Book Review

Book Review

Waiter Rant:  Thanks for the Tip—Confessions of a Cynical Waiter

Harper Colllins Publishers

Steve Dublanica chronicles his life in Waiter Rant based on his collection of observations and theories developed while working in an upscale Manhattan restaurant.  Dublanica stories range from being cute to funny to whiny to enduring, all the way to disgusting and back to funny.  Part memoir, part biography, part sociological and cultural study, Dublanica interjects his own fears and anxieties while he highlights the fears and anxieties of employees and patrons that fuel the restaurant business.   Warning:  If you have worked or eaten at a restaurant you just might recognize yourself in these pages.

The most appealing part of the book is reading how Dublanica ended up working in the restaurant business in the first place.  I don’t believe in all my years working as a server that I have met anyone who ever aspired to be a career server.  Who would aspire to working long hours for minimum wage plus gratuities until your feet ached?  I have yet to meet the person if one exists.  Most people working in the restaurant business do so because they are waiting for a break, going to school, or are just trying to make ends meet.    

I enjoyed Waiter Rant because he echoed my fears, desires, struggles, and feeling like an outsider from friends and families who had “normal lives” while I worked as a server.  I related to Dublanica’s description of his boss, Fluvio, secretly rooting for him to fail at getting a book deal.  I have had far too many restaurant bosses that tried every manipulative trick up their sleeve to keep you where they want you.  Bosses who play power trips with schedules when time off is requested by staff even if someone is available to cover the shift.  Only once have I encountered a restaurant boss who was ever truly happy at an employee’s success outside of the workplace while on their payroll.  
Dublanica is right when he highlights what keeps waiters going is a certain percentage of customers that eat out at restaurants who have the common sense and grace that fuel the belief that there might be hope for human kind.   

What I didn’t like about Waiter Rant is how Dublanica skirts abuses that occur in the business.  The industry is staffed with workers that are often taken advantage of and government regulatory agencies often turn a blind eye to the labour laws that are broken.  Dublanica seems to brush them off as that is just the way it is and moves on to another episode at table 18 and so forth.  
Many restaurant workers work long hours without ever seeing overtime pay or benefits.   Waiters are seen as easily replaceable they are often exploited and manipulated.  Dublanica instead of lobbying customers to tip more generously could have spend more time highlighting the labour issues and laws that are often broken and unspoken.