Minor things that bother you

[webny99]

I'm not fond of the custom of tipping but it's the custom we have and I'm not going to cheat the people who serve me, whether it's at a table or boxing and bagging my order for me to grab it.

But if you ordered takeout, the servers aren't doing nearly the same amount of work as serving you at a table over the course of 20+ minutes. If there's other context - say you want to leave a tip to help a struggling restaurant that's lost a lot of dine-in sales due to Covid - that's completely different. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if that's a big reason why tipping for takeout has become more of a thing in the last two years.

But under 100% normal circumstances, you shouldn't need to tip for takeout orders. The whole concept of takeout is "I don't want to spend the time to eat in and have to tip for service", so you shouldn't have to tip or the tip should be a lot less at the very least.

[kphoger]

And the point remains, in many states servers make "tipped minimum wage" which is $2.13 an hour.  No one can live on that, so I certainly hope some people are tipping them.

They don't live on $2.13 per hour.

If a tipped employee's hourly wage plus tips come out to less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, then their employer is required by law to make up the difference.  In other words, their actual pay cannot legally be less than $7.25 per hour.

And that's the minimum.  Several states set the bar even higher;  for example, your state of Washington requires tipped employees to get the full $14.49 per hour plus tips.  In New Jersey, tipped employees get $5.13 per hour plus tips–but, if wages plus tips doesn't exceed $13 per hour, then their employer is required to make up the difference.

Short story:  no tipped employee in America brings in less than $7.25 per hour.

[abefroman329]

If a tipped employee's hourly wage plus tips come out to less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, then their employer is required by law to make up the difference.

Tell me you've never been a server without telling me you've never been a server.

[kkt]

If a tipped employee's hourly wage plus tips come out to less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, then their employer is required by law to make up the difference.

Tell me you've never been a server without telling me you've never been a server.

Yep.

[kphoger]

If an employee is getting screwed over by an employer who defies state and/or federal wage laws, and isn't reporting them to the Department of Labor, then...

1.  How on earth would you and I know that?

2.  Why is it our responsibility to fill the gap?

[jeffandnicole]

If an employee is getting screwed over by an employer who defies state and/or federal wage laws, and isn't reporting them to the Department of Labor, then...

1.  How on earth would you and I know that?

2.  Why is it our responsibility to fill the gap?

Most tipped employees don't have the resources to file these complaints, then actually fight them. Employees that also complain they are under tipped, we'll probably rarely be forthcoming when they're overtipped, and documenting their full tips received.

If you think a single complaint is going to launch a large investigation against a company, you're sadly mistaken.

It's a sucky system, but everyone is aware of the game that's played.

[JayhawkCO]

If an employee is getting screwed over by an employer who defies state and/or federal wage laws, and isn't reporting them to the Department of Labor, then...

1.  How on earth would you and I know that?

2.  Why is it our responsibility to fill the gap?

Most tipped employees don't have the resources to file these complaints, then actually fight them. Employees that also complain they are under tipped, we'll probably rarely be forthcoming when they're overtipped, and documenting their full tips received.

If you think a single complaint is going to launch a large investigation against a company, you're sadly mistaken.

It's a sucky system, but everyone is aware of the game that's played.

I would beg to differ. I was involved in a lawsuit at a previous employer due to them using our tip share to pay management, which is illegal.  It only took our complaint to make some wholesale changes for a large company.

[webny99]

I would seriously question whether there's anyone making less than 7.25/hour that wouldn't complain about it. Given the current labor shortages, companies would be crazy to try to get away with that.

[Scott5114]

Nothing about your post makes sense.

Why shouldn't people be able to sell real estate to anyone they want, even if it's the original builder? What if they don't have the resources or competency to rebuild the house, or it's not worth the money to repair?

Why does what other people do with destroyed property bother you?

What does this article have to do with what you're even talking about? Nothing in the quoted portion even mentions them selling the property. If it's mentioned in the part you didn't quote, well, why did you quote the irrelevant part of the story?

[snowc]

@Scott5114
removed post as this in fact doesnt make sense. 

