In Bethlehem, Penn., a group of college students visited a pub. According to the students, they waited over an hour for their food, had to find their own cutlery and napkins, and had to go to the bar for soda refills instead of their server doing it. When they tried to pay their bill, they say, they couldn’t find the waiter; they eventually found her smoking behind the restaurant. And when they wanted to talk to a manager, there wasn’t one available.
So they refused to pay the tip, which had been added to their bill automatically — and they were arrested for it.
From the Philadelphia Inquirer:
It was an evening out that college students Leslie Pope and John Wagner will long remember.
Not only did they get what they called lousy service, they got handcuffed and arrested.
All over a $16.35 tip.
They were with a half-dozen friends at the Lehigh Pub in Bethlehem last month, so the establishment tacked what it called a mandatory 18 percent gratuity onto the bill of about $73, according to reports.
(And if you have sharp eyes, you’ll notice that an 18 percent gratuity of a $73 bill should be a little over $13, not $16.35.)
Now, could the students have been lying? Sure. And the menu did say that an 18-percent gratuity is automatically added to bills of groups of six or more people; they were in a group of eight. So it should have been expected. But let’s take their story at face value for now.
Should they have been arrested for not tipping? And should a tip be mandatory in the first place?
Well, first, whether they should have been charged a gratuity: Merriam-Webster’s dictionary states that a gratuity is “something given voluntarily or beyond obligation, usually for some service.” Thus, even if it is being charged on a bill, it is voluntary; if it isn’t, it’s not a gratuity. So stop calling it one.
Secondly, if they were essentially serving themselves, they shouldn’t have been charged a gratuity in the first place, whether they were a group over six people or not. (And honestly, if it really did take over an hour just to get their appetizers, they’re more patient than I am. I’d have paid for the soda and left before the food ever got there.)
And really, mandatory gratuities shouldn’t be charged at all.
The main argument I see in favor of “mandatory tips” is that servers do not get paid minimum wage. Tips are expected to fill in that gap. If a server is spending most of his or her time with one large group, and that group chooses not to tip, they’ve taken a big hit to their wages for the day.
I worked, very briefly, in food service; both of my sisters worked for a variety of restaurants. I know the work (when servers actually do it) is exhausting, and the pay sucks. But that’s not the customers’ fault.
Let me repeat that: The customers are not at fault for cruddy wages. You know who is at fault? The restaurant owners, and the laws that make it illegal for any other industry to pay below minimum wage. There are servers working in the U.S. who make $3 an hour.
And that is not the customers’ fault.
Instead of charging a mandatory gratuity, or making tipping expected, why not require restaurant owners to pay their staff minimum wage, and build the cost into the food? That way, servers wouldn’t have to rely on tips to survive, and people wouldn’t get arrested for not tipping when their service was terrible. And tips could go back to what they should be: An optional GIFT, given only when service goes above and beyond expectations.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past several years, you’ve heard of turducken. But how about turbaconducken?
The writers at Bacon Today (a blog devoted to bacon) made this Thanksgiving … well, treat isn’t exactly the word … by wrapping pieces of a pre-cut, whole chicken in bacon, as well as two halves of a duck, and stuffing it all into a large turkey — which was then also wrapped in bacon.
Need some inspiration for the side dishes? MSNBC.com has a nice showcase of some Thanksgiving-themed dishes from the Web’s premier gross food site, This Is Why You’re Fat.
What’s the grossest food you’ve eaten for Thanksgiving? And are there any you’re dying to try?
It seems that many of my trips to the Stockton courthouse involve something unexpected, whether it’s a flood in the courthouse, crazy testimony, a defendant hitting on me, someone cussing at me, or an attack/shooting in a courtroom. The latest incident happened Tuesday, though at least this time it was outside the courthouse.
This happened:
My poor little car was parked properly in a parking lot, minding its own business, when strong wind apparently blew a large sheet of metal into it. I wasn’t there, but a friend and I deduced that the metal smashed into the windshield, bounced a couple times across the roof, skidded down the other side of the car, hit a brick wall and bounced back to ding the bumper in a couple places.
