Weekend Weirdness


 
 02 Feb 2013   Weekend Weirdness

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About The Author


Nona and Kylie are butt-kicking web mods who are dedicated to curating the finest internet content.

  • PhiloteSplitter

    “THE GREATEST NISSAN MAXIMA OF ALL TIME.” seems to be down. I even checked Google for a cached version. I wonder what was so glorious about it…

    • dailyoftheday

      I tried to find the posting again to re-share it because it was majestic. I guess I’ll just bask in the glory that you’ll never be able to have.

      Nah, but seriously…if he reposts, I’ll update the link.

      -KT

  • L_Ron_Hoover

    Second time you’re going to post about the same receipt story?

    • dailyoftheday

      The church’s website was hacked. It’s a followup to the original story.

      -KT

  • CalGore

    oh internet justice…and im still confused as to why the word cheap keeps being brought up when she tipped 18%.

    • Slartibartfatsdomino

      Strikes me that the person who lost her job in this economy has had her life fucked over even more.

      • CalGore

        Yes. I agree completely(upvoted). And i dont think either of them should have been fired. But i also think that putting a persons personal information online in this context when the result of doing so is pretty obvious is a bit worse than a snarky comment on your receipt, so im a bit torn on that part of it.

        Also random question. I asked in the last thread but did not get a reply. Someone mentioned that the automatic gratuity was because of the table size. Is it significantly more difficult to serve a table of 20 than to serve 4 tables of 5 at the same time? If so i would definitely understand the auto tip. But like i said earlier, i have never seen the auto gratuity outside of one occasion where i was at a nice restaurant at a table of 6 people with terrible service. So i imagine that single experience with it left a bad taste in my mouth.

        Also. Bout to catch up on the last 3 sagas ive missed out on :D

        • Slartibartfatsdomino

          Well, I only ever worked the back of the house (the kitchen) and from that perspective it’s FAR more difficult to to a 20-top than 4 tables of 5 precisely because you do have to do it all at the same time. 4 tables of 5 you can stagger. And servers have to coordinate with kitchen and also must remember who ordered what. So, yes, it seems to me that it is more difficult to do a 20-top than 4 tables of 5.

          • ilovellamas

            Yes, this is also true. I was a server for a couple years.

          • cdn_bakun

            The “all at the same time” part is crucial. How many times do you get annoyed when someone in your group has finished eating when you’re still waiting for your food?
            Obviously, that’s likely not the server’s fault but they’re the one that’ll get stiffed.

          • CalGore

            Makes sense, and i would expect that some of that 18% would go to the guy in the back as well. I guess, comparing it to my work and other jobs i am around, people would tack on a multiplier for work done over 10 ft then more for every 2 ft after that. Sounds fine to me to charge more for something requiring 4 times as much speed, coordination, and memory. Though in my restaurant experience (which is little since im basically a hermit when im not working) ive found the memory part usually isnt there in the lower priced restaurants and end up being served by a group of 2 or 3 people yelling across the table asking who had what.

            • Slartibartfatsdomino

              You are correct about the lower priority of memory in lower-priced restaurants. Places I worked, however, the wait-staff was typically expected to take and deliver orders without a visible note pad. Even in lower-end places though, the coordination and speed needed is still heightened.

              Also, regarding your expectations for the back getting tipped, wait-staff would typically tip me out a portion of their tips when I worked as a cook and then I would tip out my dishwasher out of that. So, back of the house had an interest in the front of the house collecting their tips and not getting stiffed. I doubt this happens at Applebee’s though.

              • CalGore

                That is very impressive. Memory is a large part of my job as well and i have to say if i start talking to someone for even 30 seconds i usually will lose the entire string of numbers i had in my head. So for a server taking different drink + food orders simultaneously for 20 people with people asking about menu etc in a busy restaurant…i would normally tip a ton for my portion if it was to be split because. (in this crazy hypothetical that i am leaving my house to eat with people *kneeslap)

        • ilovellamas

          The first reason for the auto-tip is because if you have a table of 20, you really can’t take care of any other tables at that time. If you have 4 tables of 5, you’re sure to get tipped, at least somewhat. If a 20-top stiffs you, you’re completely out for that hour or two.

          The second reason is that, statistically, large groups are less likely to tip. I don’t know why, maybe it’s the complication of dividing bills, maybe it’s because when one person pays the whole thing, they don’t want to also tip, maybe it’s because large groups tend to be a certain type of people… I have no idea why.

          That said, I’m completely opposed to tipping as a “necessary” thing. Servers need to start being paid livable wages in the US, with raises and all that. Tipping needs to be how it is in the rest of the world – something extra if you do a damn good job, rather than your means of living. Thus, I also oppose automatic gratuity.

