While there isn't any doubt that there are some people that truly love their jobs, it's difficult to believe that restaurant employees would typically fall under that category, especially since many restaurant employees at chain restaurants are really there to do their tour of duty, as opposed to making being a server or a busboy their call of duty. Yet, somehow or another, there are certain restaurants that have employees wearing t-shirts that state that they love their job. While, from a customer perspective one can kind of chuckle at the silliness of it all, it does seem to be a bit more sinister than that. It just seems to be one of those situations to which the employer is trying to guilt their employees into wearing a t-shirt which somehow displays a mood or a loyalty that probably doesn't really exist.
It would be one thing entirely, if those wearing t-shirts displaying how happy they are to have their job were true in one form or another, but this seems to be wishful thinking of behalf of those running the establishment. Of course, one might then ask, why anyone would wear a t-shirt indicating an emotion that they aren't really feeling, but that answer depends upon the person, to which possibly sarcasm, guilt, conformity or pressure may all play their part in this demonstration.
Now all things being equal, my main complaint about such t-shirts is the belief from a customer perspective that the sentiment that a server loves their job seems rather insincere. Further, that a server who wears this sentiment on their shirt is doing so in the hopes of creating a perception to management that they are a team player or perhaps it's because they believe that by wearing such a shirt this therefore could lead to better shifts, more money, or career advancement.
Having said that, it doesn't seem fair or particularly dignified that besides being a good server and employee that as a pre-condition for advancement or continual employment, that an employee should have to implicitly comply with wearing shirts that signify their contentment with their job. Instead, that speaks of the type of pressure that employers should not be able to exert against their employees. It is a reasonable thing that a certain neatness, politeness, and cleanliness are part of the dining experience, and further it's probably fine to have employees wear shirts that indicate the name of the property, but false emotions, even if done tongue-in-cheek, or for camaraderie, or good spirit, seems a false fit.
The bottom line is that you don't have to love your job in order to do a good job, and employers should more frequently recognize that good work involves having a two-way dialog, in which displayed false sentiments do not provide an open line of communication, but rather have a strong tendency to foster a working relationship to which one party must be obedient to the other, with the other party displaying the illusion of contentment, just to have that job.