Here’s the culprit (which I confiscated as “evidence”):
I think it came off a restaurant’s rooftop vent:
The next day my car went to an auto body shop and I got a rental car. Enterprise didn’t have any cheaper cars available and I needed something that wouldn’t spew shards of glass at me, so they upgraded me to a 2010 four-door Jeep Wrangler. I think I’ll notice the gas mileage difference over the next week, but it sure is nice to sit up higher in traffic for once.
Now I just have to figure out how to use four-wheel-drive. And does anyone want to help me get a ladder to reach the restaurant’s second-story roof and prove that they are missing a big piece of metal? My insurance company covers the nearly $3,000 in damages, but there’s still a matter of a deductible.
Working nights in Lodi, there aren’t a lot of ways to connect to people (especially if you aren’t a big drinker). So one of the ways I pass the time after work is on Internet communities. A few of them are about certain hobbies or topics, but I also have a couple I lurk and very rarely comment in “just for fun,” and my favorite of those has theme days (Macro Mondays, Off Topic Tuesdays).
Today, for Off Topic Tuesday, someone posted about Nicole Rodovsky, a disabled woman who is facing eviction because she lost her HUD support and didn’t know to appeal. She’s on the wait list for emergency assistance and to get back on HUD, but in the meantime, she’s fallen behind on rent. She tried to make up the difference on her own and failed, so she turned to the Internet in a last-ditch effort, asking people to donate just $1, to keep herself and her service cat (yes, you read that right) Diamond in their apartment instead of on the streets.
Most of the responses were positive, and quite a few people said they’d chipped in a dollar or at least passed the story on. But one or two people spoke up and called it a scam, and said that those of us who’d bought the story were naive.
I thought that was really sad. I know we’re in a weak economy right now, but even so, a good many of us can afford a dollar, and what else can we spend a dollar on? A bottle of water? A candy bar? Two stamps? So if it is a scam, it’s not nearly on the scale of most of them.
And going through her blog, it would be an incredibly elaborate scam — there are several years of entries, including photos and video, of Nicole and her cat and new scooter.
But even more, it’s really sad that cases like these are so often scams that this is our gut reaction. I have to admit that even before anyone said anything, I’d gone and checked it out for myself, and googled the blogger to see if her story was legit, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one. (I’d already given a couple bucks, but still.)
This shouldn’t be our gut reaction. Just because a woman pretended to have cancer on the Internet, or because some people aren’t actually homeless or use the money to buy alcohol, we shouldn’t immediately doubt stories of those in need. But those stories tend to get a lot more publicity than the stories of people who actually do need and receive help, and who go on to be successful or change lives. Bernie Madoff gets way more press time than Brenden Foster, and that shouldn’t be the case. When did schadenfreude become more important than showing the good that people can do?
So I prefer to be naive. It’s incredible to see dozens of people commenting on a message board that they’d donated a dollar, $2.50, $7. It’s beautiful to hear that Nicole has raised nearly $500 in under a day, and that so many people are pulling for her and Diamond to stay in their home — complete strangers from all over the country and even from other countries, connected by the Internet and a tendency to give people the benefit of the doubt. If that’s what naivete inspires, then I’m all for it. We need more of it.
There is enough bad in the world without our own pessimism. Why look for storm clouds instead of silver linings?
Most people have probably never heard of Geocities. The free Web host — basically a huge Web site that provided space for people to create their own Web sites — wasn’t popular for very long. But for a few years when I was in high school and just discovering HTML, Geocities hosted my own site and those of many of my friends.
Nowadays, kids turn to networking sites like Facebook and MySpace or blogs on Blogspot and Wordpress, but back then, Geocities and Tripod, another free Web host, were the only games in town. You had to learn HTML and write your own pages, not just type something into a box and hit “Publish.”
My very first Web site was on Geocities, back before it was owned by Yahoo. It showcased my “Newsies” fanfiction and some failed attempts at poetry and science fiction short stories. I used “showcased” very loosely — it was terrible at first, but it got better as I learned more about HTML, CSS and Web design, and grew a little as a writer.