          • Slartibartfatsdomino

            “The Anarchists were still in virtual control of Catalonia and the revolution was still in full swing. To anyone who had been there since the beginning it probably seemed even in December or January that the revolutionary period was ending; but when one came straight from England the aspect of Barcelona was something startling and overwhelming. It was the first time that I had ever been in a town where the working class was in the saddle.

            ….

            Every shop and cafe had an inscription saying that it had been collectivised; even the bootblacks had been collectivized and their boxes painted red and black. Waiters and shop-walkers looked you in the
            face and treated you as an equal. Servile and even ceremonial forms of speech had temporarily disappeared. Nobody said ‘Senor’ or ‘Don’ or even ‘Usted’; everyone called everyone else ‘Comrade’ or ‘Thou’, and said ‘Salud!’ instead of ‘Buenos dias’. Tipping had been forbidden by law since the time of Primo de Rivera; almost my first experience was receiving a lecture from a hotel manager for trying to tip a lift-boy.”

            -George Orwell, Homage to Catalonia

          • CalGore

            You think a server should be able to support a family on their wage alone?

            • ilovellamas

              To support themselves – afford a studio apartment, food, and transportation without living in poverty. Servers in nearly all normal restaurants (exceptions for classy places) make minimum wage, and most restaurants do not hire servers full-time. Most servers work 20-30 hours a week, and at minimum wage, that’s not a living.

              • CalGore

                Agreed then.

                • ilovellamas

                  Wrote my second comment before I saw this – cool. :)

                  • CalGore

                    Yes i definitely agree with you completely there, and thanks for the extra write up. That is ridiculous. Especially since it doesnt include a lot of other basic things youd have to pay for. Since i havent worked as a server before correct me if im wrong, but arent the employers supposed to make up the difference if the server has not made minimum wage in tips? I dont know how i feel about the huuuuge gap that servers get payed based on where theyre working. But i think its reasonable if after years of experience you can make your way to higher priced restaurants, and start getting significantly more in tips. Hell i have a friend at sonic who averages 14-17 an hour a lot of the time. If i were starting out serving i would try to get a job there. Guaranteed tons of customers since its fast food, i imagine lots will tip you since the prices on their receipts will be much lower than restaurants so they wont be as inclined to stiff you. You could make half decent money just on pure volume of customers. They have a cool little setup going there(facepalm tipping for fast food)

                    And i only asked because i tend to disagree when people start throwing around “living wage” with the thought that an entry level job should be making enough to support a family. My opinion is that they are entry level jobs. Jobs that can pretty much be filled by anyone, literally, with no experience, little to no training, little to no education, and mostly part time.

              • ilovellamas

                Let’s just look at Minneapolis. A decent studio in Minneapolis or St Paul, a bit outside the city to lower cost, is about $600/month. To eat properly, I can’t imagine being able to spend less than $80/month on food (I once lived in $50/month, and was eating ramen and shit like that… that’s not living), and transportation just to and from work is about $200 if you’re living a bit outside the city for cheaper rent. Let’s just say you can get by in Minneapolis on $850/month (which is really pushing it). Minimum wage in Minnesota is $7.25. If you can get 30 hours of work a week, that’s $740/month after taxes.

                And let’s not forget about states like Wisconsin, where restaurants pay servers $2.33/hour… messed up.

    • Guest

      Didn’t tip. Amount: 34.93. Tip 18%: 6.29 (crossed out; 6.29 is 18% of 34.93, not 28.64, amount minus tip, so was not already included in the 34.93). Total: 34.93.

      • Guest

        Actually, original bill would have had to be 29.60 for an added 18% to total 34.93. But you get the idea, i.e., tip was not really “automatically” included the way some places do it. http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=15964760

      • cdn_bakun

        All the stories I read on this said she did have the tip added on AND she says she tipped cash on the table.

        • Guest

          Okay, I see that she supposedly left $6 cash, but why would she do that after what she wrote? And how could the business charge more than what was written for the total? Something not adding up there, in more ways than one. http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/tipping-pastor-apologizes-687234

          • cdn_bakun

            Definitely strange. Why would she even bother writing that if Applebee’s always charged that auto gratuity and she ate there regularly with her group?

            I dunno. Wasted too much time on this stupid story already. Heard this in church today and it pretty much summed it up:

            James 1:26 (NIV)
            If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.

  • DanielCopeland

    The best part of of the hack is the juxtaposition with the Bible verse.

  • Sigmund_Jung

    You have to admire the new marketing strategies you can use to promote your business. How much does Google charge for a walk-in in a store like that?