty of people can and do go out to eat with their kids at these sorts of themed restaurants without making everyone slightly suspicious of or uncomfortable with their motives.
A waitstaff comprised of pretty ladies all decked out in outfits no more offensive or revealing than those worn by cheerleaders isn’t there to ‘turn anyone on’. These aren’t strip clubs or topless bars — though I have no doubt there are those who do not recognize or understand the difference — these are sports restaurants/bars.
I worked at these types of establishments, and just so happened to be one of the people who would step in to keep an eye on things when the vibes were off — and, let me assure you, anyone believing that the waitstaff were there to get them all hot and bothered was a pretty clear-cut ‘vibes are off’ situation. None of us were there to cater to that sort of thing*; we were there to sell food and drinks, albeit with a gimmick.
*Playful banter was an aspect of the job — hence the whole “casting” thing. FOH were hired as ‘entertainers’, and were expected to be fun to be around, to literally be entertaining, to create a carefree, upbeat environment, as part of the job. Most of the time this simply meant not being too curt with service or a Debbie downer while on the floor. We were required to spend at least a portion of our time chatting with customers about whatever, just being engaging, as opposed to other restaurants where the FOH staff light-heartedly joking around was not an expected part of the experience.
But it does occupy a space in my mind as to how the 00s felt like.
Very much so.
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Comment on Hooters | Bankrupt in ~food
Bet (edited )LinkI’ve worked in this industry. I know it pretty well, actually. Interesting to see outside perspectives. ETA: “Casting” is a normal, slightly informal restaurant interview nine times out of ten,...I’ve worked in this industry. I know it pretty well, actually. Interesting to see outside perspectives.
ETA: “Casting” is a normal, slightly informal restaurant interview nine times out of ten, guys. They are looking for people with decent people skills, the ability to upsell, etc. — very, very regular stuff.
ETA to the ETA: Lord have mercy, lol. Let me explicitly announce — as an actual, real-life former “breasturant” waitstaff member, front of house — that it is a job very similar in all its foibles and glories as basically any other restaurant job.
To be honest, the threshold for sexual harassment was a lot shallower in these establishments than in normal eateries, in my experience. And none of us were being held against our will any more overtly than the average desperate American worker, and we were all in on the joke — because who would take this stuff seriously? It was all meant to be tongue-in-cheek, PG-13 at most, silly, stupid fun. Just kitschy, cosplaying fun.
And, yes, these were family restaurants, but in the same sense as some family-oriented media does not necessarily cater to little children and therefore requires some appropriately exercised discretion.
Also, for the record, I, too, found myself hella confused by a Twin Peaks restaurant when I first encountered one, lol.
(Also, also, the food was insanely good where I worked, as well as at the places where my friends worked. BOH did not come to play; every damned shift was excellence, all credit to them. This is an establishment by establishment sort of thing, though, so it is understandable that quality would be hit or miss.)
Yes, exactly. And I’ll just add that the same could also be said about a lot of other groups that regularly booked space where I worked, even when they were, presumably, groups of heterosexual men. They just thought it was a chill environment — and they were right, it was.
In fact, most interactions I had in a workday were just… benign. Very normal, run-of-the-mill stuff.
ETA: Oh, I replied before I saw your edit with the last bit.