You know what irks me?

[conuly]

In customers_suck, people are always complaining about how "I said hi, and you completely ignored me". Get over it, okay? I've been accused of ignoring people before. Guess what? I didn't ignore you, I didn't fucking hear you. I don't get it, I really don't. I can hear people walking a block away, I can hear conversations half a block away, I can hear if the CD player is plugged in, but there's no guarantee that I can hear you if you're right next to me. Or I hear you, and it doesn't even register. Three minutes later I'll look up - "what did you just say? were you talking to me?" and you'll be pissed. Especially if I answered you the first time. Or I'll hear you and have no idea what you said. Sometimes, I'm tired of asking people to repeat themselves. Or lazy. Or just don't want to talk. Or think it's easier to just ignore you than to explain one, two, three, four times that I didn't understand you, because if I don't get it the first time, I probably won't the next.

And then sometimes people there complain because "OMG! He put the money on the counter! He couldn't touch me???? HOW INSULTING!" Maybe it is insulting. Bet it'll be even more insulting when I touch your hand, and then immediately wipe it off because I just don't want to touch anybody. I'll tackle you and make you hug me, but sometimes, I really don't want to be around people. No, really. Ask my mom how her nose got broken* some day....

And then there's the people who complain about cheap tippers. Now, I *definitely* understand this. A cheap tipper is scum, really. But nobody seems to complain about the fact that they need the tips to survive, and that they wouldn't be so needy if they were paid a better wage. Is anybody organizing protests in the states where it's legal not to pay restaurant workers minimum wage?

*sighs*

Sorry, it's just whinewhinewhine from me today, isn't it?



*_{This wasn't my fault. No, really, it wasn't. I was sitting reading, she was behind me, and she reached over to tickle me. Bad idea. I startled, sat straight up, and got her in the nose with the back of my head. Ow.}

Comments

[feasel.livejournal.com]

I thought that if you don't get minimum wage through your tips, your employer is supposed to reimburse you for the difference? I was sure I heard that somewhere, although I could be wrong. (I would provide sources, but I have no idea where to look, sorry)

[leora.livejournal.com]

Yes, but in many places you are expected to not complain, and if you do say - I didn't make enough in tips, they can say, well then you're clearly not good enough at this, so you're fired. So, basically, they're screwed.

I hate the tipping system, and I really wish that the price were built into the meal. I hate having to interact with strangers for extended periods of time and I hate jobs that expect tips. This is why I didn't get my hair cut at all for five years straight, because the ordeal of needing to go to a place and have it cut and interact with the person and chat and tip was just too unappealing.

I would use several services more if tipping were less of an issue. I like tipping for good service. And I have no objections to the cost. I just want the primary salary to be paid by the place and the tip to indeed be a small bonus.

But I hate people and I'm blind and probably have an auditory processing disorder, so interacting with strangers is just a far more hellish ordeal for me than for most. At this point, even when it goes perfectly well, I'm highly stressed from all the possible issues that can come up.

[rainbow-goddess.livejournal.com]

In some states, wait staff have to pay a "gratuity" tax of 8 percent of their receipts for the evening. Just as an example, if a server waited on a table and the total bill for that table was $100, the server has to pay $8.00 in tax -- no matter how much the table tipped, even if the table didn't tip.

[conuly]

Yeah, I've heard that. You're taxed on your tips even if you don't get them.

[genepool23.livejournal.com]

Umm...not exactly. For a $100 meal, the server does not have to pay $8 in taxes. S/he (sorry Connie) pays tax *on* $8. Everything above 8% is untaxed except for the rare ultra-honest server who declares every cent in tips they receive. Most only declare 8% of their total sales and all tips they receive on credit card sales. This is why servers prefer cash.

[divabat.livejournal.com]

In Malaysia tipping isn't allowed - instead, a service charge is tacked onto your bill. Don't know how much of that goes towards the service people though.

[conuly]

In some places, not others. Did you just change your name?

[feasel.livejournal.com]

I changed journals, actually. Posted about it on the old journal three or four times telling people they ought to refriend me. Maybe you'd better do that then. ;P

[ex-chaos-by-699.livejournal.com]

I also get annoyed when people take it personally that I didn't recognize them or notice them on the street. If I happen to recognize someone on the street and I see them, chances are I'll wave. But I tend to get lost in thought when out and about and I frequently don't notice even people I know well. But it's not anything personal, it's just the way I am.

I had a woman get really rude with me once because I didn't hear her say "excuse me". She started calling me retarded and stuff. I just ignored her, but the whole thing seemed so ridiculous and out of line. I mean, I really didn't hear her. I would have explained, but she was so rude about it I didn't want to reward her rudeness with any kind of response.

