So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[LizzieMaine]

It's funny because it's true. Remember, don't mention the war.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Meanwhile, I resisted the impulse to mutter a remark while eating lunch today at our local Applebee's, as the woman sitting in the next booth excoriated my favorite waitress because "the soup lacks body!" and "the bread is dense! Just feel that bread!"

You're at Crapplebee's, toots, not the Waldorf. Quit your bourgie whining.

People who beat up on hard working waitstaff really set me off. Cheap tippers as well, the worst of the latter being Sunday after- church types who leave a paltry tip with a gospel tract. I'm the kind of guy who would have cut the Apostles themselves 20% for forking over my portion of the loaves and fishes... but that's me.

I was fortunate to have a job for over three decades where the physical demands were minimal-- but to get there I had to work a lot of dirty and back breaking gigs. I tried to never forget what it was like to really sweat for a buck.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I always tip her five bucks on a $10 tab. She's in her last year as a psychology major before blowing this spasm town for good, and I bet she's got enough material stored up for her dissertation.

 

[ChiTownScion]

I'd be hard pressed to think of a more difficult job than waitstaff. Although my wife's (albeit temporary) gig doing floor nursing at a major children's hospital- mainly on the floors treating hem- onc and cystic fibrosis kids, ranks high up there. Got to know some of the kids myself through her, and had to attend wakes and funerals for a couple of them as well.

I was very happy when she moved on to work for a pediatric office practice as a provider.

 

[GHT]

It's funny because it's true. Remember, don't mention the war.

Ah, I see that you are clean out of Waldorfs!

 

[tonyb]

I’ve put in more than enough time in service jobs to fully appreciate how much doo-doo those so employed have to put up with. The most difficult-to-please customers are usually among the worst tippers as well, although I long accepted that some lovely customers were straining to afford the services they were receiving, let alone another 20 percent for a tip. In general, though, I’ve long held that if a person can’t afford to tip, that person can’t afford to go out to dinner and/or drinks and/or the cab ride to and fro.

Conversely, though, as a customer I never twice patronize a business whose personnel behave as though they’re doing me a tremendous favor by taking my money. This applies to those providing professional services as well. Yes, you can fire your doctor. He isn’t a deity, much as he may try to convince you he is.

 

[3fingers]

In general, though, I’ve long held that if a person can’t afford to tip, that person can’t afford to go out to dinner and/or drinks and/or the cab ride to and fro.

Bingo. If you're short of cash either don't go or choose a place that doesn't require more than paying the counter person for your burger, taco or chicken. Same with those who have the means but simply don't feel any obligation to tip. I've had this discussion with quite a number of people who vehemently disagreed. Their reaction tells me far more about them than their financial condition.

 

[tonyb]

Bingo. If you're short of cash either don't go or choose a place that doesn't require more than paying the counter person for your burger, taco or chicken. Same with those who have the means but simply don't feel any obligation to tip. I've had this discussion with quite a number of people who vehemently disagreed. Their reaction tells me far more about them than their financial condition.

Whatever a person’s view on the restaurant business model and its pushing off on the customers the lion’s share of the waitstaff costs, it remains that that is the way it is.

Waiting tables is hard work, and getting good at it requires physical stamina, real skill, and no small amount of brainpower.

A good waitperson knows how to make every step count, to make his or her difficult job no more difficult than it has to be. Focus on the task at hand is what it takes. It ought to pay well enough to keep those good at it in the game.

You get what you pay for, eventually.

 

[vitanola]

It's a pretty good deal if you think of it this way: you invite your friends over, offer them A Pint, and you save two ounces on every pint. Have friends over, and your own pint is free. Or at least that's the sales pitch I use.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Ah, I see that you are clean out of Waldorfs!

"No, no, Meester Fawwty! You no unnderstan'! He tried to KEESS me !"

"Oh, WHAT'S one little.."

 

[MisterCairo]

20floz, is that all? That's a wimp's pint. You should try a yard of ale. (3 pints)
View attachment 165405

My dad had one along with a half yard, sadly both have broken over the years. I am on the lookout for replacements as we develop the bar area in our new home!

 

[GHT]

My dad had one along with a half yard, sadly both have broken over the years. I am on the lookout for replacements as we develop the bar area in our new home!

