I can’t believe there are many people who want to be “waited on” by servants.
I just want someone to cook and somewhere to sit and hangout with friends without needing to cleanup.
All of those people are servants, it’s just kinda rude to say it that way. Saying “I don’t want servants, I just want people to cook for me and clean up after me” is really just saying “I want cooking and cleaning servants, but I don’t want to use that word”.
Of course. Because the word servant had all sorts of negative connotations. Nobody wants to be called a servant, and there’s all sorts of judgements to be made about people who call others servants (or even just make implications in that direction). Like in the parent comment I was originally replying to for instance, which could essentially be rephrased to “why would anybody want to have servants? I myself prefer to have servants”. On the surface the comment as it’s written appears to be a criticism of having unreasonable demands. But I’d say it’s just a criticism around phrasing used to project a sense of moral superiority.
1 : a manservant having charge of the wines and liquors. 2 : the chief male servant of a household who has charge of other employees, receives guests, directs the serving of meals, and performs various personal services.
I think the distinction is usually drawn at (a) payment is exchanged for services, and (b) the person providing the service is free to leave the role at their discretion (possibly with a contractual requirement to provide advance notice).
> Hiring a chef and a butler is a far cry from having servants.
I was a private chef, and in my situation (off-season Historical European Hotel) no, it really isn't... what experience do you speak from to make such a statement?
Culinary work, after you strip all the romanticism, is at it's core slave labour.
> Were you paid? Could you leave the job if you wanted?
I've been screwed out of payment by kitchen/hotel owners after providing my service, yes... which is why I retired for the 2nd time after losing 3 months of payment in my last gig in Italy after accepting to continue while the owner had the chance to recover investment over the Summer and cover expenses, one guy there (a barman) was on his 6th month of working without pay as he couldn't find work in 2013 anywhere at his age (50s) but could take home uneaten leftovers off of gusests plates or extra we had at the end of service to his elderly parents who he looked after. It was heartbreaking. It's just some of the perils of working in a precarious profession in a failing economy and as an undocumented worked (me) while doing my apprenticeship. You accept it and you move on, but you never forget.
I soon learned to do roofing, re-framing and other misc refurbishment jobs on homes after that Fall and swore to myself I'd never come back while I finished my apprenticeship in Ag--then I got the bug and came back in 2018 after quitting IBM.
Also, I have friends that are chef(s) and owner of their kitchens that were shut down during COVID, and for them the anser is also: No.
The State government told them to shut down and the State/Federal governments left them out in the cold after complying with the outdoor restrictions and buying lots of expensive equipment and re-hiring staff after doing things by themselves during the take out option only operation. They sunk their, and much of their extended family's life savings into building those businesses and some didn't qualify for PPP and bet it all once more just to cover the previous loans.
You only think it's 'exaggeration' because you likely are afforded a great deal of security from your position in tech where you don't even understand just how lucky/privileged you are to be able to work from home and still earn a (bloated) salary and not have the incompetence and corruption of the State make you shut down your operation with little to no fall back plan after having sunk $10,000+ of dollars in loans to continue to operate and still be shut down.
I could go on, but the answer is that not being paid for your labour is normal, we have things called 'stages' that equate to working interviews in which you are not paid is the 'norm.' In Europe (where I worked for a significant part of my career) and Asia it's typical to stage for weeks, even months before to show you can be relied on to do basic tasks and show up on time and not endanger yourself or others.
Is this legal? Probably not, but its the norm.
I've worked in both Industrys (culinary and tech) and even tried to merge the two together, founded my own startup and then worked at a Multinational Corp and was on later stage round interviews at SpaceX when COVID hit.
And all of those Industries, for me at least, have their dark sides that people never want to talk about except for me for some reason, so I stand by my claim about culinary despite people in that Industry thinking I have had this very romantic and idealic career when I tell them what and where I've worked over the years.
My passion for food (and what it can do to nourish and change individuals and communities) is the only thing that let me believe being physically and verbally abused was acceptable, get paid nothing, work long (sometimes unpaid) hours when I was running my own kitchen and often while injured (from farming in the AM) just to make ends meet and be able to practice my Art was worth it. I'm glad to say I've hit a peak I will never reach again and I'm old enough and mature enough to be able to bow out with my head held high and fall back on other skill sets with some basic re-training.
So, again... it's only exaggeration to you because chances are you never worked a day in the Industry and aren't aware of how common those stories are.
There are people in actual slavery all over the world and there is a world of difference between having a crap job or getting screwed out of money and being a slave.
And no, I’ve never worked in hospitality, but I’ve had my share of terrible jobs and I have friends that work in the industry.
I completely agree that most people in the industry are underpaid (especially in the US... it’s criminal the way servers are expected to live on tips).
I'm discovering that a portion of HN is salty about what is "slave labor". You were paid a pittance, it's not slave labor. Were you chained to a pole and couldn't leave? No? Well clearly not slave labor. Oh, they left you a hacksaw, so you could have left if you wanted. Not slavery. Soon, "slave wages" will not be a thing because clearly slaves are never paid. Figurative language is not a thing, apparently.
You want the truth, or the BS story you get from the banal Food Networks or Top Chefs of the World that lets you delude yourself that its ok to not tip much or at all when you go out in what is horrible Industry attached to an even worse business model? And BOH (cooks, dishwashers) doesn't get any of that mind you.
Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential was, at times clearly embellished for attention grabbing purposes to sell books, a very accurate depiction of the Industry. Which is why he became the patron saint of sorts to the Culinary World, despite being an admittedly mediocre chef.
There was a time I really wished everyone had spent a summer working in a kitchen to gain perspective on what that thing really is, now it's very unlikely to occur after COVID.