MAD 2: MADDEN'S MADDENING.

Riluo

I got the shooting down pact, I just need the fast net

Furtum

I live in the city again, and just moved back to my home town from the UP of Michigan... I am now mad that I'll have to drive to state land this season.

Ashmer

I'm so mad that I have nothing to be mad about. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. MY LIFE IS GRAND.

Ferrik

Hans Rudolf Giger.

There's your reason.

Maite

This is a constant rage, every day I work.

I REALLY DISLIKE PEOPLE WHO DON'T TIP OR DO IT CRAPPILY.

Aarbrok

^ THIS - I recently took a new position after two years in a service position relying on my unreliable tips, or that handful of pocket change left on the table. Then again as I have been told by others from other countries, America pays their service industry workers absolutely horribly, and I should do so outside this country (I wish) because they get much better wages without the mythical 'tip'

Rashar

I don't know that I've been to another country where tips were common or expected. Maybe they're normal in the UK? Everywhere else, you get reactions ranging from funny looks to angry looks to marriage proposals.

I tip 20% as a standard, pretty much. If you're good, I'll tip better. If you're bad enough that I feel like you deserve less (And you pretty much have to call my mom stupid or something for that) I will just not tip at all. Alternatively, I once had to sit my friend down and give him a class on tipping. He was from somewherebad, LA and was clueless. We sat at an Irish pub for like 3 hours sampling whiskey, and we both ended up with a bill somewhere around $150. I saw him drop a $10 and assumed he paid the rest with his card, but nope. I was like *shakes head* Come here, little buddy.

Teani

No tip is expected in Sweden, though if I'm out to dinner at a nicer restaurant (should I afford that) I will most definitely leave at least something. Even though I know it is expected in other countries, I'd be completely clueless as to how much is should be and most likely over- or undertip in to some extent.

Haern

In the US, you're definitely expected to tip for a variety of things and it's largely due to the low wages--luggage/baggage handlers in Japan, as an example, receive a wage and may not receive tips (nor do they want one). My father told me that he tried to tip a gentleman in Japan who handled his baggage and he became -deeply- offended. It's certainly a shock if you're leaving the US or COMING into the US.

Maite

I work at a little diner, where over half of the customers are senior citizens of some kind. At least 1/4 don't tip at all, and the average is about $2 tip no matter what they get. The seniors who tip that much I can deal with, it's expected.

But when you have people who have like Tbone steaks and tickets from $50-$100 and all they tip is a few bucks? C'mon man.

Furtum

I just picked up a part time job at a higher end sushi joint in the front of the house in my town, $2.13 is federal minimum wage for tipped employees. That said, if you end up claiming less than you'd have earned at hourly untipped minimum wage, they are -supposed- to reimburse you up to that point, so in theory you never make less than minimum wage. In practice it's hard to get an employer to do it, especially when you live in a right to work state. Also in practice, especially somewhere where most shit is $40 a plate, you're never going to make less than minimum unless you're a really fucking terrible waiter.

Elwyn

It's extremely rude to tip in Japan, one of the first things we got taught when my ex got stationed there.

Eleanor

There's not really any such thing as tips in Australia, we just actually pay our wait staff, it's great. You'll often see a jar by the till for if you want to pop your odd change in there or a note if you really liked the place, but that's it.

Xavin

What I can't stand is places where they -are- paying a at least minimum wage and they put out a tip jar anyway. No, Subway, I'm not tipping.

Minarael

I can. If someone goes above and beyond in a crappy service job, I'm totally fine with throwing them a bit extra.

Xavin

But they never have. At least, not that I've seen.

Minarael

I've seen some phenomenal customer service in weird places, and some utterly crappy service from people who are getting paid well enough to know better. Just depends on the situation. Tips are really not mandatory, so putting a tip jar out doesn't require you to put money into it.

I tend to tip 15% for normal service, and good service/exceptional service gets well rewarded for food service. I also tip my hair stylist crazy well because everyone at the salon does amazing things when I go in, and my tattoo artists crazy well because I expect him to stab a needle into my skin and leave a permanent bit of art behind. I tip good baristas well, but don't tip ones that burn my coffee. -.- I'm pretty generous with service people who do their job very well, though.

Ishin

My mom owned a restaurant for a bit, and my sister's a waitress right now. Usually I'll push it up. Like if I get an 11 dollar meal, I'll put down 15 dollars for total and let them figure the tip. Or if it's 15, I'll go up to 20, etc. Really just depends on if I thought the waitress did a good job. Even if the food sucks/there's a problem, as long as he or she is on top of their game, I tip.

