SF Weekly Letters

Nailing the New Law
Trading a dunce cap for a hard hat: This stupid law [local hiring requirement] is designed to force construction companies to hire semiliterate high school dropouts with no skills ["Locals Only," Sucka Free City, Benjamin Wachs, 12/15]. The myth that there are thousands of unemployed, highly skilled construction workers in S.F. is absurd. Construction requires educated people who can do math, read diagrams and very detailed instructions, as well as operate computers and other electronic devices. It's not hammering nails all day. But of course the supes would not know any of this, since none of them live in the real world.

Scott

Web Comment

Pass the Vaporizer
No need to burn leaves: Thank you for an excellent article ["Dude, Stop That Coughing," Chris Roberts, the Rolling Paper, 12/15]. Vaporizers do, indeed, make a big difference in lung health. As a medical cannabis user for more than 40 years, my lungs were a mess until I got a vaporizer! I started using cannabis back in the late '60s and when I found it not only relieved my migraines, but regular use actually prevented them. Cannabis is an extremely useful herbal medicine. Learn the facts about this safe and effective healing herb. Educate yourself!

Storm Crow

Web Comment

Blog Comments of the Week
In response to a blog post listing reasons a bartender doesn't like a patron: While S.F. requires everyone (including servers) to be paid minimum wage, most bartenders across the country are paid half-minumum wage (i.e., underpaid) for a job that requires them to constantly be on their feet and deal with a lot of stress, not to mention a great deal of specialized knowledge, including about a lot of legal liability ["This is why your bartender hates you," Lou Bustamante, SFoodie, 12/14].

Being good at mixing drinks — or knowing what they are — is worth the $10 an hour that a bartender makes. If all a patron uses a bartender for is pouring his shots or opening a beer, that's his choice. It's like saying doctors are overpaid because all they do is write prescriptions.

That being said, there an unacceptable number of bad bartenders in the Bay Area with entitlement issues who have no idea what they're doing. Splitting hairs between "cranberry and vodka" and "vodka and cranberry" is obnoxious considering the drink is called a Cape Codder.

Katie

Web Comment

Another response to bartenders' dislikes: As neither architect, doctor, lawyer, nor engineer, I'll admit college wasn't necessary to learn bartending, but it does take a fair amount of dexterity and the ability to think on your feet. I'll admit having been paid a decent wage as well (cooks still make more per hour), but remember I'm in charge of the atmosphere and energy level in the house, and I'm supposed to have an adequate knowledge base for the cockamamie recipes patrons want from time to time. I have to be fast, accurate with cash and math, consistently pleasant, capable of dealing with a patron's baggage on my shift, and ensure enough general "safety" in the house to keep someone from overindulging and potentially keeping his butt, as well as my own, out of the clink for any potential or accidental "mistakes."

Check the wallet, bring money and friends, but bring an equal or greater amount of respect to dispense with tips for the staff, and show courtesy for the establishment's other patrons, too. What a bartender does for a patron is called babysitting, and it ain't free.

Not BartendingAnymore

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