Waitstaff, caterers, groundskeepers, any member of the service industry that serves the needs of the political class...
Back in August of last year, town halls were being held all over the country by congresscritters, and I penned an action item diary here about creating viral town hall moments by challenging the critters and getting it on tape. In light of the recent "secret video" posted of Romney saying what he really thinks, I believe it is time to push this kind of guerrilla journalism even further - infiltrating their ranks down the ballot just like the hero who videotaped Romney did.
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I spent many years of my life as a waiter. One of the most enlightening waitstaff jobs I had was at a private club here in the south that caters to an exclusive clientele of the wealthiest members of society. There I saw the overwhelmingly white clientele and the overwhelmingly African American wait staff, and as a white teenager, it really gave me a startling wake up call to both institutional racism, income disparity, and the class system in this country. When we drove to work, we were required to park in a back parking lot. Nothing unusual there, except this was the only parking lot where our vehicles were not visible to the rest of the club. The landscaping appeared to me to be deliberately designed to hide this parking lot from view. I don't believe this was accidental. Our relative poverty - on display in our vehicles, for certain - was carefully hidden.
This was a protected class of people that ate here - protected from even the chance that they would have to consider the disparity between their spending a hundred-plus dollars for a meal, and our making less than the cost of that meal in a nights work. We were instructed to not engage in personal conversation at all - that we were there to serve and to remain silent unless we were speaking in relation to our jobs as servers. As with all serving jobs, there were some people who tipped well, and others who would run you to death with requests and then leave little to no tip. But regardless of the person, the common thread was that we were ignored unless something was needed or we did something to break the tranquility. Now don't get me wrong - I was always proud to provide good service, and in a nice restaurant I believe it is appropriate for the situation to be comfortable for the guests. That is the way it should be. But I can not help but to think back on all the conversations that I was able to overhear (often on political or business topics I had no real business hearing) because I was ignored completely. The dealings between politicians and business people that many of us know are going on behind closed doors - often take place in earshot of the waitstaff, and some of the shady things I overheard in my time in an elite establishment still make my skin crawl.
This bring me to the action part of this action diary. Are you a brave progressive waiting tables in one of these establishments? Are you a brave progressive caterer to the political or upper business class? You know the level of impact that the video of Romney at his private event had - it's time to shine that same kind of light down the ballot - it's time to expose the secret conversations held between members of the privileged and political class. I think we all know that what they say in private is very often not what they say in public - it's time we stood up and took some chances to expose that disconnect further.
Here's the problem I see with this tactic - the stakes are MUCH higher for that waiter or waitress than they are for the politician or upper-crust business man. If you lose your job, you might lose your house or not be able to feed your family. If you expose them, they'll likely still go on being a part of the privileged class. So I want you to be careful in your actions, if you decide to take action. I think we as a progressive community should consider supporting - financially if necessary through donations - anyone who loses their job or faces legal action from an attempt to expose what these folks say behind closed doors.
But with that word of caution said... it's time to take those chances. It's time to expose the rampant corruption and class based back room deals made in these exclusive restaurants, country clubs, private fundraising events, and in any other quiet moment where a politician feels all the comfort that hiding the working poor from their view provides them. You may feel like you are the lowest rung on the ladder from an economic point of view, but your country needs your help. It's time that the political power players in this country lose their comfort zone, from presidential candidates all the way down to local races.