Today's special is Ethos...

Did you ever have one of those moments where you are thinking about something and then your brain makes a leap to something that does not seem related at all? That happened today to me during class. Professor Kramer told us that if we do not know the answer to a question about our presentation we should say something like "I'm not sure. I'll look into it and get back to you," and the first thought that popped into my head was "Oh, that sounds like what I say when I'm waiting tables at Frank's Place." I mean they just seem completely unrelated, rhetoric and waiting tables. Then I started to think about it a little more and found some interesting connections (like I was wearing my  Frank's place shirt today and didn't even realize it until now).

I wait tables for the tips. On a busy Saturday night I can make a decent amount of money, but only if I establish ethos with the customers. I need to know what I am talking about, have a pleasant attitude (even if I'm swamped), and make sure all of their needs are taken care of in a timely fashion. These correspond to the three necessary components of ethos in rhetoric, intelligence, good will towards the audience, and good moral character. All three of these things are necessary if I want a sizable tip. If just one is out of place, it can negatively affect the experience for everyone involved (including my bank account).

For instance, if I can answer questions about the menu with a smile on my face, but it takes an hour for the customers to get their meal, I'll be lucky if I get fifteen percent. The moral character aspect of my job, taking care of the customers in a timely fashion, was violated, therefore the customers consider me a low-ethos waitress (and my tip goes down accordingly). Although I will say if I mix up two dishes while trying to explain them to the customers, my tip does not suffer as much.

This realization got me to think about if audiences value certain aspects of ethos, over others, like my customers value fast service more than knowledge of the menu. I think both my customers and an audience would agree that good moral character is the most important part of ethos. If someone giving a presentation simply mixes up a fact or mispronounces a word once, not much damage is done to the speaker's ethos. However, if a someone giving a presentation about immigration reform is revealed to be a racist, there is little he can do to salvage ethos. Even Sarah Palin's slip about our alliance with North Korea (she meant South Korea) is better than a racist giving a presentation on immigration reform. What do you think? Are some parts of ethos more valuable than other?