S12E03: Tipping

[Lantern7]

There's such a thing as a sub-minimum wage?!?

John's topic for this week couldn't reach the unmitigated horrors brought about by Kash Patel, the podcast host he hired as his second who is basically Diet Alex Jones, and the fiasco that was Friday. Seriously, in a meeting between the leaders of the United States and Ukraine, why the FUCK was JD Vance there? When was the last time you saw a veep in such a situation? I guess Trump needed a partner to try and humiliate Zelenskyy. Yet another black eye for the country in a seemingly unlimited series of black eyes.

Patel basically wrote three books of Trump fanfic. Yeah, I did that a lot when I first got online, but I never got to a level where I had it fucking published. This fucking country.

What? Right, tipping. Bit of a complex issue, no easy answer for either side of the argument. John had some fun with it. The tip jar was a nice touch. Sub-minimum wage, though? That's horrifying.

TRUMP. FAN. FICTION. The horror . .  .

Edited 11 hours ago by Lantern7

[kittykat]

The fact that these assholes got in is a whole other issue all together because Republicans didn't have the spine to stand up to this.  Kash Patel is an embarrassment and that podcaster...wow.  Yeah you really owned us.

We knew the Zelensky catastrophe was going to be touched on and it's no less awkward to watch a second time.

I worked on the service side in restaurants for many a year and thankfully in California so I never had to deal with the whole sub minimum bs but I knew about it well.  I do agree that tip culture is complicated.  I always tip servers, drivers, even a barista if I'm feeling friendly that day.  I've been there and I know what it is to rely on those tips. 

That said I wholeheartedly support not tipping if the restaurant is paying their staff well.  As John said it's so ingrained I'll probably tip anyway.  But the whole culture of making anyone rely on tips as their income and not making a paycheck is straight up exploitation.

[Annber03]

8 minutes ago, kittykat said:

We knew the Zelensky catastrophe was going to be touched on and it's no less awkward to watch a second time.

I'd heard about the clip, but hadn't seen it yet, not until now. 

Hoooooooooooooooooooooo, boy, I actually flipped off my TV and yelled, "FUCK YOU!" during that. Hloly shit, "embarrassing" doesn't even begin to describe that entire scene. Zelensky has far, FAR more patience and grace than I think most poeple would in his shoes, let's just put it that way. 

Just. God, world, on behlaf of this dumbass govenrment, I am so, so deeply sorry. 

As for the main topic, yeeeeeeeeeeah, that sub-minimum wage thing is absolute bullshit and it's criminal that it's been allowed to go on as long as it has. There is no justifiable reason to pay someone so little that they can't even get a proper check out of it. What the actual hell is that nonsense? It just boggles my mind how poeple are still so resistnat to paying employees a livable wage. It's one of those issues where I know why it's a thing, but that doesn't mean I get why it's a thing, you know? 

And yeah, refusing to tip service workers to try and make some point is a very dumb way to go about the issue since, as John noted, they have no control over the pay sisues going on. I'm also struck by the constant, "This is your job, I shouldn't have to pay extra" comments, 'cause, yeah, it is true that serving people and delivering items and so forth is indeed what waiters and delivery people and so on are expected to do...

...but having worked retail and knowing how customer service jobs can be in general, I also know that sometimes those employees are asked or expected to do and put up with shit that is very much NOT part of their job description. We all know that customer service work is a very thankless type of work in so many ways, not just because of the paltry pay, but also because of the awful behavior of customers much of the time. So in that case, I kinda feel like yeah, they do desrve a little extra pay as a result. 

But yes, if people are tired of tipping, ensuring that these workers got an actual living wage would be a great way to start fixing that isuse. 

Also, yeah, maybe we shouldn't be taking policy advice from Kid Rock? Just a crazy thought. But considering the administration we've got now, I also sadly can't say I'm surprised. 

I definitley agree, though, that expecting a tip on automated services where you're doing all the work yourself is...remarkably stupid and nonsensical. 

[peeayebee]

9 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

There's such a thing as a sub-minimum wage?!?

That's what I said. I had no idea this existed. How did I not know that? Get rid of it.

I also didn't know about some of the places that ask for tips. That's ridiculous. 

I tip. But I don't tip to supplement the person's income. I do it to let them know I appreciated the service. Well, that's my idea, but I do feel obligated to automatically tip a server even if the service was just adequate. 

I knew about servers being required to share their tips with the rest of the restaurant staff, but I had no idea that they're required to do that even if they aren't tipped. I'm not sure if that happens at every restaurant, but that's absolutely inexcusable.

