And I get it too. We each have our own perspectives, and that is entirely governed by where we are, how old we are, what are state of life is, etc. As for easy answers, there are no answers. Ever. For anything. Period. Once I learned that, I freed my mind from all complication and confusion save for what I can control or absolutely need to worry about. This is not a philosophy I recommend for everybody. I am suicidally pragmatic/realist/agnostic. As for banned topics, yes, we don't need to go to deep. General discussion among adults is fine so long as the third rail is avoided. It would be a little silly to pretend that no discussion of current events is going to pervade our intimate community. But, yeah, we should probably let it all go.
Just wondering, Homer (since you're in the food business, or seem to be): you mentioned that your employees don't have to rely on tips, since you pay them well. In your experience, and very roughly speaking, how many people in the food business -- servers (i.e. waiters and waitresses), that is -- do rely on tips? Just wondering. (Of course I'm not asking for precise figures, that's impossible).
I was referring to managers, chefs, directors, cooks, et al who don't receive tips. That's maybe half of my total staff of about 200. For servers and bartenders, their entire income is tips. In Rhode Island, the tip wage is $3.89 an hour and has been since my first job in 1995. But even the worst server in the cheapest restaurant will probably make no less than $50K a year if they work full time. And the best ones in the best joints can easily clear $100K. That's why any attempted legislation to move servers to minimum wage ($15 in RI starting in 2025) has be pelted down with rotten tomatoes by everyone... the servers, the owners, the diners, everyone. My owners would be out of business if I had to pay everyone $15 an hour. I'd have to double menu prices, so people wouldn't be coming out anyway. There are states like California who do this but they're in a different environment with a different business model. But you can bet your ass that I've designed different theoretical Ops models that can run stores without servers and bartenders if shit moves to DEFCON 1. Then nobody would have a job. The whole thing is lose lose lose for everyone. (except me, who would do jumping jacks if I got fired/laid off)
Could you explain (simply, please, I haven't got background in the restaurant business) the differences that make a no tip system possible in one place but not another? The first time I visited Ireland, I asked our waitress about tips since I didn't know the custom there. She told me that the wait staff was very well compensated and tips weren't expected. The prices in the restaurants there weren't wildly different from what we'd have paid at home.
In the UK its not legal to pay less than minimum wage regardless of tips, and subsequently the tips are generally fairly small and only given for good service (except at very high end places) its why when brits see stuff like recommended tip 20% on the bill in the states they get a whole 'does not compute' moment
It's very simple in that you just need to be able to pay people to work for you, one way or another. Whether that's through an adequate hourly wage or tips from the guests. That's it really. Of course, where you are located makes all the difference in the world. The standard/cost of living in your neck if the woods is probably dramatically lower than it is in mine. So are the economic opportunities. I live in one of the most densely populated areas of the country so the competition for all workers in all industries is insane. In more rural areas, though, your employment options are more limited obviously. And Providence, RI has more restaurants per capita than any other city in the US, so the competition inside the industry for skilled workers is insane squared for me. Perfect example is Wyoming's minimum wage is $7.25 while RI's is $15. Population of Wyoming is 500K while RI is just over a million. RI population density is number 2 behind New Jersey at 1060 per square mile while Wyoming is 49th behind only Alaska at... wait for it... 6. That's crazy. 6 of you for every 1000 of me. I don't anything about Wyoming's economy, but we in RI probably have more in common with the moon than y'all when it comes to restaurants.
I dunno if it's changed since Covid, but a restaurant's service charge is optional in the UK. If they put it on your bill, you can ask for it to be removed. I much prefer the Japanese system, where tips will be actively refused, and considered bad manners. They will attempt to return it to you, if you leave a tip. Partly, it's because they get offended if you feel you had to tip to get good service.
Thanks, Homer. That was helpful. Just as a matter of curiosity, since this is the random and useless thoughts and facts thread: Wyoming has the lowest population of the 50 states. About 10-11% of the Wyoming population lives in each of our 2 largest cities (Casper and Cheyenne). Alaska has us beat by almost 150,000 people. 40% of Alaska's population (approx. 285,000 people) lives in Anchorage.
Something I noticed while working on my family tree: my paternal grandmother left her family farm for the nearest "big" city while in her teens, and never returned. Said once that she left because "there wasn't enough to feed everyone." That farm was surrounded by other farms owned by her aunts, uncles, and grand-parents. Her husband, my paternal grandfather, had been raised by his widowed mother in the same big city, again far away from a cluster of family farms that his mother had grown up among. My maternal grandmother left the family farm of her Swedish immigrant parents as a young woman, once again to that same "big" city, and never returned. My maternal grandfather left his abusive father and the family farm as a young man, to the same city, and never returned. Is it any wonder that here I am, in another city far from family and friends? I more and more wonder what it would have been like to have grown up midst a large extended family.
I do not follow boxing or any sport really. But I have heard of this unfair fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul. I wonder how real the fight will be in terms of no rehearsed blows or fixed outcomes. Either way, I think that fight is a moneymaking machine.
