Servers – The Quarter Rat

There are so many traditions associated with Thanksgiving: Gorging on three days’ worth of food in one meal, bickering with in-laws over politics, a week’s wage lost on football games and the occasional errant balloon injuring dozens at the Macy’s Parade.

Here in New Orleans, specifically the French Quarter, the tradition of accusing businesses of being racist. This ritual stems from the Bayou Classic, the annual college football game hosted at the Superdome between Grambling State and Southern University. Again, we host the rival college game for the 52nd season. New Orleans will be populated by thousands of fans from historically Black colleges.

This happens to coincide with the time when many of our businesses may choose to close their doors for a few days around Thanksgiving and the following weekend. This has, in many previous years, brought up allegations of our local business having a racial motivation for the closures because it directly impacts the fun the visitors are able to have on Bourbon Street. There will be many social media posts calling out the “racist business owners” for blatant discrimination. The outrage is fatter than any genetically modified turkey.

As a service industry worker here in The French Quarter for the past 15 years, allow me to offer these insights.

First, as service workers we are expected, even demanded to work long, hard hours for every other major and minor holiday during the rest of the year. Christmas, New Year’s Eve, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Mother’s Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day and Halloween. Not to mention Mardi Gras, the rest of the city just shuts down for it.”

Good luck trying to find any local business to return a call as Carnival starts to get into full swing. Other than the essential government services like police and fire who like us have no choice, the city government practically closes down. If you were so presumptuous as to dare to ask your employer for time off, his laughter would drown out the jukebox. You either work 12 hour shifts for a week straight like your coworkers or you can quit.

Thanksgiving Day has become sort of a default for staff to have one holiday to enjoy being served instead of serving. We too have friends and families that we would relish time to spend with. Being a traditional family-oriented holiday, karaoke on Bourbon Street isn’t the first activity that comes to mind. It’s not that big of an ask. How about a little support for the working proletariat pushing back against heartless capitalist systems denying us of our basic human need to enjoy a holiday.

Second: This time is often spent by the businesses to do much needed maintenance work to their establishments. Most are open seven days a week and are only closed for a few hours per day. That’s enough time to clean and do simple repairs, but major work that may take a couple of days cannot be addressed in a couple of hours. I know of one establishment utilizing this year’s closure to do some floor tile work. It needs a few days of no one walking on it to set properly. These old buildings require a lot of services, plumbing, painting, electrical etc. That cannot be rushed.

Third: To accuse any establishment in New Orleans of being “rAcIst” is ludicrous. Take a look around any other weekend; half of the staff and customers are most likely Black. What do you think? Behind all of the shuttered doors and windows this weekend Klan meetings are being held?

Allow me to submit this piece of evidence. July Fourth weekend New Orleans hosts Essence Fest, an exclusively Black event that our doors are always open to welcome them and their money. We’re capitalists, the only color we care about is green. If they were the crackers that online warriors claim they are, then Billy Bob would be able to find an excuse to close for that Black event as well.

Just allow the service industry workers to have one holiday for themselves and allow the maintenance workers some time to glue everything back together.

Those of us who work in the service industries are use to working holidays. It’s expected of us and we do not (or should not) whine about it. It’s no different than those who work in emergency services, health care or workers in countless other industries. We work so others can enjoy a special day. Perhaps Mr. NOLA History Guy is fortunate enough to be able to decide what days he will and will not work. More power to him and good for him. I imagine being a historian has pretty flexible schedules, if any.

Mother’s Day is one of the busiest days of the year for every restaurant in America. Any mother who works in the service industries is very accustomed to working today. Businesses can not spare any staff. All hands on deck. There will be a day off soon that she can spend with her family. She has that job to support her family and parents make sacrifices for their children. Not everybody goes to work with a sense of entitlement. We work all holidays and yes, EVEN Mardi Gras. We do it out of obligation to our employers and customers so those who don’t have to work can celebrate. What have you sacrificed for others to have fun?

“Serve you for tipped minimum wage” Sounds like something a typical virtue signaling leftist would say. A Bernie Sanders type of tweet, “How can I take today’s topic and twist it to make political sausage out of it?” “How can I demonize the BILLIONAIRES?” (Admit it, you read that in Bernie’s voice.)

You can bet damn well that any mother serving tables, working in a kitchen or slinging drinks today worked her ass off and made some good cash. She has probably worked every Mother’s Day for decades without complaining about it. She doesn’t need some self-righteous Twitter activist to stand up for her. Maybe you were lucky as a kid and your mom could take the day off from dancing.

My mother died just about 10 years ago. For the first 86 years of her life she was very active and tough as nails. She raised three sons, practically on her own. She did yard work well into her 70s that most historians wouldn’t be able to keep up with. My mother spent the last six years of her life in a nursing home looking forward to the next visit from her sons four times a week. She would have been happy to work into her 90s if she still could have.

I would give my right arm to have my mother alive and working hard in a restaurant today. Waiting on those people who are fortunate enough to have this day off. To have just one more Mother’s Day with her, even if it was at the end of her 12-hour shift when she was dog tired.

So please, spare us your virtuous finger-wagging to gratify one’s self. Those who are mothers or are children who would prefer to be with our mothers today but HAVE TO WORK don’t need to be exploited for your attempt at getting likes from other pompous socialists. Who generally don’t like working any job on any day.

If you got to spend time with your mother today, or tomorrow because she’s working, be fucking grateful.

Contact Eric T. Styles at styles@thequarterrat.com.