Mitch Albom picks a fight with waiters and baristas

Mitch Albom of the Free Press has certainly served as a lightning rod in the Detroit area for years. He’s obviously a gifted writer, but he can also come across as pompous – someone who always wants to be the smartest guy in the room.

He has admirably committed himself to charity work in Detroit and the far reaches of Haiti. But he crossed the picket line during the 1995 Detroit newspapers’ strike when his colleagues were fighting for wages that were just a fraction of Albom’s superstar salary.

In addition, the quality of his (non-sports) Sunday columns has certainly gone downhill, as his critics are eager to point out. His column this past Sunday particularly irked blogger Tom Ley. Ley is decidedly not a fan, and he lets his readers know that in no uncertain terms.

Writing on the sports website deadspin.com, Ley refutes Albom’s column about poor service in restaurants and coffee shops with this headline: Note to Starbucks baristas everywhere -- If you find yourself serving coffee to Mitch Albom, spill it on him.

Here’s a taste of Ley’s rant:

“Mitch Albom … referred to someone as a ‘Starbucks fellow.’ Mitch Albom is the absolute worst person. (And, you know, Mitch, we don't all have your ears.) The column proceeds with a few more of these little vignettes, but the best part comes when Mitch gives us a precious ‘What does this all mean about America?!?!’ paragraph:

I blame TV. I blame video games. I blame the mindless blare that our kids have been weaned on, noise, explosions, blasting music, 100 images a minute. No wonder we can't stay focused long enough to remember soup or salad.

But where is this going? If, as a nation, we cannot stay "on task," what hope do we have?

(Back to Ley): “Hi, Mitch? Do you want to know the real reason why the people who serve you coffee and bring you refills for your Coke Zero sometimes ask you to repeat yourself? It's because their jobs are actually kind of difficult. Not everyone gets to make sh-- up for a living.

You can read more here and you can find an explanation/reminder about that last line from Ley here.