Hey, Waitress!: The USA from the Other Side of the Tray

By Alison Owings

Book Overview

Most of us have sat across the tray from a waitress, but how many of us know what really is going on from her side? Hey, Waitress aims to tell us. Containing lively, personal portraits of waitresses from many different walks of life, this book is the first of its kind to show the intimate, illuminating, and often shocking behind-the-scenes stories of waitresses' daily shifts and daily lives.

Alison Owings traveled the country-from border to border and coast to coast-to hear firsthand what waitresses think about their lives, their work, and their world. Part journalism and part oral history, Hey, Waitress introduces an eclectic cast of characters: a ninety-five-year-old Baltimore woman who may have been the oldest living waitress, a Staten Island firebrand laboring at a Pizza Hut, a well-to-do runaway housewife, a Native American proud of her financial independence, a college student loving her diner more than her studies, a Cajun grandmother of twenty-two, and many others.

The book also offers vivid slices of American history. The stories describe the famous sit-in at the Woolworth's counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, which helped spark the civil rights movement; early struggles for waitress unions; and battles against sexually discriminatory hiring in restaurants.

A superb and accessible means of breaking down stereotypes, this book reveals American waitresses in all their complexity and individuality, and will surely change the way we order, tip, and, most of all, behave in restaurants.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0520242246
• ISBN13: 9780520242241
• Release Date: May 2004
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Length: 334 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Welcome to the world of waitressing

I learned about this book from Smithsonian magazine's book reviews and was immediately intrigued. I, too, glossed over the brief history of waitressing in the beginning of the book to get right to the interviews. The part of the book I enjoyed most was the section on the women who have been involved (albeit peripherally at times) in major historical events by way of their profession. It was also very eye-opening as to the structure and dynamics of the restaurant system and the pay structure. I first became aware of the abuses in this system when a good friend of mine worked for a major sit-down dining chain in the United States while we were in college. His pay as a waiter was based only on tips (no hourly wage at all), and he was once "rewarded" for his excellent service by a large party of customers who paid for their dinner via a gift certificate, leaving the $0.11 balance as their tip. This book merely confirmed that such experiences are not necessarily that rare. It also provides some data on how waitresses perceive their customers which was also fascinating. I do leave a little extra now when dining out....

Waiting Tables for Godot

I confess, I skipped the short history of waitressing at the start of the book to go straight to the interviews. These stories are fascinating.This could have been a depressing expose about the low pay and poor conditions inherent in waiting. But Owings evidently has quite an admiration for waitresses, and she manages to bring out the pride these women have for their work. Even waitresses who hate the job are proud of some aspect of what they do.The diversity of waitresses interviewed was impressive: from truckstops to Chez Panisse, from Alaska to Louisiana, from the Forties to the Millennium, from poor waitresses to not-so-poor (there are no rich waitresses), from high school dropouts to PhDs.This is a wonderful book to include with Nickel and Dimed and Waiting by Ginsburg.

Wisdom... and the price is right

Where ever is wisdom available to working women? Here it is in "Hey, Waitress."The bright and lively novella-like interviewsshine a brilliant and witty light on all our lives.

Hey,Waitress! The USA from the Other Side of the Tray

This thought provoking book was an eye opener for me. Similar to Nickel and Dimed - which I loved - it brings you into the lives of a hardworking segment of our workforce that is often overlooked and underappreciated. I had no idea of the physical, mental, and emotional challenges waitresses face (often with grace and humility) on a daily basis at diners and four-star restaurants alike. Reading the stories of these women - some sad, some funny, all interesting and compelling - forever changed the way I look at and treat waitresses. I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in deepening their understanding of the lives of people we see everyday but might not otherwise have a chance to know.