My deepest sympathies go out to the servers, cooks, and custodians at restaurants across the country who have been laid off due to the current health scare. But now seems like a good time to talk about what was wrong with dining out before the coronavirus — which is to say, everything.

New York-based chef and restaurant owner Amanda Cohen bitterly wondered Thursday in the New York Times whether, once the coronavirus has been suppressed, customers would “be willing to pay $8 for a latte instead of $5 if it means their barista has health care” and whether they would “be ready to make sacrifices to build a better future for the people who pour our coffees and mix our drinks?”