Arnon Grunberg

Bus your own table

Bad idea

This morning I had breakfast at Tartine Bakery. It was the second time in my life that I had breakfast there; it was even more crowded than last time.
But the pastries were delicious.
I noticed a sign: “Please, bus your own table.” I don’t mind busing my own table, but I do believe that it is hurting the economy. We should pay people to do work we could do ourselves, but that we don’t want to do because we rather read a book by Dawkins, or text a girlfriend or stare out the window.
I assume many people in San Francisco will disagree with me, but I’ve worked as a busboy myself in New York and it’s not that I feel too good to bus my table.
I agree that we should raise the status of the busboy, but eliminating the job of the busboy is a bad idea.