Many of those Web sites were hideous — patterned page backgrounds, blinking text and moving text, glittery icons, huge fonts in unreadable colors. (For an example, see the fantastic webcomic xkcd, which has redesigned its site in a tribute to those first Geocities pages today.) But for those of us on the forefront of the Internet generation, it was a way to express ourselves and leave a little of our own creativity for others to find, and we were dedicated and enthusiastic at our “craft.”
We’ve grown up, and the Internet has, too. Some of us still blog or have Web sites, but now we (mostly) conform to standards of design and content. There aren’t very many “Pokemon” or “Sailor Moon” fansites out there anymore, at least off of LiveJournal, and the ones that do exist today are a far different beast than their ancestors. There aren’t very many static Web sites anymore, period; most have at least a blog and near-daily updates, if not a store, forums, Twitter feeds and other interactive features.
And I think the Internet is a much better place for it. It’s become a forum for the exchange of ideas, news and creative ventures in realtime, rather than being just a few people and their ugly, ugly Web sites (no, really) shouting into the darkness.
But it’s still a little sad to see Geocities go.
Well, folks, I did it. I finished my second marathon, so I can now say, “I run marathons”!! My bottom line goal was 4:19, to beat my previous marathon time of 4:20:28. I did that. My main goal was 4:09. And I beat that for a total time of 4:08:41.
My “I think I might be able to do it” goal was 4:02, or maybe even four hours. I was on track to do that until mile 18, when my calf muscles started cramping. Several times over the next miles I had to move over to the side of the road to stretch and massage them, because they were seizing up and causing pain that nearly brought tears to my eyes. I got through it, and crossed the finish line with one final, last burst of energy. I conquered the Chicago Marathon. What’s next??
For those who have only seen movies in a theater, get yourselves to the ‘real’ kind of theater: Go see a musical. You’ll see phenomenal acting (there are no re-takes on the live stage) and hear great singing (unless you hate that for some reason, but there are plenty of great plays, too). You won’t sit in front of a screen while people around you do things like check their cell phones, get up to use the bathroom and chat about unrelated things.
In a theatrical production, everyone pays attention.
Whenever I go to New York City, I scrounge around for discount tickets to see at least one Broadway (or off-Broadway) show. I now go to the movies about once a year, so I figure I more than save up the money for a live show.
I’m not in New York right now, but today I saw a fantastic production of “Jersey Boys” in Chicago. It tells the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, New Jersey boys who became a huge musical act known for such songs as “Sherry” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You.” The show has done remarkably well in Chicago, and it’s no wonder: The cast belts out one fantastic song after another, and before you know it, you’re engrossed in their lives and rooting for the characters to succeed. It’s no wonder the show won a Tony Award for best musical, and that it’s been a big hit in multiple cities.
Of course, it didn’t hurt that I had great seats in the orchestra level at a price most people pay for the second level or back of the mezzanine. It turned out that marathon runners get discount tickets!
Also, today’s show went off without a hitch, unlike last night’s show that was rather rudely interrupted by a bomb scare outside. I’m not sure what it says about the culprit if one of the two bombs’ letters read, “This is not going to end good,” though it does show that he could use a community college English class.
One more tidbit relating to the show: In less than five minutes after the show ended, not one but TWO people asked me if I liked the show because I am “so young.” Apparently they thought I wouldn’t know the music and wouldn’t understand it. YES, I knew almost all of the songs, and YES, I understood it. But thanks, people, for thinking I’m still young.
In case you missed it, we’ve entered October. Aside from being the month of spooky Halloween fun, October is host to Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
There are a bunch of ways to “go pink” in the Lodi area. Monday will be the Scramble Fore a Cure Golf Tournament, Oct. 17 will be the Race for Awareness, and the Survivor Fashion Show will hit the runway on Oct. 19. For more information about these events, check out Geweke’s Pink October Web site. In addition to their events, Pink October has set up ribbon stations, where you can donate a couple of dollars and get a pink ribbon to wear.
