moonbattery logo

May 09 2014

Seattle’s Minimum Wage and the Rise of the Robot Waiters

It’s not quite the $26/hour minimum wage congresscritter Barbara Lee (D-CA) has called for, but it beats the $10.10 national rate Obama intends to inflict. Seattle will soon have an astounding $15/hour minimum wage, which effectively saws off the bottom rung of the economic ladder.

Unless progressivism is turned back soon, the rest of the country will follow. Great news for burger flippers, right? Wrong. This story offers a clue at to why:

Tabletop computer screens that take menu orders, accept payments by credit card and let diners play videogames are about to get much more common, changing how waiters and restaurant guests interact.

Chili’s Grill & Bar, one of the largest casual-dining chains in the U.S., … will install tabletop screens in most of its 1,266 U.S. restaurants by early [this] year. … The screens, made by Dallas-based Ziosk LLC, are essentially tablet computers mounted to a sturdy base and loaded with pictures of menu items, as well as a credit-card swipe device and games that can be played for 99 cents at Chili’s. …

Ziosk is one of several companies pitching tabletop devices for restaurants. The devices enable diners to order and pay for their meals, and sometimes flash ads or offer entertainment to diners for a fee.

If Chili’s can take a step toward robot personnel, it ought to be a breeze for McDonalds, where everything tastes like it was excreted by a machine anyway. At least fast food will get a little faster when all you need to do is push a button and swipe a card, and out comes your Big Mac.

Liberals have not been able to prevent businesses from adapting to changing circumstances. The main circumstance anyone trying to run a business in the USSA has to deal with is ever-increasing regulation. Regarding minimum wage, adaptation will come in the form of eliminating any job that it does not make financial sense to pay minimum wage for.

Hiking the wage still higher is a win–win for Democrats. Once again they get to pose as the champions of the poor, while creating more poor, who keep them in power by voting for a living instead of working for a living.

Republicans will of course trot along behind mewling “me too!

On tips from Jack S.

Tweet about this on TwitterShare on Google+Share on StumbleUponEmail this to someoneShare on Facebook


  • Tchhht!!!

    Okay, no more need to tip the server. Oh, and of course the IRS will continue to make assumptions on tip amounts so servers will still be taxed accordingly. LOL!!!

  • BoSplosion

    It’s the Bellevue/Lynnwood/Renton Economic Stimulus Act. The Seattle mayor and city council aren’t worth $15/hr.

  • Henry

    How long before the progs start shrieking their demands for Directive 10-289…?

  • daPenguin

    and if it has not already been stated enough (I don’t think that is possible), this whole scheme is being pushed through by a city council member who is quite rich, thanks to her husband’s money working for one of those greedy corporations she speaks of.

  • James McEnanly

    Remember to tip generously. It could save your life.

  • wingmann

    I used one yesterday at Chili’s. When I closed out, the tip was preset to 20%…yeah right. I scaled it back to 10% since I did half the work.

  • Mr. Mentalo

    My customers (the majority of whom are progressives) are going to be dismayed when they see the big jump in my prices.

    The first reason is purely economic: when $15 is the minimum wage, all my costs for materials (along with living costs at restaurants, markets, etc.) will go up. I’m not going to absorb that. I can’t. Sorry Mr. and Ms. consumer.

    The second reason is purely personal: I worked all my life to develop the skills and talents necessary for my work. It required sacrifice, dedication, effort and discipline. If some functionally illiterate kid who is just out of high school or some middle aged dim-bulb with zero ambition but an over-active libido (hence a bunch of kids) can work no-skill, transient-type jobs and get FIFTEEN BUCKS AN HOUR just because, then I’m sure as hell going to raise my prices. If someone like the guy in the below photo is worth $15, people like me are worth a lot more.

    Be careful what you wish for, progs. You just might get it.

  • |

    You had a similar story about this a while back, I think it was about a self check out kiosk or something?

  • |
  • |
  • WingMann

    There is an upside to a $15 (or $26) per hour minimum wage. Eventually, every minimum wage earner will look and sound just like me, be competent just like me, and speak perfect English just like me. It will be just like the “good old days”.

  • Kevin R.

    I hear you. Places like Crossroads and Bellevue Square are going to have even more business. Good.

  • Kevin R.

    It’s the modern day version of the Automat. Good. I liked the Automat. Glad to see it coming back.

  • Mr. Rational

    I was going to say the same thing, Wing.

    The other half of that is, a lot more jobs building and programming the robots!

  • MissAnthropy

    One of the Left’s most deeply held fantasies is this idea that you can strategically target the profit margin of a business. Corporations do not pay taxes, the customers of corporations do.

  • randian

    You can do that if your goal is to shut down the business. You can’t if you have nonsense goals like killing profit without harming either the employees or the customers of that business.

  • Servant 1190

    Win-win for the Democrats. They claim to be the compassionate party, winning them votes in a world where feeling trumps thinking. There’s no way in the world the lowest-rung workers will vote Republican, as Democrats eventually will agree to increase transfer payments. Plus, all economic hardship is blamed on greedy Big Businesses which must be brought to heel with more regulation, sating the envy of the lackluster.

  • Aussie-John

    In Australia we have a minimum wage of about $15. However we rarely if ever tip, even for good service. This is generally because the waiter / waitress is paid already. The big problem is we have penalty rates which force employers to pay up to double during public holidays. They will either charge more, shut down or have minimal staff with associated slow service. It seems that US wait staff should be paid more, but once the government gets involved watch out.

  • oldguy

    I hope I don’t have to eat mechanical spit.

  • Guest

    I just hope this doesn’t discourage our fellow Americans from coming to this country to achieve the American dream. Hope is so often the first casualty of negativity.

  • Pigeon

    I only wish there were Robot customers as well.

  • Tchhht!!!

    Why pick on Micky D. They are very successful at what they are selling…consistancy. It’s consistantly awful.

Alibi3col theme by Themocracy

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial