The Postmodern Condition/This Blog Revealed as a Sham
The Atlantic reports that 70% of complaints about restaurants relate not to food, but service. 70%! This number astounds because:
1. more Americans can agree that waiters suck than can agree who should be President, whether abortion should be legal, and whether Night at the Museum 2: Escape from the Smithsonian is a good movie. Which means...sorry waiters, I guess you must really, in general, suck! I suppose more Americans can agree that God exists, but I'm not sure why.
2. my longstanding perception that the employees of Soul Vegetarian on Georgia Avenue don't like me because I'm white (though I suppose, they may not like me because they perceive I am an asshole, though, in general, I must take the position that I am not an asshole) is not influenced by the (in my opinion) mediocre quality of their food. In fact, I may find Soul Veg's food mediocre simply because I perceive that its staff does not like me! In addition, I may find Harmony Cafe's food mediocre not because it is mediocre, but because I always feel bad for the one woman who has waited tables there every day, alone, for as long as I can remember, which is at least 10 years, and probably longer. Maybe if Harmony Cafe had a larger staff and this poor woman had some goddamned help for once, I might, in fact, perceive that Harmony is the best Chinese restaurant on the East Coast! Though I doubt it, as Harmony is mediocre (at best).
3. If 70% of the waaa-waaa-waaa about this-or-that restaurant isn't food related, but service related, that means that presentation isn't 50% of the meal (as a boss of mine once told me), but 70% of the meal, aka the majority. In other words, our senses are easily influenced or, as Ebenezer Scrooge explained in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, "a little thing affects them." In other, other words, the whole concept of a palate is a sham perpetrated by the sensuality industry, aka the Food Network, Food and Wine Magazine, The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, the food sections of all surviving American newspaper, the producers of the 2000 film Chocolat, my favorite big grrl Paula Dean, New Yorkers generally, high end grocers (aka Whole Foods), the "foodie" contigent of our society, all of our mothers, and this blog.
3:48 pm
You fail high-school statistics.
"70% of complaints are about service" =/= "70% of all diners complain about service." Therefore #1 is completely wrong.
#3 is also wrong. "70% of complaints are about service" =/= "service is 70% of the meal." If food is very important to the meal, but usually right, while service is relatively minor to the meal, but more often wrong, then it's perfectly consistent that 70% of complaints be about service while food is still 50% of the meal.
#2 is probably wrong also, but it's too poorly written for me to make heads or tails out of.
5:12 pm
LOL @ the story and Simon's response...
6:30 pm
Simon...
1. What does the symbol =/= mean? Does it mean "doesn't equal" or "not the same as?" Assuming it does...
2. You are right - saying "70% of diners complain about service" isn't the same as saying "70% of complaints are about service." However, the problem you point out with #1 isn't a statistical issue (that would lead me to fail high-school statistics), but a semantic one. In the context of this article, I'm only counting complaining diners. Certainly, some diners praise. Other diners neither praise, nor complain. But, again - this article is about what I call the "sensuality industry," which is staffed by complainers. And, evidently, 70% of these complainers are complaining about service, not food. See what I mean?
3. Your respond to my third point, which nonsensically refers to food as "right," is too confusing to reply to. I suggest a personal meeting.
7:10 pm
When I waited tables, tips were partly a reflection of the quality of service I provided. However, tips also reflected the performance of the kitchen among other factors. If the kitchen fell off pace and the dishes were late or came out all at once, the tip I received reflected that.
Service, in the context of the article referenced, also includes aspects such as making a reservation and hostess seating. I absolutely agree that, especially outside the fine dining realm, many servers give lousy service for all kinds of reasons too wordy to include here. However, the issues behind the 70% statistic here are more complex than a two-word sound bite (waiters suck). I also have a theory about chop/steakhouse diners in DC wanting to abuse their servers, taking a bad day out on someone in a subservient role or otherwise flexing their ego, but that's a whole other line of thinking.
I love your third point, by the way. Logical fallacy aside, it's a fun read and amusing rant. I do think the numbers would flip if you limited the survey to self-identified "foodies with palates", but then again that term means so many things these days.
8:45 pm
Thanks for the thoughtful reply, KMango. FYI: I do not think, personally, that "waiters suck."