The future of dining out

We are told that there is an unemployment rate of around 10% here in America, but that statistic represents the number of people who are collecting unemployment benefits from the government, not the true total of unemployed people. And it certainly doesn’t represent the number of people who are working at jobs that may or may not be providing enough income to meet their basic survival needs. It is said that half of the ever-growing number of Americans who are living in their cars because they can’t afford to keep a roof over their heads actually have a job.

The labor prognosticators have been telling us for years that the future of job growth in this country lies in the service industry, and that is really exciting news for those of us who are unemployed, and those Americans who are underemployed. Concerning the latter group, you can be heartened by the fact that if you are working at a job that is not paying you a living wage when you are qualified to do something more enriching professionally and economically, service industries may be hiring. But wait, you say that you already work in the service industry, and that is why you are underemployed? Well that just does not compute, Will Robinson.

So this article is about the future of dining out. Within the next few years, restaurants will have 100 waiters and waitresses for each customer, all making $2.10 an hour (+ tips!), and they will all live behind the chain restaurants what are owned by a handful of global corporations in tent cities, eating government cheese and sharing in the occasional communal bowl of squirrel stew. The customers will need police escorts to get to and from their cars, and the cooks, and there will be many, will be forced to taste the food before it is served (for safety reasons). Many will perish, but it will weed out the bad blood, and undertaker schools will enjoy a boost in enrollment, creating still more jobs in the service industry.