If you look up a site called drink stuff you will find some amazing beer glasses. Here are three examples, the first is a coachman's, it holds a quart. The second is a pint horn and the last is a half gallon yard, that's an imperial gallon, as in four pints. Cheers!

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

Have I mentioned "verify"? If so, please forgive the repetition. Any time you call the customer service organ of some outfit you do business with, the people answering the phone invariably ask you to "verify" some information about yourself. It's as if there is exactly one customer service training course in the whole world and everyone answering the phone is required to drink that Kool Aid.

I get so tired of hearing this verb used wrong way 'round, that I sometimes reply, "Go ahead, tell me the address you have on file for me and I'll tell you if it is correct."

Then I hear, "No, you have to verify it."

I say, "To verify some information is to ascertain its correctness. If you want me to confirm that you have the correct information on file, then I'll be glad to verify it. On the other hand, if you want me to tell you my address so that you can ascertain that I am the person I claim to be, then YOU will be doing the verifying, not me. So, which is it?"

I know that customer service jobs are low-paying and that some customers are even far worse than me. I never call them names or curse at them, but this "verify" thing has just got under my skin.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Templates are the root of all evil. Especially when middle-management gets hold of them.

 

[GHT]

I know that customer service jobs are low-paying and that some customers are even far worse than me. I never call them names or curse at them, but this "verify" thing has just got under my skin.

Most of that verify nonsense is just an excuse to accumulate ever more information about you. Whenever I have come up against a voice mail I stay silent, only once have I been cut off. When the human voice answers I get asked why I didn't press one for the money, two for the show. When I say it's because the 60 year old finger dial phone of mine won't let me, they will inevitably say: "Really?" Then I get the verify, three degree. All of which I pretend to not understand. They get the full Mr Magoo.

 

[GHT]

Here it is the 15th and it wasn’t until this morning that I learned that this is National Car Care Month.

To think I missed out on 14 days of festivities! It’s a moral outrage!

Today the 22nd of April is, get this, Happy Earth Day. That's what came up on Google. So Tony, now you know. No excuse for missing out.

 

[tonyb]

Most of that verify nonsense is just an excuse to accumulate ever more information about you. Whenever I have come up against a voice mail I stay silent, only once have I been cut off. When the human voice answers I get asked why I didn't press one for the money, two for the show. When I say it's because the 60 year old finger dial phone of mine won't let me, they will inevitably say: "Really?" Then I get the verify, three degree. All of which I pretend to not understand. They get the full Mr Magoo.

Here (and perhaps over on your side of the world as well) telephone solicitors, pollsters, etc. work with auto dialing systems that call your number and wait for a voice response before a live human comes on the line. So you say “hello” or “this is Geraldine” or whatever and there’s a silent pause for a couple three or four seconds before a person says something like “is this Mr. Whoever?,” to which I say, on those occasions when I actually stay on the line long enough to engage in the exchange, “may I ask who’s calling?,” (it annoys me no end when a person who called me asks who I am; it’s that person’s place to identify him- or herself first). When I hear what they’re promoting I tell them I now have good reason never to send any business their way, and please don’t call again.
I pity the people working in these call centers, by the way. But the practice itself ought be outlawed, seeing how the “do not call” lists are largely ineffective.

 

[Zombie_61]

For live telemarketers (not robocalls) I prefer the George of the Jungle method:

Works every time.

 

[ChrisB]

Waiting tables is hard work, and getting good at it requires physical stamina, real skill, and no small amount of brainpower.

My profession is that of Engineer in the field of RF, it is a job, but I don’t consider it to be work. I ask myself, what would happen if I stopped doing my job, would anyone notice? Probably not. Now ask the same question about the people who haul off our trash, grow & transport the food we eat etc. If you are living a comfortable life, it is because someone else is making it possible.

 

[tonyb]

My profession is that of Engineer in the field of RF, it is a job, but I don’t consider it to be work. I ask myself, what would happen if I stopped doing my job, would anyone notice? Probably not. Now ask the same question about the people who haul off our trash, grow & transport the food we eat etc. If you are living a comfortable life, it is because someone else is making it possible.

We wouldn’t be the first to observe that we have those employed in lower-income occupations, mostly, to thank for the comforts we know.