As 21 Republican governors and counting cut off the federal government’s $300 weekly unemployment subsidy and yell and scream about how no one wants to work, a big, big thank you to one Las Vegas restaurant manager for telling it how he sees it. 

“‘How much do you pay?’ that’s one of the first questions out of their mouth,” said Steven Kim, director of operations for restaurants Zenshin and Island Sushi & Grill, of jobseekers. “When they opened the economy, they should have decreased the amount of unemployment.”

How DARE people looking for work ask how much the jobs are going to pay! How f’ing dare they. Everyone knows that it is your obligation, when looking for work, to not even think about trifles like pay rather than simply getting straight to work at unknown but presumably rock-bottom wages serving Zenshin’s “8 Second Bull Ride” sushi roll: “Deep Sea Crab, Avocado, Tempura Asparagus Roll, Topped with Seared Wagyu Beef, Sesame Miso & Truffle Essence” for $17.

Except … is it $17? By Kim’s logic, shouldn’t I be able to show up there and order that, or perhaps the “Lasagna” (California Roll, Baked with Spicy Aioli, Eel Sauce & Cream Cheese, for $13) and be all “Why is ‘How much you want me to pay’ the first thing you’re telling me, the government should make you take whatever I choose to offer”? ($0, for the record.)

For the record, generous unemployment benefits are not keeping people from looking for jobs. Multiple studies show that, most recently one from the commies over at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. And the Census Bureau has found that, even with the extra $300 a week, one in three people on unemployment still has trouble paying basic bills. It’s not that $300 a week that is keeping people from working at restaurants where management gets offended when asked how much the jobs pay.

Some other restaurant executives have a better grasp of what’s going on.

”The world is reopening,” Jeffrey Bank, CEO of Alicart Restaurant Group, which has restaurants in New York, Atlantic City, Washington, D.C., and the Bahamas as well Las Vegas, said to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “When was the last time in history this many jobs were created in four weeks, six weeks? This is a tsunami of an opening. Employees have a chance to decide where they want to work.”

Which means they get to show up and ask “How much do you pay” and do a little comparison shopping. And their concerns may not just be pay, although the pay question may end up telling workers something about how much employers are going to value them. 

“Sexual harassment, hostility and health risks are way up,” said Saru Jayaraman, director of the Food Labor Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley, and president of One Fair Wage. A survey conducted by her group found that 53% of restaurant workers are thinking about leaving the industry. Low pay is a reason for 76% of those, but the sexual harassment and hostility are presumably not making those low-paid jobs more appealing. It’s not a “Well, the pay isn’t great, but the people coming back to Las Vegas first at the end of a pandemic are just treating me with such love and respect that I can’t wait to bring them their 8 Second Bull Ride sushi roll at any pay level” kind of situation.

Things are legitimately looking up. Weekly unemployment claims have fallen two weeks in a row, to a pandemic low of 444,000 (which is still a lot, to be clear). Vaccination rates are still rising, albeit more slowly than would be ideal. Unfortunately, Republicans and too many employers think that the answer to everything—including the United States not coming back from a major global pandemic in the time it takes to snap their fingers—is blaming workers.