Is bad service at a restaurant a sign of a better world? An article written by Mike Makowsky’s suggests that service becoming sub par at restaurants because labor is short is a byproduct of people moving into better jobs. Makowsky asks us to consider that service may not be as important as quality of food or the people you’re with — I can see his point.

I see an implication for a view I wrote about days ago — hard to deliver against happiness. I argued that happiness may be a byproduct of a job well done versus the goal. And in a restaurant, “service” may be an adjacent idea to “happiness.”

Service at a restaurant is about the “experience” of being served. The white gloves. The descriptions of food and wine. The experience of being greeted and shown to your table. Delivering “happiness” is no different — it’s an experience just the same. Ultimately, neither matter much if the ultimate goal — food or the material service being rendered — does not produce value.

Food for thought.