[kphoger]

And, here, I was thinking Scott posted in the wrong thread...

[abefroman329]

I would seriously question whether there's anyone making less than 7.25/hour that wouldn't complain about it.

For starters, every single undocumented immigrant.

[webny99]

And, here, I was thinking Scott posted in the wrong thread...

Me too... with an extra layer of intrigue because now it immediately follows my post, so I was worried it was addressed to me for a minute. 

[jeffandnicole]

If an employee is getting screwed over by an employer who defies state and/or federal wage laws, and isn't reporting them to the Department of Labor, then...

1.  How on earth would you and I know that?

2.  Why is it our responsibility to fill the gap?

Most tipped employees don't have the resources to file these complaints, then actually fight them. Employees that also complain they are under tipped, we'll probably rarely be forthcoming when they're overtipped, and documenting their full tips received.

If you think a single complaint is going to launch a large investigation against a company, you're sadly mistaken.

It's a sucky system, but everyone is aware of the game that's played.

I would beg to differ. I was involved in a lawsuit at a previous employer due to them using our tip share to pay management, which is illegal.  It only took our complaint to make some wholesale changes for a large company.

How often do you think the practice occurs...and how often are companies sued? How long did this occur at your company before the suit was filed? How much pressure did Management put on employees before and during the suit? 

You mentioned "we", not "I", meaning it took a group of people to have the courage to fight the issue.

It's not the only time I've heard of such a lawsuit, but I imagine there's many other cases that we haven't heard about.

[J N Winkler]

About the housing market in general, I will say this:  because shelter is one of the necessities of life, I am very sympathetic to measures designed to limit speculative activity in the housing sector.  Illinois, for example, now tries to clamp down on real-estate prospecting by requiring a license to be involved in more than one property transaction a year.

[JayhawkCO]

How often do you think the practice occurs...and how often are companies sued?

Very often, especially at smaller restaurants that don't understand the rules. I know of a lot of places that pay the kitchen staff out of tips which is illegal. I can't speak to the amount of lawsuits that are out there, but I bet it's higher than people who aren't intimately familiar with the restaurant industry would think. 

How long did this occur at your company before the suit was filed?

It happened for about a year.

How much pressure did Management put on employees before and during the suit? 

No pressure from management before because they didn't know the lawsuit was coming (it was somewhat of a "straw broke the camel's back situation" and none at all during the suit because, you know, super fucking illegal to intimidate people suing you.

You mentioned "we", not "I", meaning it took a group of people to have the courage to fight the issue.

One person filed the lawsuit. The rest of the staff were invited into the class action.

It's not the only time I've heard of such a lawsuit, but I imagine there's many other cases that we haven't heard about.

I know offhand of lawsuits against Brinker (the company that owned/owns Chili's) and Starbucks for similar things. I'm sure there are a ton that I don't know about.  But, this all goes to reinforce my point that those who get screwed over always don't just sit back and take it.  It doesn't cost anything to hire an ambulance chasing lawyer to file a lawsuit and try to get the company to settle.

[Scott5114]

Over the course of a year, the amount of money the management cheated out of the employees probably added up to be quite a substantial sum.

The problem here is that not every company has a staff that's willing to stand up to management. I've met plenty of employees that have an attitude of "yes, what the boss is doing isn't right, but I can't afford to lose this job so I'm scared to make waves". That and while retaliation against someone making a wage claim is indeed super fucking illegal, some managers are slick enough to do it in ways that make it impossible to prove it was retaliation ("Well, we expected business to decline over the next quarter, so since we had lower staff needs, we scheduled Kathy  and Tim for fewer hours. It had nothing to do with the lawsuit that Kathy's filing, as evidenced by the fact that we cut Tim's hours too.").

[jakeroot]

The whole concept of takeout is "I don't want to spend the time to eat in and have to tip for service", so you shouldn't have to tip or the tip should be a lot less at the very least.

You tip for service? I've never done that. Tipping is effectively mandatory. I don't really care how bad the service is, you tip. If something is wrong, tell someone, but don't stiff 'em.

