The Vati - Can Can

[vinoveri]

Re: The Vati - Can Can

Although the church flurished when Christians were persecuted, these days are different. You can't fight a machine gun only with prayers. Evil old enemies from the misty past shake the foundation of Christianity. One may wonder; what is the purpose of our presence on earth?

FACT: No one gets out of here (earth) alive.
CHOICE: Seek Truth (and you will find it) or resign to finititude and oblivion at death (some folks surprisingly tell me they are content with this 2nd choice - but not sure I believe them)

I think the difficulty for many is summed up was a quip I heard regarding Christianity, which is so poignant and accurate as to be hard to forget:

"You must love lest you die; if you love, they will kill you".

[Fiat Currency]

Re: The Vati - Can Can

Speaking of Tithing ...

A viral photo’s victims: Waitress fired, church embarrassed after pastor asks why waitress should get a better tip than God



Alois Bell is these three things: A pastor at her local St. Louis church, an Applebee’s customer and a reluctant tipper. And thanks to a waitress with attitude and a camera, the triad collided into a public firestorm that Ms. Bell says has ruined her reputation.

Ms. Bell, it seems, resented that Applebee’s automatically charged her more for gratuity than she tithes to her own church, writing on her receipt after a Jan. 25 dinner, “I give God 10%. Why do you get 18?”

Chelsea Welch, who did not serve Ms. Bell’s group but saw the receipt, posted a picture of the bill to popular user-generated site, Reddit, earlier this week thinking the woman’s signature was illegible. The scribble did, in fact, prove identifiable, and after the picture went viral, Ms. Bell told alternative site TheSmokingGun.com that she received a call from a friend saying she was “all over Yahoo.” Gossip site Gawker, for its part, declared that “Hell hath no fury like a pastor scorned by the Internet.”

“My heart is really broken,” Ms. Bell, 37, told TheSmokingGun.com, calling her missive a “lapse in judgment” that was blown out of proportion. “I’ve brought embarrassment to my church and ministry.”

Applebee’s immediately fired the server but had stayed quiet until Friday, when it posted a statement to Facebook defending its decision to dismiss Ms. Welch, who has won public sympathy and is now the subject of a Hire Back Chelsea Facebook page.

“The guests who visit Applebee’s — people like you — expect and deserve to be treated with professionalism and care in everything we do,” the restaurant’s statement says. “That includes respecting and protecting the privacy of every guest.”

Ironically, Ms. Bell left a $6 tip in cash not realizing her credit card had already been debited the 18% gratuity charged for parties of six or more, according to the New York Daily News.

“I’m not sure who ended up with that money at the end of the night,” Ms. Welch told the paper. “But you can’t really argue with what’s plainly written, and what was written was insulting.”

It is unclear whether the online firestorm will hurt Applebee’s business, but at least one customer wrote on the Hire Chelsea Back page that he would “wait a few months” before eating there because firing the waitress was a “crock.” According to the protest page, Applebee’s posted its own photo of a customer-penned note thanking the St. Louis location for its “great food and excellent service” — but took it down because that note likewise included the person’s name.

The restaurant’s statement also shed light on Applebee’s social media policy, which prohibits employees from “writing about or displaying internal APPLEBEE’S happenings that might be considered to be a breach of privacy and confidentiality” without first consulting with vice president of operations.

Despite her dismissal over the breach, it appears Ms. Welch is winning the public relations battle: As of midday Friday, the Facebook page had more than 5,400 “likes” compared to the 4,400 gleaned by Applebee’s statement, which closed in saying: “This is a regrettable situation and we wish it had never happened.”

[Polish_Silver]

Re: The Vati - Can Can

Speaking of Tithing ...

I kind of resent restaurants charging the gratuity automatically---they just add it to the menu prices and say "gratuity included".

On the other hand, especially when groups are concerned, people often don't make tips, thinking that "someone else" has done it.

[shiny!]

Re: The Vati - Can Can

I kind of resent restaurants charging the gratuity automatically---they just add it to the menu prices and say "gratuity included".

On the other hand, especially when groups are concerned, people often don't make tips, thinking that "someone else" has done it.

I kind of resent the whole setup whereby restaurants don't pay their wait staff a decent wage, so the customers have to do it.

[Polish_Silver]

In favor of tips!

I kind of resent the whole setup whereby restaurants don't pay their wait staff a decent wage, so the customers have to do it.

The tip is one of the few ways that your money goes directly to the person doing the work. In typical markets, the restaurants pay the lowest wage they can to get competent help, which is embarassingly low.