[rainbow-goddess.livejournal.com]

People sometimes comment, "I saw you downtown the other day, but you didn't seem to see me" -- hinting that I deliberately ignored them. Guess what. I didn't see them. When I'm in public I keep my head down and try to avoid people as much as possible. I'm quite literally in my own world most of the time. The Queen of England could be downtown and I wouldn't notice her unless she was attracting enough of a crowd to block my progress from point A to point B.

[codeman38.livejournal.com]

As if that weren't bad enough, try adding a moderate case of face-blindness to the mix... >_

[conuly]

I had a woman get really rude with me once because I didn't hear her say "excuse me".

I had the opposite happen once. I bumped into somebody in a train station - really, we barely touched, and I said "excuse me" before sitting down. Apparently she didn't hear me because she starts ranting about "this is why I hate white people". Gah.

[morganne13.livejournal.com]

[rubs head]...that reminds me of my own worst head collision with another...
I was about 6 or 7 and our school had a carnival with one of those moonwalk thingies. My parents let me and my brother, who was about 4 or 5 at the time go on it. He kept following me. At some point I fell and when I went to jump up, I didn't realize he was hovering over me, behind me. The top of my head connected hard enough with his chin that it left criss-crossed cuts from my hair in his chin and my head...and I ended up with a raised lump on the top of my head for awhile after....i still remember pretty clearly the owie of that...and the eh? of it too...

Anyways, yeah...when people don't tip, its annoying...and at the same time, tipping can be confusing...i agree...it is stupid.

[lakidaa.livejournal.com]

The not touching money thing might also mean that the person worked in Italy-- they put the money on a small, disc-shaped widget instead of handing it over. I'd rather do that.

...poor nose.

[maelorin]

the hearing thing drives me mad from time to time.

i don't have the touching problem (and i'm thankful for it)

as for tipping. now, here is where i'm glad i live in australia and not the u.s.a. - here our minimum wage is actually a real minimum. tipping is not an expectation coz people get paid a 'real' wage. [aussies abroad often have no idea that tipping is actually a component of people's income - even though it comes up often enough on tv.] (none of this suggests that our minimum wage is any less problematic than yours.)

[jedirita.livejournal.com]

I hate tipping, because a) people should get paid a decent wage without it. B) Tipping rules are all informal, and I don't always know what I'm "supposed" to tip. For example, in restaurants I tip 15%, but everyone else I know tips 20%, and that makes me feel like a cheapskate. And what are you supposed to tip in other settings? C) Tipping ought to be for outstanding service that you really want to reward, not as a matter of course. It's like nowadays people *always* give a standing ovation, so it doesn't mean anything. Mandatory tipping? That doesn't make any sense. A service charge would at least be consistent and upfront, but in reality, the damned employer ought to pay the employees.

[ladytalon.livejournal.com]

15% is fine, but if you eat there lots you might want to start doing 20% because they'll recognize you. You'd either be "the person who barely tips enough" or "the person who tips well." Plus 20% is so much easier on my brain; I can't do math in my head very well at all.

But I really, really agree with you--it should be for outstanding service. It should be like a gift. A nice way to say "thanks." Not something you're required to do, especially since there's nothing written that it's required.

And when it comes to standing ovations, I don't care if I embarrass myself by sitting when everyone else leaps to their feet--I won't do it if I don't feel they earned it. I suppose it doesn't make much difference, but it feels better to me. ;)

[feasel.livejournal.com]

I thought that if you don't get minimum wage through your tips, your employer is supposed to reimburse you for the difference? I was sure I heard that somewhere, although I could be wrong. (I would provide sources, but I have no idea where to look, sorry)

[leora.livejournal.com]

Yes, but in many places you are expected to not complain, and if you do say - I didn't make enough in tips, they can say, well then you're clearly not good enough at this, so you're fired. So, basically, they're screwed.

I hate the tipping system, and I really wish that the price were built into the meal. I hate having to interact with strangers for extended periods of time and I hate jobs that expect tips. This is why I didn't get my hair cut at all for five years straight, because the ordeal of needing to go to a place and have it cut and interact with the person and chat and tip was just too unappealing.

I would use several services more if tipping were less of an issue. I like tipping for good service. And I have no objections to the cost. I just want the primary salary to be paid by the place and the tip to indeed be a small bonus.

But I hate people and I'm blind and probably have an auditory processing disorder, so interacting with strangers is just a far more hellish ordeal for me than for most. At this point, even when it goes perfectly well, I'm highly stressed from all the possible issues that can come up.

[rainbow-goddess.livejournal.com]

In some states, wait staff have to pay a "gratuity" tax of 8 percent of their receipts for the evening. Just as an example, if a server waited on a table and the total bill for that table was $100, the server has to pay $8.00 in tax -- no matter how much the table tipped, even if the table didn't tip.

[conuly]

Yeah, I've heard that. You're taxed on your tips even if you don't get them.

