Leaving propaganda with your tip

[Ander]

The other day I was sitting in a restaurant around 2 in the morning with my girlfriend. As I watched our waitress struggle with getting all her orders in, bringing food to the tables, and deal with drunken morons, I was imagining how tired and miserable she must have been at that moment.

We finished our meal, got our coats on, and paid, leaving a nice tip for her as she was very friendly and helpful. As I was leaving I started to think about the possibility of leaving some form of propaganda at every restaurant I ate at.

The question is, would it be a good idea to leave a small pamphlet or something with an eye-catching phrase ("the boss needs you, you don't need the boss") with your tip? I know that many times waiters and waitresses are very busy and may not have time to read it or simply may not care, but imagine the off chance that they stop and pick it up.

It wouldn't have to be a huge, incredibly detailed manifesto, but simply a paper or small booklet that is easy to read and understandable and gives information about exploitation and the possibility of change or something related.

This would give information right into the hands of workers and wage slaves. Seems to go right to the source, in my opinion.

Thoughts?

[Marsella]

Yeah might work.

Waiters and waitresses are treated like utter shite.

Firstly, the bosses are mainly slave drivers.

Secondly, customers can be so rude sometimes.

But yeah, the best thing I found when I was doing the sort of work, was when a customer was really nice to you, asked you how you were etc. That sort of stuff goes a long way.

The only problem would be with the boss - if they found such material in a worker's hand it could spell trouble.

Oh and I actually like working with drunk people, they are mainly far friendlier, less laid back...

My real question is: what restaurant would still be serving people at 2 in the morning!

[Ander]

These particular drunk people were teenagers who were acting like a bunch of assholes.

And it was Golden Griddle which is open 24/7.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Silent agitators can indeed be effective, but it's best to tie them in with other work (i.e. having at least one worker in the place -- maybe you, get a job there for a while -- talking about the same thing to fellow workers, leafleting or distributing newspaper outside, etc.).

[An archist]

I do that all the time, also xriting on money can be quite effective, even if not everyone who gets the bill reads it, money goes around a lot.

[YSR]

The only problem would be with the boss - if they found such material in a worker's hand it could spell trouble.

Bingo.

As long as it's safe though, it could be alright. Almost every time I go into a restaurant with my Wobbly shirt that declares "The working class and the employing class have nothing in common," I get some smiles and 'right on's about it.

Probably the best thing you could do is smile and be gracious. Then again, it couldn't hurt, as long as you were sure the worker couldn't get hurt by it (or think you were a crazy Christian pamphleteer or something). Probably something that didn't end with "So join the Whatever Party" would be best.