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 shows the intimate, illuminating and often shocking behind-the-scenes stories of waitresses' daily shifts and daily lives. Alison Owings travelled 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 95-year-old Baltimore woman who may have been the oldest living waitress; a Staten Island firebrand labouring 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 22; 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. An accessible means of breaking down stereotypes, this book reveals American waitresses in all their complexity and individuality, and may be responsible for changing the way we order, tip and, most of all, behave in restaurants.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
"Welcome to the real world of table service. Alison Owings delves deeply and perceptively into the too-often out-of-view lifestyle of the female server. Hard working women tell their own stories in their own voices and as anthropology-as oral history-it's a comprehensive and thoroughly enjoyable work that will bring cheer and enlightenment to both those inside and outside the restaurant business."-Anthony Bourdain, author of Kitchen Confidential Alison Owings is a freelance writer and the author of Frauen: German Women Recall the Third Reich (1993).
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Produkt-Hinweis
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Maße
Höhe: 229 mm
Breite: 152 mm
Dicke: 22 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-0-520-21750-8 (9780520217508)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Alison Owings is a freelance writer and the author of Frauen: German Women Recall the Third Reich (1993).
Prologue 1. A Brief, and Subjective, History of Waitressing Voices from the Other Side of the Tray 2. Slices of American History Arleen Garcia Ima Jean Edwards Beulah Compton Verna Welsh Marguerite Schertle Cathryn Anita Smith 3. "We Should Be Respected": Professionals Margie Watson Reka Nagy Patty Devon Melinda Rubke Tamara Thompson Dolores Romero 4. High Ends Wendy Levy Nella Powell Martha Shissler Sandy Ward 5. "It Was Desperation Time": Waitressing as Salvation Gladys Gilbert Susan Donley and Linda Bolanos Catherine Blount Bertie Halpern Hilde Meck Lorraine Talcove 6. Diners and Downward Rose Marie Willie Joanne Mulcahy Sally Merlo Diana Candee Jennifer de Haro 7. Worlds Within Worlds Mary Ellen Foster McEvily Melissa Mason Suz Kling Cynthia Shearer Mary-Lyons Mouton Ochsner Bruna 8. After Shift Kathy Anderson Lucy Rienzo and Co-workers Oi Yee Lai Epilogue Acknowledgments Notes