[genepool23.livejournal.com]

Umm...not exactly. For a $100 meal, the server does not have to pay $8 in taxes. S/he (sorry Connie) pays tax *on* $8. Everything above 8% is untaxed except for the rare ultra-honest server who declares every cent in tips they receive. Most only declare 8% of their total sales and all tips they receive on credit card sales. This is why servers prefer cash.

[divabat.livejournal.com]

In Malaysia tipping isn't allowed - instead, a service charge is tacked onto your bill. Don't know how much of that goes towards the service people though.

[conuly]

In some places, not others. Did you just change your name?

[feasel.livejournal.com]

I changed journals, actually. Posted about it on the old journal three or four times telling people they ought to refriend me. Maybe you'd better do that then. ;P

[ex-chaos-by-699.livejournal.com]

I also get annoyed when people take it personally that I didn't recognize them or notice them on the street. If I happen to recognize someone on the street and I see them, chances are I'll wave. But I tend to get lost in thought when out and about and I frequently don't notice even people I know well. But it's not anything personal, it's just the way I am.

I had a woman get really rude with me once because I didn't hear her say "excuse me". She started calling me retarded and stuff. I just ignored her, but the whole thing seemed so ridiculous and out of line. I mean, I really didn't hear her. I would have explained, but she was so rude about it I didn't want to reward her rudeness with any kind of response.

[rainbow-goddess.livejournal.com]

People sometimes comment, "I saw you downtown the other day, but you didn't seem to see me" -- hinting that I deliberately ignored them. Guess what. I didn't see them. When I'm in public I keep my head down and try to avoid people as much as possible. I'm quite literally in my own world most of the time. The Queen of England could be downtown and I wouldn't notice her unless she was attracting enough of a crowd to block my progress from point A to point B.

[codeman38.livejournal.com]

As if that weren't bad enough, try adding a moderate case of face-blindness to the mix... >_

[conuly]

I had a woman get really rude with me once because I didn't hear her say "excuse me".

I had the opposite happen once. I bumped into somebody in a train station - really, we barely touched, and I said "excuse me" before sitting down. Apparently she didn't hear me because she starts ranting about "this is why I hate white people". Gah.

[morganne13.livejournal.com]

[rubs head]...that reminds me of my own worst head collision with another...
I was about 6 or 7 and our school had a carnival with one of those moonwalk thingies. My parents let me and my brother, who was about 4 or 5 at the time go on it. He kept following me. At some point I fell and when I went to jump up, I didn't realize he was hovering over me, behind me. The top of my head connected hard enough with his chin that it left criss-crossed cuts from my hair in his chin and my head...and I ended up with a raised lump on the top of my head for awhile after....i still remember pretty clearly the owie of that...and the eh? of it too...

Anyways, yeah...when people don't tip, its annoying...and at the same time, tipping can be confusing...i agree...it is stupid.

[lakidaa.livejournal.com]

The not touching money thing might also mean that the person worked in Italy-- they put the money on a small, disc-shaped widget instead of handing it over. I'd rather do that.

...poor nose.

[maelorin]

the hearing thing drives me mad from time to time.

i don't have the touching problem (and i'm thankful for it)

as for tipping. now, here is where i'm glad i live in australia and not the u.s.a. - here our minimum wage is actually a real minimum. tipping is not an expectation coz people get paid a 'real' wage. [aussies abroad often have no idea that tipping is actually a component of people's income - even though it comes up often enough on tv.] (none of this suggests that our minimum wage is any less problematic than yours.)

[jedirita.livejournal.com]

I hate tipping, because a) people should get paid a decent wage without it. B) Tipping rules are all informal, and I don't always know what I'm "supposed" to tip. For example, in restaurants I tip 15%, but everyone else I know tips 20%, and that makes me feel like a cheapskate. And what are you supposed to tip in other settings? C) Tipping ought to be for outstanding service that you really want to reward, not as a matter of course. It's like nowadays people *always* give a standing ovation, so it doesn't mean anything. Mandatory tipping? That doesn't make any sense. A service charge would at least be consistent and upfront, but in reality, the damned employer ought to pay the employees.

[ladytalon.livejournal.com]

15% is fine, but if you eat there lots you might want to start doing 20% because they'll recognize you. You'd either be "the person who barely tips enough" or "the person who tips well." Plus 20% is so much easier on my brain; I can't do math in my head very well at all.

But I really, really agree with you--it should be for outstanding service. It should be like a gift. A nice way to say "thanks." Not something you're required to do, especially since there's nothing written that it's required.

And when it comes to standing ovations, I don't care if I embarrass myself by sitting when everyone else leaps to their feet--I won't do it if I don't feel they earned it. I suppose it doesn't make much difference, but it feels better to me. ;)