Surprise, surprise, the waiters of New York City are flooding New York Post film critic and professional troll Kyle Smith with hate mail following his weekend takedown of servers — or, as he puts it, "creepy ex-darlings of their high-school theater departments." In a recent column, Smith compares dining out to a hostage situation thanks to New York's scandalously friendly "waitrons" who always ask how a diner is doing, squat by the table while reciting the day's specials, pull plates away too soon, and "don't even serve anything anymore."
So, duh, that op-ed pissed off a whole lot of people and generated some hate mail for Smith, who helpfully posted some curse-filled examples on his blog. As one waiter writes, "you are possibly the biggest sack of s**t. I hope and guarantee that your food will be spit in anywhere you go in th city. I only wish I were there to watch you eat it. Clown." Though Smith is certainly an intentional provocateur — he has previously caricatured Michelle Obama as the fat police — he does point out that he was just kidding about leaving an 11 percent tip on a $150 check. Then he writes, "Relax with the threats, it's just a little comic rant." Sigh.
· Hate Mail from Waiters [Kyle Smith Online]
· You got served! [NYP]
· All Rants Coverage on Eater [-E-]