As I was working last night I kept seeing example of the iron cage idea for my position, then when I began thinking about others positions I realized that they are trapped behind the bars of iron as well. I have worked in the restaurant industry for almost 4 years now as a host and now as a server; funny thing is I have never thought about the different positions like I do now. As a host you do not have the authority to take orders for customers or bring food out to the tables. Your job is only to greet those who come in and seat them at their table of choice. As a server your responsibilities broaden a bit, you can now do everything a host does and more. However you are limited when it comes to bossing people around and making drinks behind the bar. When you rise in every position your responsibilities broaden but there is always going to be a restriction, “the iron cage”. Weber helped me see this aspect of things, I always knew it existed but after reading his work I could not pin point exactly what was happening. This quote really stuck out at me because it embodied the concept I was trying to put my finger on “It is an obligation which the individual is supposed to feel and does feel towards the content of his professional activity, no matter what it consists, in particular no matter whether it appears on the surface as a utilization of his personal powers”
Another idea that Weber brought up that I connected to my serving position was the idea that “man is dominated by the making of money, by acquisition as the ultimate purpose of life”. Now I know this can apply to anything because everyone is always looking to move up in life and make even more money than they currently do. However, the fact that tips are such a large part of the restaurant business makes this connection even stronger. Working at a sports bar with a staff full of young women, we all use our flirtation skills to make sure we a decent tip. While some may say it is shameful, I now have the argument that we are only following the capitalist structure of things. We just want to make more money; it is “the calling of making money”. Thanks to Weber I can go back at the people who shake their heads when I say that my coworkers and I use flirtation to increase our tips.
Weber brings up a great idea about how Capitalism used to be connected to religion. In fact he says that in the beginning of time, Capitalism used religion to get rid of the previous economic system, where nowdays capitalism opposes religion. Capitalism like you said encourages any act of making proft (by any means necessary) where religion involves morals and ethics. Bringing up that sports bar story was genius because the story does not only relate to sports bars, its everywhere; its in every industry. For example, I have seen cases where people sleep with their boses for example just to get promoted to get a better pay.
ReplyDeleteWhen I skim through a few blogs to comment, the title "Flirting = More money?" hit my eyes and trigger my curiosity immediately. It is interesting to me to read your blog because you explain Weber fairly well using your real life experience. It is even more interesting to me to read this piece because I used to hate guys who lip-service young women for nice tips. I am more sympathizing with them now thanks to this class. It's all down to money at the end. What the previous person (Ahmed) comment (sleep with bosses to get promoted), even though quite the same thing as flirting for money, is totally out of moral realm. But, Weber also helps explain that behavior...
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