The tip makes it possible to transcend market forces and give people a break.

As much as I believe in free markets, the wages are often "not fair"
in terms of the effort people have to make to get thier standard of living.

[shiny!]

Re: In favor of tips!

I'm a very good tipper and I always tip in cash so the waiters don't have to declare it. I just think the restaurant wage system is kind of crazy.

Do people tip waiters in other countries? Down here the waiters don't like serving snowbirds from Canada because they seldom tip well, if at all. They don't seem to realize that waiters here require good tips in lieu of wages. Or maybe they're just cheap. I haven't asked any of them...

Because waiters get stiffed by so many Canadian snowbirds in the winter, and business is dead in the summer, I generally tip well- usually 20%.

[Polish_Silver]

Re: In favor of tips!

Do people tip waiters in other countries? .

It's very national. I seem to recall that in new Zealand, they don't tip.

[Milton Kuo]

Re: In favor of tips!

Do people tip waiters in other countries? Down here the waiters don't like serving snowbirds from Canada because they seldom tip well, if at all. They don't seem to realize that waiters here require good tips in lieu of wages. Or maybe they're just cheap. I haven't asked any of them...

I seem to recall that Canadian waiters and waitresses are paid a semi-decent salary (and they have universal health care) that doesn't require tips for them to survive. As such, I suspect Canadian visitors to the U.S. are unaware of how low salaries are for wait staff in the U.S. This is the case with European visitors to the U.S., too.

I've noticed over the years that there are tip jars seemingly everywhere I go in the U.S nowadays. It's enraging and saddening that a large portion of the U.S. population has come to this: a subtle form of begging to make ends barely meet.

[don]

Re: In favor of tips!

Having moved from Cali to low-pay Florida, tipping for a wide range of services is commonplace. Big difference.

[shiny!]

Re: In favor of tips!

I seem to recall that Canadian waiters and waitresses are paid a semi-decent salary (and they have universal health care) that doesn't require tips for them to survive. As such, I suspect Canadian visitors to the U.S. are unaware of how low salaries are for wait staff in the U.S. This is the case with European visitors to the U.S., too.

I've noticed over the years that there are tip jars seemingly everywhere I go in the U.S nowadays. It's enraging and saddening that a large portion of the U.S. population has come to this: a subtle form of begging to make ends barely meet.

From the waiters I've talked with, that seems to be their impression.

I've also notices the rising numbers of tip jars everywhere. Very sad. I usually tip in cash even if I pay for the meal with a credit card. No sense letting the gov't get their hands on these poor folks' tips.

[don]

Re: In favor of tips!

From the waiters I've talked with, that seems to be their impression.

I've also notices the rising numbers of tip jars everywhere. Very sad. I usually tip in cash even if I pay for the meal with a credit card. No sense letting the gov't get their hands on these poor folks' tips.

Au contraie, Shiny. The IRS assumes a tip income from servers. They have to prove otherwise.

[c1ue]

Re: In favor of tips!

I'm a very good tipper and I always tip in cash so the waiters don't have to declare it. I just think the restaurant wage system is kind of crazy.

As don notes - just because you pay in cash doesn't mean it is not taxable.

For one thing, some places have shared tips. This is to smooth out the tip income for each individual as well as to reduce fights over choice shift times. In cases like this, paying in cash or not doesn't help.

More importantly, unless no tip income is documentable - i.e. people who pay using credit cards, then any audit will simply look at the ratio of tips on documented transactions vs. overall transaction volume.

Any server who doesn't declare at least some cash income is thus putting themselves at severe risk - although audits of server types aren't super common, they are not unheard of either.

[Polish_Silver]

Decline of US working class

From the waiters I've talked with, that seems to be their impression.

I've also notices the rising numbers of tip jars everywhere. Very sad. I usually tip in cash even if I pay for the meal with a credit card. No sense letting the gov't get their hands on these poor folks' tips.

When my mother visited Italy in the 1950's, she was apaled by the pressure to tip everything in sight. There were still shades of that when I visited Italy in 1991.

But now, we've got an army of chronically unemployed/underemployed people, plus the health care is so exhorbitant.

[don]

Re: Decline of US working class

Reading this thread I now see Florida is in the tips vanguard . . .

[shiny!]

Re: In favor of tips!

Au contraie, Shiny. The IRS assumes a tip income from servers. They have to prove otherwise.

I did not know this! Boy, they have their sticky claws in everything, don't they?

Getting back on topic a wee bit... the Pope announced that he is resigning at the end of the month.