Waffle Roust

Seattle wage hike turns out about as you'd expect:

Bebop Waffle Shop threw a big party on Dec. 31 and permanently locked its doors on Jan. 1. My shocked face was last seen sipping a brandy by the fire and reading a dog-eared copy of Milton Friedman's "Why Government Is the Problem." That's my amusingly wordy way of saying that I totally believe it happened. The local diner's finances were already suffering due to inflation and lower downtown foot traffic. It was against this economic backdrop that the city chose to impose a 20% pay hike on restaurant workers because politicians put moral preening and virtue signaling ahead of any other considerations. Then there's the part I didn't believe at first but, on reflection, seemed almost inevitable. "I hate to close a safe space for queer people at this time," Bebop Waffle Shop owner Corina Luckenbach explained on Instagram, "but the money just isn’t there after the minimum wage increase (which I fully support)." Emphasis added because some folks are just too far gone ever to take the red pill. Still, you want to grab Corina by the hoodie and explain things to her in words she'll understand, tell her, "Minimum wage laws are bad for queer people and other living things, mmkay?" Anthony Anton, head of the Washington Hospitality Association, estimated that Seattle will see 5%-8% of its restaurants go out of business — in 2025 alone. Seattle Times reporter Jessica Fu, blithely unaware for a journalist, led with this gem: "Seattle’s lowest-paid workers will be ringing in the new year with a raise." Except for workers at places like Bebop who lost their jobs or the teens looking for their first job who Seattle's do-gooders just priced out of the labor market.

But they all got a raise...