For me, takeout tipping has still been mandatory due to lower levels of dine-in service at restaurants, and my desire to try and make up the difference (to the extent a single consumer can).

[webny99]

The whole concept of takeout is "I don't want to spend the time to eat in and have to tip for service", so you shouldn't have to tip or the tip should be a lot less at the very least.

You tip for service? I've never done that. Tipping is effectively mandatory. I don't really care how bad the service is, you tip. If something is wrong, tell someone, but don't stiff 'em.

Maybe we just have two different terms for the same thing? I'm talking about leaving a tip when you eat at a sit-down restaurant. The reason you give the tip is because you get table service. And yes, it would be rude not to leave a tip, but it's still your choice, so in my view it's still "tipping for service" even if you always tip the same percentage.

[kphoger]

You tip for service? I've never done that. Tipping is effectively mandatory. I don't really care how bad the service is, you tip. If something is wrong, tell someone, but don't stiff 'em.

Are you telling me you leave the same tip, no matter how good or bad the service was?  If so, then that's a totally foreign concept to me.

My baseline tip is whatever the receipt shows, then multiply by 15%.  Service that's anything better than the bare minimum prompts me to increase that percentage, with the amount varying by how impressed my wife and I were with the service.  For a really wonderful server, that tip might go up to 45%.  And I might even write a long note thanking the server and/or detail our satisfaction with him or her to the manager verbally.

There has been on very rare occasion, however, service that was just really and truly awful–probably only twice so far.  And I mean bad.  In a case like that, I'll have a very different conversation with the manager.  And I'll leave a 25-cent tip on the table:  because, if I were to leave nothing, the server might think I was just a tightwad or forgot the tip or something.

Your tip is your way of monetarily showing your appreciation for their good service.  If the service wasn't good, then the tip shouldn't be good either.

[tolbs17]

Is when some states don't comply with the MUTCD.

But some do it correctly even though it does not comply.

[Scott5114]

I've only done the less-than-a-dollar tip once. That was an unfortunate experience at a Cheddar's. It took an inordinate amount of time to get our food because the server said she dropped it on the floor and the kitchen had to remake it. Well, okay, mistakes happen. But then we saw her leaning up against the wall chatting with someone for a rather long amount of time, and then when we finally got the remade food, it was cold. Having worked for tips before, I'm generally pretty accommodating, and my wife even more so, but we both agreed that it was justified.

But in general...I will still tip 20% unless the service is inexcusable. I assume that we can all agree that the amount of your paycheck being determined primarily through the generosity of whichever random members of the general public darken your doorstep on that particular day is a suboptimal place to be in. I've been in the position of performing the best service I have in myself to give, and being let down enough times, that I don't want to be a part of that problem even if I am mildly rankled by something that I'll forget by the time I go to bed that night.

[ZLoth]

One thing that bothers me is when A. A television station does a live report of how high gas prices are, or B. Someone on social media posts OMG-how high gas prices are, see this picture. Yes, yes, I know that gas prices are going up, and there is a whole topic on the actual gas prices, but this is something different.

The thing that bothers me is which station they choose to be representative of the high gas prices. In California, it's inevitable the Chevron station which is notorious for having the most expensive gas, yet people are filling up there despite cheaper gas on the opposite corner. Some stations are intentionally more expensive as that's not their main business, or they are on the road headed back to the car rental counters.

When I want to compare gas prices between geographic areas, I will go with Costco and Sam's Club prices. Yes, I know that these are warehouse chains that require a membership to shop there, and that the prices are below market average. It is the fact that these low prices that make them a good way to compare prices across geographic areas.

[kphoger]

That tiny gap between the sun visor and the rearview mirror, when the sun is directly in front of you.

[formulanone]

That tiny gap between the sun visor and the rearview mirror, when the sun is directly in front of you.

A couple of mid-1990s Toyotas used to have a miniature visor that folded down. Looking around, a few other makes and models did it too.



Image courtesy of Reddit. (I waste some time on r/justrolledintheshop)

An inexpensive way to add safety and convenience, yet nowhere near as commonplace. Can't remember the last rental car I've had with the feature.