A Political Fight Between Restauranteurs, Wait Staff Is About to Boil Over With Food-Preparation Puns

One thing Philadelphia’s restauranteurs want you to know is that their waiters and waitresses do not come to work sick, sneezing on your salad and spitting virus-covered loogies into your entrees. Patrick Conway, CEO of the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association, tried to make that point very clear as the PRLA acknowledged a new “sick leave” bill going before Philadelphia City Council. The bill isn’t needed, he said. A sick employee makes up for lost work days “when they trade with somebody else. You’re going to be sick one day and you work the following Friday when you trade with another employee for picking up your shift,” he said. “It works out very well. So there’s really, I think, it’s a false notion that the industry has sick people coming in all the time to serve food to their patrons.” The group advocating for the bill, Philly ROC, says they’d like to debate Conway in public. No word on when the bill goes before the council. [Philadelphia Weekly]