Dishing It Out (Women In The Political Economy) Review

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(More customer reviews)The book, which I read for a feminism class, actually turned out to be one that I liked. The book focuses on a small, truck-stop restaurant called Route. The book tells stories of women's work in the restaurant and everyday problems that they face.
Most people never realize some things about waitresses if they've never been one. For example, waitresses' minimum wage is about 3 dollars less than that of normal jobs. They are expected to make up the difference in tips. After reading material such as this, sympathy for waitresses will go out even more. These are the same people that have to put up with rude and picky customers.
Managers seem to have it almost worse. Although, managers are usually thought of as having a higher and better position, this is very untrue in the restaurant business. Managers get minimum wage, but no tips, sometimes making less than the waiters. And because the turn-over rate is so high for managers, they've often work fewer time than the waitresses, which makes them seem as less of an authoritative figure. And, the manager has to deal with personnel problems and fill in for anyone who doesn't show up for work, or who quits on the spot. It's actually much tougher than one would think.
The books tells of how much waitresses put up with and the low wages that the make. I would recommend this book, if just for that fact that it opens up people's eyes to the fact that waitresses really do depend on tips - so don't stiff them. It's also a wonderful book to read just for enjoyment because it keeps your attention with different stories and interviews of several ladies, so in that sense, it's almost more of a story than a boring book of research.

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This study challenges the uncritical equation of advancement with success. As a participant observer at a family-style restaurant in New Jersey, Greta Paules reveals the strategies that experienced waitresses employ to improve their own positions rather than aspiring toward management. Through the voices of some aggressive, determined, tough, and resilient women, Paules confronts stereotypical characterizations of waitresses. Paules finds that certain unique features of the restaurant industry—the tipping system, chaotic work environment, chronic shortages of labor and supplies, and the manager's role as a fill-in man—allow waitresses to manipulate their work environment to protect their own interests. The downgrading of the managerial role in this restaurant has rendered advancement meaningless. Knowing that the "help wanted" sign is permanently posted, the waitresses refuse to submit to management's dictates, to "take junk" from rude or hostile customers, or to internalize the negative self-image usually associated with waitressing. The colorful and often amusing comments by the women Paules interviewed indicate that they have developed an arsenal of subtle but undeniably effective tactics to combat the exploitive elements of the job, to maximize tips, and to secure the boss's attention to their needs.

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Appetite for America: How Visionary Businessman Fred Harvey Built a Railroad Hospitality Empire That Civilized the Wild West Review

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(More customer reviews)The problem I face in writing this review is that I don't have all the time and space it would take to do this incredibly well done, truly magnificent history the justice it deserves. Stephen Fried has written at least three histories in this single volume.
The nominal subject is a gentleman named Fred Harvey, a name that is little known among the general public today.
But Fred Harvey was very influential in shaping the development of the American West, the railroad industry (or at least part of it), creating branding and merchandising as we now know it , creating the then new habit of restaurant eating, expanding employment opportunities for women, preserving Native American culture and still more. His son carried on long after Fred Harvey died, but the Harvey empire crumbled with the modern era.
Which is really a pity. I grew up in the twilight of the Fred Harvey era. I still vaguely recall how special eating at the Fred Harvey restaurant at a local railroad terminal was and think I rode on one of the last trains where Fred Harvey's company provided the dining car service.
"Appetite for America" covers Fred Harvey's history. His first big day was the opening of a "eating house" for the Santa Fe, Atchison and Topeka Rail Road in Topeka, Kansas. Eating out, so to speak, was not an experience to be sought after. Places offering food were suspect for many good reasons and the victuals offered were usually mediocre on the best of days. But Fred Harvey changed that: eating at one of Fred Harvey's eating houses was virtually guaranteed a pleasant experience with tasty and nourishing food at reasonable prices. The nation was on the move with the spread of railroads - and Fred Harvey reached a deal with the Santa Fe rail road to feed its ever increasing number of passengers. A shrewd entrepreneur, Harvey realized that creating satisfied customers was the key to success.
He innovated endlessly from his creation of the "Harvey Girls", well dressed, well trained servers which was very much a departure from the norm in those days, to the creation of Fred Harvey hotels and newsstands. Harvey created a vast empire of businesses, the first chain stores in fact, covering the western part of the United States. Part of it lives on in the legendary hotel on the rim of the Grand Canyon.
Friedl covers everything: from Fred Harvey's childhood to the dissolution of the company in the mid 20th Century.
There is so much to tell about that time and the man, his company and family, the railroads, the growth of the nation. Remarkably, Stephen Friedl in what can be fairly described as a triumph of research and good writing tells them all in great detail and interestingly. In fact, this book richly deserves more than a single reading.
I could go on and on about this remarkable multiple history. Friedl even includes recipes from Fred Harvey restaurants that were renowned in their day and still read as if they would be tasty. He recounts the train trip he and his wife took along the path of the old Santa Fe rail road, stopping to hunt for remnants of the Harvey empire. Train lovers, "trainiacs" as Friedl calls them, will love his history of railroading, particularly in the west. Students of business and American history will find much of interest in the detailed descriptions of how Harvey and his successors built and managed their far-flung, multi-faceted empire.
In all, this is an incredibly interesting book, made so by Friedls intensive research and excellent writing style. Very much worth reading more than once.
Jerry


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