The Death of an Occupation.

     The pandemic has been hard on the food industry.  Mom and pop restaurants had to close or follow a takeout order only rule. Many private restaurants couldn’t handle the cost of being closed and stayed that way. 

     The drive through restaurants with lobbies kept the drive throughs open and closed the lobbies during the pandemic. What most of them found out was they made more money with less people. I rarely sat inside fast food restaurants with lobbies and drive through windows, but I did at Steak-n-Shake. I like their food. 

     I’d missed sit down meals a lot over the past two years. I’ve been to several mom and pop’s restaurants to eat since they opened back up. I’ve visited Red Lobster, Bob Evans, Texas Road House, and Cracker Barrel.  I’ve tipped all the wait staff well, because they have dealt with food shortages, diminished menus, and less customers than before this all happened 

 ​    Today I ate inside the lobby of Steak-n-Shake for the first time since the pandemic started and the last time of my life. I walked into a sign that said please place your order at the kiosk. 

     My daughter wanted to eat there, and so, we placed an order and were told by the kiosk to have a seat and our order was number 130. 

     The order came up five minutes later. I carried the tray back to our table and thought about what placing my order, seating ourselves, and getting our food from the counter actually meant. 

     It meant that Steak-n-Shake decided that fewer employees meant greater profits and decided not to bring servers back to their business. They eliminated jobs that have supported people for years and years. 

    It means that young people have fewer starting jobs when fresh out of high school.  Kiosks have replaced millions of jobs across our country, 

     I for one refuse to allow any company to make more money by using me as free labor. If a kiosk is my only means of doing business with a retailer, I won’t do business with that retailer. 

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