Valleywag: "he can afford"

Article: "by Amanda Witherell"
"(Later, I discover I've been listed as male -- something one of her co-workers kindly fixes.)"

@gildorn: Go read the whole thing again.

What a douchebag chef.

He has a paying job, but he eats meals at the homeless shelter anyway. And then he complains that they don't give even more handouts!

It's like a guy who has a job stealing from the collection plate at church. And then complaining that, you know, people haven't been very generous today.

Living in the city is expensive. Solution: do what everyone else has to do: get a roomate, or live somewhere else and commute to work. You don't even need a car with CalTain and BART.

"[Google chef] lives in a $200 per week hotel in Oakland. The pay isn't the problem - he gets $16 an hour. He needs a little boost of cash for a security deposit on an apartment."

What I found most deplorable was that two Guardian journalists took up much-needed beds and meals for a week while actual homeless people were left starving and without a place to sleep.

Where's the 100 word version of this snoozer? Is the Guardian lifting story idea from The Wire now?

@dogburp: It's not an article, it's a performance piece. San Francisco, remember? I hope Chef has been brown-bagging leftovers from the Plex.

Huh... can't he find roommates or something? And the food is free at Google. He can take it home. I don't know. I'm not impressed by that piece.

@tripleoops: Yeah, I was only partway through when I commented. Nevermind.

good piece i thought. i didn't get the 'performance' vibe from it at all. the author even touches on the guilt she feels regarding taking up a bed when others in actual need could use it. she made a point of stating how many empty beds there were when she woke up, and when it appared to her that she would be in a full facility, she left so somebody else could have the bed.
@patrickm: i didn't see anything about how much the chef made an hour, nor could i see anything about a second journalist participating. was that information gleaned from another article from the guardian? could we get a linky?

There was no mention about what he made in the article, which was pretty much worthless. I would think that he could easily find a fellow roommate at Google given the large number (1,200+) who are shuttled down from SF to Mountain View every day.

I used to worked as a Chef at Google. The culinary team is under a contract management company Bon Appetit. As a contract employee we don't get the same benefits as a Google employee.
I've heard of a Google Chef who was pregnant and was not able capable to perform her job in the kitchen due to her delicate condition. She was told to go on disability without pay, instead of accommodating her like any pregnant Google employees, she was asked to go on leave. If this was a Google employee, she will be given a job that would keep her livelihood and still be part of the company. Google employees - expectant mothers; they received all these wonderful benefits, free massage, free parking and etc. We are just P*d Ons!!!!!

@blotto2: First of all he makes $16 per hour. Google cooks are not Google employees they can't even take the shuttle. And they start their day very early 4am - they have to be at work at 6 am. Shuttles start at 6....

This sucks ass. Thanks for doing the story Owen.
I always think of myself as a bit of a capitalist but if what BELIEVEME says is right then someone at Google needs to give this guy some help. I don't give a rat's ass if they're contractors, how about some corporate responsibility?
If anything made me switch to Yahoo's Trainwreck search engine it would be GoodSearch.com

@patrickm: I felt the same way, but after taking my anti-sanctimony pill, I read the article and realized that this was a story that needed to be told. Someone needs to speak up for one of San Francisco's most vulnerable populations.

What I took away from that SFBG project was that we in SF are paying good money to subsidize a program that makes needy population jump through endless hoops and perform tapdances just to get a slip of paper that may or may not guarantee them a thin blanket and 1-inch-thick foam mattress on the floor of a shelter that is anywhere from 1/2 to 1/3 empty due to mismanagement and miscommunication.