John briefly mentioned the possibility of fraud. Way back when Trump first talked about no tax on tips, I read somewhere that investors (I can't remember exactly) could use that exemption. I wish I had saved that article.

The woman who cuts my son's hair quit her job at Supercuts and decided to work out of her house. The first couple of times there I gave her a $5 tip, and then I thought that was stupid because the money for the haircut went directly into her pocket. No middleman.

I loved the clip of the guy screaming about being asked to tip at a self-serve froyo place. Cracked me up. 

8 hours ago, Annber03 said:

I'd heard about the clip, but hadn't seen it yet, not until now. 

Hoooooooooooooooooooooo, boy, I actually flipped off my TV and yelled, "FUCK YOU!" during that. Hloly shit, "embarrassing" doesn't even begin to describe that entire scene. Zelensky has far, FAR more patience and grace than I think most poeple would in his shoes, let's just put it that way. 

Yup. I'm glad other countries and even media here (like the Wall Street Journal, if you can believe it) expressed their horror at what happened. Yes, Vance was there as Trump's wingman, there to gang up on Zelensky. And so accurate when John said Vance was doing this to suck up even more to Trump. 

I was trying to find a complete transcript because I do not want to watch any more of that shit. I could only find partial transcripts, but I read that for most of the meeting, it was civil and reasonable. Then Trump started saying stuff like Zelensky needed to be open to diplomacy, and Zelensky said Putin doesn't honor agreements, and Trump went off because Z badmouthed his Russian buddy, and that's when it all went to shit.

Trump just cannot have anyone say bad (true) things about Putin. 

And everyone who wants anything from Trump must flatter and suck up to him. It helps if you call him "sir." "Sir, you are the greatest President ever, sir. It brings tears to my eyes, sir, what wonderful things you're doing for America, sir, and for the world, sir."

Macron plays that game, and so did Zelensky ... up to a point where he had to point out that Putin is not to be trusted and that Ukraine needs assurances that the US will make sure any treaty is honored by Russia.

And then that absolutely ridiculous bit from Vance, "You didn't even say thank you." As so many places, and John last night, pointed out, he HAS thanked the US (and Trump by name, I believe) many many times. 

And that stupid reporter/boyfriend of MTG bringing up Zelensky not wearing a suit. I wish Z had said that he wears the clothes he does to be in solidarity with all his people literally fighting the Russian invasion. It would have been great if he had pointed out that Churchill sometimes wore workman's clothes during the Blitzkrieg. As well as Z did in this horror show, I'm sure he was caught off-guard by these unprecedented attacks from T and V.

Quote

Just. God, world, on behlaf of this dumbass govenrment, I am so, so deeply sorry. 

I was thinking of getting on Bluesky to send a message to Z, but it doesn't look like he's on it. I think he knows that millions of Americans were absolutely appalled and embarrassed by it.

Oh, and of course Bongino is there to use the FBI as a cudgel against who he (and Trump) see as America's enemies. That is one of Trump's goals, to get revenge on everyone who investigated his crimes or said bad (true) things about him. 

As for other stuff in the show, that flying car was funny. It did look like a bizarro version of Lightning McQueen. A drone in a car costume. :D

Poupon U. I want it. Mustard is my favorite condiment. I'd love to visit that museum.

Edited 2 hours ago by peeayebee

[DoctorAtomic]

10 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

There's such a thing as a sub-minimum wage?!?

I knew that because my roommate in grad school worked at the local Friday's and would show me his check. I tip generously at the establishments I attend regularly; bars, restaurants. Also, if we're at a working lunch, for example, it comes up where we work invariably, and I tip well as representing the institution. I got my reimbursement denied one time because I tipped 'too much'. We were a party of 10, and there were only two servers who were on their feet constantly for over 3 hours. They actually came out to thank us after. The person who denied me was an idiot who mismanaged finances and didn't have the authority to make the call, but I was still too new. 

But for the tablets, I usually select the lowest. One of the coffee shops in town will give you refills if you ask, so I'll tip a little more because you're at least getting a second cup of coffee for nothing. 

Here's one that came up recently. When you're staying at a hotel and breakfast is included do you tip? 

What I liked about the meeting was the massive dis Zelensky dropped.
"You don't hold the cards."
"I'm not playing cards." 

Zelensky held numerous talks with Russia prior to the initial invasion in 2022, obviously to no avail. You don't have to be Kissinger to grasp that he'd be justifiably gun shy about taking Russia at face value on any ceasefire. 

I'm probably in the minority, but I'm not in favor of a ceasefire. Russia is being ground down; they're pulling in North Koreans and paying Yemeni mercenaries. The Europe NATO nations don't seem to want to back down either.