The local Coldstone Creamery, by the movie theater, is supporting the National Breast Cancer Foundation, with the help of Arizona Cardinals football player Larry Fitzgerald. Buying a Larry Fitzgerald ice cream gift card for a friend or family member will help the cause. And he’s not the only NFL player to support the fight against breast cancer, either — the 49ers and other football teams donned pink cleats, sweats, and other items of clothing to raise awareness.
Even if you can’t get to any of those events or spare enough to donate, you can still help out for free, for just a minute or two each day. Two Web sites — the Breast Cancer Site and Care2’s Click to Cure Breast Cancer — turn a simple click into donations with the help of their sponsors. The Breast Cancer Site helps fund mammograms for women who couldn’t otherwise afford them, and the Click to Cure Breast Cancer helps fund Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
Exactly 11 days from now, I will be more than three hours into the Chicago Marathon. Eleven days! It seems like just yesterday that the countdown clock was at 114 days.
Actually, it seems like just yesterday that I was counting down to my first marathon. But apparently that was about 10 months ago. At the time, I was thrilled that I would forever afterward be able to say, “I am a marathoner.” Yes, after I crossed the finish line I did send out a mass text message with that same message, but in all capital letters. I’m still thrilled to be able to say that, but now I have a new phrase I want to say: “I run marathons.” If I make it through Chicago, that statement will be true.
The training is done, and now I’m just maintaining my fitness, still running but not overdoing it, and trying not to go nuts. As a friend of mine could attest, I had a bit of a melt down the other day, and I’ve also been a little more scattered than usual. I’ve also been paranoid about a pain in my hip and an Achilles tendon that isn’t quite right. I worry that I’ll get sick, or that the weather will be hot, or that I’ll oversleep and miss the race.
But in reality, things are OK. The hip pain is just about gone and was likely connected to new shoes. The Achilles tendon is hanging in there and hasn’t gotten any worse. The weather forecast is too far out to trust, but heat won’t be an issue. It might rain, but a high of 53 and a low of 34 are just about ideal running temperatures, so I won’t complain. And of course I won’t oversleep, because I’m sure I’ll set several alarms and will be amped anyway. So I need to stop worrying, right? Right.
It doesn’t hurt that last night I ran a fast four miles with the ever-cool Lodi Running Club. My legs were happy, my brain relaxed a little and everyone encouraged me more than they know. That’s what friends are for, after all.
September 30th, 2009 in
Running by
Layla |
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I’m behind on the times, and I’m not ashamed to tell you.
I don’t have cable. I don’t have satellite. I don’t have TiVo, DVR and I don’t know what it’s like to fast-forward through commercials.
I have a little conversion box that cost me $5 with a government coupon. And bunny ears. Foil is involved, and works wonders on Channel 3.
During the summer, while the good TV was on break, I watched TV maybe five times. It was nice to have evenings to discover new blogs and new authors; to get outside and take a few drives.
But now, it’s back — and I think we’re all experiencing it. Many people who know I’m “behind” don’t understand what I watch on TV because I don’t have Bravo or HBO or whatever other networks I’m missing out on. And certain coworkers — ahem, Maggie — made fun of me for creating a Fall TV grid of my own. But Layla did the same too, even if she didn’t write it out.
So what am I watching, you ask?
Here it is. The lineup:
Sunday: “Desperate Housewives” (Probably my favorite) and sometimes, “Brothers and Sisters.”
Monday: I want to give “Accidentally on Purpose” a shot just because I liked Jenna Elfman in “Dharma & Greg.” I also like “Castle,” though I’m not a fan of crime shows.
Tuesday: “Biggest Loser,” which is usually sooo long and doesn’t leave room for anything else.
Wednesday: “America’s Next Top Model.”
Thursday: “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice” (OMG, I can’t wait for this week’s premiere!) “The Office” is on during “Grey’s,” so I don’t know what I’m going to do … crisis!)
Friday and Saturday are pretty boring when it comes to network TV.
I’ll also catch an occassionally “Dancing With the Stars,” “Amazing Race” or “American Idol,” but they didn’t make my list.
No, I’m not pathetic. I’m sure you do the same thing, even if you won’t admit it. So come on: admit it, we can be pathetic, TV-lovers together.
September 29th, 2009 in
General by
Lauren |
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