In large cities and small towns across the country, the best diners and coffee shops are more than just restaurants:
they are neighborhood institutions that bring together communities. From the Gold 'N Silver Inn in Reno, Nevada
to the U.S.A. Country Diner in Windsor, New Jersey, these special places are not defined by their menus or décor,
but by the waitresses who have establish bonds with their customers and their communities over years-and sometimes
decades-of service. Counter Culture is a window into the lives of career waitresses who have worked in diners and
coffee shops for up to sixty years. Since 2001, Candacy A. Taylor (a former waitress herself) has traveled more
than 26,000 miles throughout the United States collecting stories of these "lifers," as many waitresses
aged fifty or over playfully call themselves. She interviewed fifty-seven waitresses in thirty-eight towns and
cities. Their compelling stories are complemented and enhanced by Taylor's striking color photographs of the waitresses
at work. Taylor expected that the waitresses she'd meet would feel overworked and underappreciated, but was surprised
and delighted to find that the opposite was true. The proud, capable waitresses Taylor interviewed loved their
jobs and, even if given the opportunity, "wouldn't do anything else." Nearly all the waitresses said
that the physical labor of waitressing helped them to age more gracefully and that the daily contact with customers
and coworkers kept them socially engaged. Lifers generally make more money from serving regular customers with
whom they forge bonds over decades and their seniority earns them respect from their coworkers and managers. Taylor's
sensitive andrespectful portrayal of career waitresses who have turned their jobs into a rewarding lifetime pursuit
turns Counter Culture into an invaluable portrait of the continued importance of community in our changing society.