Um, pardon my curiosity; I've never been to Canada, but I thought that mid-November in Canada is very cold. So, isn't it too cold for ice-cream? *shrug* Just curious. My part of Australia isn't far from the Bass Strait, beyond which (southwards) lies Tasmania. But keep going south and it'll get icier, until you hit Antarctica. During winter (roughly June to August), we get icy northerly winds, and the highest temperatures are rarely above 12 C (i.e. 48 F and below). So, during our winters, I much prefer hot drinks -- and sometimes mix a few small pieces of ginger into my tea/coffee. That will warm you up in winter. Of course it is. What sport is complete without offering "the unwashed masses" a chance to gamble on the outcome? Also, Mike Tyson is 58, and Jake Paul is 27 (I looked this up). So ... this sounds like it's going to be choreographed. The last thing anyone wants is for Tyson to be so hurt that he can't box anymore. (He's one of boxing's drawcards). I don't know much about boxing either, so excuse me if this is a stupid question, but I'd love to know: why the heck is Tyson fighting at his age, much less fighting someone so much younger? No disrespect to Tyson, but he's fighting at a time when most professionals in other walks of life are considering retirement. Just out of curiosity, I looked up "the world's oldest male boxer", and according to the Guinness World Records, that is Albert Hughes Jr. (USA) ... who, at the time of his most recent bout in Indianapolis (14 December 2019), was nearly 71 ... and he won. Isn't it dangerous to box professionally at that age? Just curious.
No, not very cold. Seasonal temps are around 5 C, but it can dip down or go up. This November has in fact been unseasonably warm, with many days reaching up to 20 C. You sound like my husband, who didn't eat ice cream in winter. But I am one that can eat ice cream all year round! I don't see the connection between outside temperature and a yummy bowl. Eating ice cream doesn't make me cold!
You guys and your centigrade temps. I never understand them without resorting to a table to get the "real" temperature.
Ice cream people are not like the rest of us. My husband eats a cup of ice cream every single night of his life and it does not mattter if the temperature is 100 degrees or -35 degrees. My mother was the same way. I was at the grocery store one day buying the usual range of dairy products for my husband. (His grandparents had a dairy farm; I am allergic to milk.) Ice cream was a very low price per carton if you bought 6 cartons. A couple of folks were looking at the sign. The woman said, "Who would ever buy 6 cartons of ice cream at once?" I raised my hand and loaded 12 cartons into the buggy. They're probably still talking about me. Ice cream on sale is why God invented deep freezes, right?
The thing about this is that Tyson is an absolute animal in the ring and out of it. Hes not right in the head and he'll be very hard to beat Paul meanwhile is a bit of a poser, hes only fought 11 fights mostly against ex UFC stars rather than real boxers... he got a split decision in a fight against Tommy Fury which really should have been Fury's Paul might win on points if he can get to the end but id Tyson gets the chance he might do him serious damage
I guess I'm just old. I can never remember whether it used to be centigrade then changed to Celsius or vice- versa. Or maybe I just made all that up. "Celsius 232.78" just doesn't have the same ring to it as "Fahrenheit 451."
Thinking on nature and nurture. Sitting here with my lovebird sitting on the back of one hand as I type, he's calm and totally at ease. So different from the timorous little guy we brought home from a bird club show and sale; he was just one of many, the first one the dealer captured. We brought him home and put him in a cage, where he sat mostly in the little shelter, peering cautiously at us. Slowly we handled him, and let his wing feathers grow back. Now, several years later, he's assertive and, to my anthropomorphic mind, quite happy. I talk, he listens, he talks, I listen, he demands sometimes to be out, but also usually goes contentedly back to his cage. Up at dawn, demanding to have the cage uncovered, to bed around 5:30, asking quietly that the cage be covered. Lovebirds by nature are gregarious, but they must learn to have confidence in their human partners. For him to allow me to hold him in my hand, his wings covered, is a massive act of trust, I think we mutually pulled it off, and I am honored by this inter-special friendship.
I just looked it up in Encyclopedia Britannica. Here: As for boxing ... I see that Tyson lost. *shrug* I have no idea why, not being a boxing person. I can only surmise the fight was arranged so that it can be the first sports thing to be broadcast on Amazon, instead of pay-per-view. Apparently, so many people tried to watch it that the website crashed. (Good.) ============= Anyway, yesterday I started thinking whether other species have superheroes. Do moths have them? Maybe they do. I'd love to see a moth superhero. Here's a song for it: Spider-moth, spider-moth -- does whatever a spider-moth doth! Weird enzymes he will spit to paralyze you -- oh, what a hit! Look out -- here comes the spider-moooooth! What? With great power comes disgusting responsibility ...
Tyson got $20M whether he won or lost, so I would surmise that's why he fought. Paul got $40M regardless of win/loss. Back to ice cream, I remember my maternal grandfather plopping vanilla into his almost empty chili bowl. Never like that combo myself.
Speaking of Tyson, I've been obsessed for a bit by a youtube series AI Dungeons and Dragons, which uses celebrity characters to play. The writing (Story) is very good and hilarious in parts especially when the characters bicker like brothers and sisters. This one includes Joe Rogan as the Dungeon Master and players Elon Musk (Saxyron) Donald Trump (Tronald), and Gordon Ramsey (Rar) as the main characters with others rolling in and out. *Edit: Despite the AI voice over characters, the story isn't political in any way, at least I haven't found it so. Might be over my head if it is. Recently Tyson was introduced as a character named Might Biteya.
