I was banned from Murphy's Taproom

[Kat Kanning]

You mean that not being a douche bag pays off?  Who would have figured?

So you're calling Barskey a douche bag?

[Russell Kanning]

i guess i just don't understand the culture surrounding restaurants and especially bars in some ways

for instance:
i usually tip 15% .... which i thought was normal ... if everything is satisfactory, and do not hassle wait staff
this seems to lead to friendly relations between me and the staff

so i wonder .... if i start spending more money on tips .... will that lead me to get some free stuph later?
does this mean the wait staff is getting more money and the restaurant owner less?

at bars, it seems to be even more extreme
under normal conditions you pay high prices for very little booze
but if you tip early and often .... then you can get more or free drinks
if you don't tip until the end .... you may not get a refill for hours

it tends to make me want to go to counter order places where I pay a fixed price and get the food right there .... or only eat at home

but i am glad to hear that you enjoy your restaurant shyfrog
i also like going to mickey's in enfield, even though they tack on 18% right away

pot lucks for events look better and better

[Tom Sawyer]

Since I don't pay for welfare... I like to pay working people.  Having worked in service businesses I can appreciate the incentive tipping provides.

Wait staff have discretionary powers over some of the extras they can provide... chat them up, be known as a good tipper... means they are real happy to make you happy.

But, I agree that pot luck works better for our finances lately... taste too. 

[Russell Kanning]

haha

when I saw the "working people" reference .... i was picturing some fat cat who throws the working class a bone every once in a while

Tom "let them eat cake" Sawyer

oh btw .... we were laughing about you in your absence

[Kat Kanning]

I often serve people as much as a waitress would.  I don't get tips. 

[Tom Sawyer]

I believe I left extra on the frig magnet before Kat... 

when I saw the "working people" reference .... i was picturing some fat cat who throws the working class a bone every once in a while

Tom "let them eat cake" Sawyer

oh btw .... we were laughing about you in your absence

As you should 




Since I changed my wardrobe I thought people would stop thinking of me a Fat Cat... 

The "working people" reference was as opposed to the "people on the dole" whom I don't support.

[Russell Kanning]

that's what you look like when you are toddling around DC with the boys

[anthonybpugh]

You mean that not being a douche bag pays off?  Who would have figured?

So you're calling Barskey a douche bag?

In this case, absolutely. 

[Tom Sawyer]

[Kat Kanning]

LOL tom

[rs38bj]

 it all boils down to mutually consenting arrangements between private individuals.  dont go if you dont like the arrangement.

tipping however, as it exists in the service industry is a scam. 

Somebody mentioned that servers would need to be paid $12 an hour to subsitute for the missing tips.  no, they need to be paid what they are worth, which is not necessarily incumbent on frn's.  they could be paid hourly, salary, or they could be paid in silver, or even goats.  That is between the server and the employer.  this also does not inherently require that product/service prices raise either.   

For example my personal morals dictate that it is aggregious for a business owner to take advantage of their employees or customers in the sake of profit.  While it is their private choice to pay x amount to their workers and charge x amount to customers, there are many establishments I will not patronize by my own choice. 

Say if a business owner nets $500,000(arbitrary number for discussion) for himself and continues to pay people "lower wages" i.e. $3/hr then I consider that person to be immoral.  I have a threshold of what i consider to be greed and I usually will not patronize people such as this.  Again this is all my personal interpretation.  I was just brought up to believe you pay people what they are worth and you don't charge prices in search of greed. 

In the work that I do cutting lawns, cleaning houses etc, I give prices that are often times too low according to my customers and I've had some tip me or offer to pay me more money saying they would feel guilty/insulted if I didn't accept the extra money.  But to me, given the cost of living where I  am, clearing $10 cash per hour for my labor is morally acceptable. 

Anyway back to the tipping.  the obligatory tipping is that has manifested in this culture is silly and rediculous.  it's almost like some kind of headgame.  I prefer things in life that are straightforward and direct, not hints, implications and subtleties.  I would not patronize an establishment where tipping was mandatory.  Everybody works for a living and most people are content to do their day's work and head for the house having received no tips at all that day or ever. 

[Lloyd Danforth]

I don't do restaurants since this topic came up. I suggest that others avoid them also, unless you can find one that pays their help.

[Russell Kanning]

I don't do restaurants since this topic came up. I suggest that others avoid them also, unless you can find one that pays their help.

good idea
i have been sticking to the places that don't have waiters
although I have a feeling the chinese place in canaan doesn't pay the counter help a proper living wage of $20/hr.