Ep. 7: We Stumble On....

After a hiatus to contemplate the crumbling of our society, we're back! And we're resolving to be nice while still being miserable, channelling these Ominous Positivity vibes. 

First off: Everyone hates Tom Brady. That's all.
In unrelated news, India's been having the largest strike in world history. 

Chit-chat's over! Now, straight to the dark side - the worst people are coming out to eat. Not only are they tipping less but they're sexually harassing staff more than ever. One Fair Wage's full report here, with 6 pages of #MaskualHarassment quotes. The sub-minimum wage appears to make treatment worse, and praise be to places that found fairer ways of paying people during a pandemic. Also - DID YOU KNOW that Herman Cain (*turns and spits over shoulder*) was a main player in freezing submin wage at $2.13? Now you do. For more tipping knowledge, there's Kerry Segrave's Tipping: an American Social History of Gratuities. (Message the pod if it's too pricey for you). 

But our MAIN STORY (for some reason) is the Staten Island bar owner/manager who ran over a sheriff's deputy arresting him (again) for violating Covid safety protocols. Here he is on Hannity, loving the cops and railing against tyranny. And everyone should watch this press conference if only for the first guy's coat. It's so good. Problem is, the dudes have a point, one that is somewhat more thoroughly expressed in this pretty good Atlantic piece on the absurd nature of dining restrictions. Bar owners like this know it's either massive financial support from the government or reopening - they can't continue to be closed but be expected to pay bills. Sadly - the GOP articulates a (poisonous) solution draped in the rhetoric of "freedom": reopening, while Dems just….lower our expectations.