Kaleigh

Tipping is kind of expected up this way too. They got really angry at the coffee shop I used to work at (a major chain) if someone didn't tip, or worse when it was a penny. When talking to friends about it, they didn't realize that people actually -did- tip at said coffee shop.
I find though, it basically depends on the service you're given. If it's exceptionally well, good tip. If it's horrible then an equally terrible tip, or none. Though I always feel bad if I don't leave at least something.

Phoenecia

I worked as a bartender for a little bit. Standard wage is about $8.50 for a server/bartender up here where minimum wage is around $10.25, so you have to make everything else in tips. Seems like an easy job, but it's not. Never doing it again. Also, dealing with sexual harassment and creepy patrons just turned me off of food service forever.

Erzsebet

I dunno. Places like Subway, I -kinda- get putting out a tip-jar, as an option, since it's very individualized food, you're not just like, k give me a #2 and a #7. I dunno. It's far less necessary to make ends meet at Subway, though, and I wouldn't say it's mandatory at all, especially if you're not particularly impressed with their service.

In other news: The bed bugs are psyching me out. I haven't seen or smelled -one- since I got home, and it's creeping me out, because I KNOW THEY'RE HERE.

Riluo

I have lived in several countries and the US thus far is the only place that I got asked to tip. I spend $50 on a meal with a female co-worker, she tipped $10, and so did I. As we were leaving the waiter mouthed of at me! I just gave him the look and walked out. I honestly thought $10 was fine from each of us.

In the local restaurant in my home town (South Australia) their is a wooden box near the exit that you can drop change in. It is nowhere near the workers and there is no pressure to do it, yet I always drop $3-5 in it.

Volka

I will -always- tip, but only for exempleary service. Having worked in service industry in some form or another my entire life, I've come to the belief that if the worker is doing a great job, really busting their unicorn, they deserve a tip. If the place is empty, and I have to track you down for a refill on my coffee after waiting 10-20 minutes? I won't tip you at all. Tips are supposed to be rewards for a job well done. Expecting someone to tip you just because you bothered to show up to work, (like a lot of the people in my city) Is assinine. That said, I understand that most service places pay the bare minimum, expect you t make $92739879872 in tips every day, or even worse, take your tips from you and make you share them with everyone else (Otherwise known as theft). However, I also belive that we should all do everything humanly possible at work to get the job done, even if we hate it. If that happens, I'll tip, upwards of 20-25% depending on where we go, how much it cost, how good the service was, and how much money I have available. The only time I personally left pennies was at a coffeeshop in a casino in Reno, where it took hem 20 minutes to seat us, 45 to come back and take our order, and when we just ordered coffee to start with, it arrived a half hour later, cold. Oh, and the waiter litterally -threw- it at us. My sister and I froze a pair of pennies to the bottom of my glass. My rage: My boss is a unicorn. I'm getting so -tired- of the passive agressive bs, and the thinly veilled threats, not to mention her calling / texting me in the middle of the night while I'm sleeping, to ask me an unimportant question, only to get mad at me when I don't answer right away because, well, sleeping. I think most bosses occasionaly pawn their screwups on to their subordinates, (personal experience) but it doesn't matter what it is, she NEVER does anything wrong. Now, she's threatening me with an impormptu inspection on my shift (doesn't bother me really, -I- do my job, it's the principle of the matter) because I didn't join in in her completely not-okay gossip fest about how -lazy- one of the workers is, because he's quitting instead of walking 16 miles minimum a day on two blown knees. (For 12 - 18 hours a day, mind you) Which is real unicornsed up, when you consider this woman can't even get up off the office chair to do -her- job, and is always complaining about how hard it is when it's busy on her shift. I really, really hate this woman. She makes me want to Ragequit life, SOBAD.

Valenae

Moving and transferring. Also, crazy co-workers,

With this move it's one thing after another, one hurdle right after another. I got into my safety school only to find out that we have to submit ANOTHER transcript with my final grades after they told me not to worry about it. No problem. At most schools it's standard anyway so that's not the hurdle. The hurdle is that the school assigned a random charge to my school account that made bursar's office assign a hold to my transcripts.

What's the charge? NO ONE KNOWS. Srsly. The bursar's office just says they saw a negative balance so they assigned me a hold. There was no source to the charge, they have no one contact. I tried talking them out of it but they weren't okay with taking down so I have to wait for what could be a week until they figure out what this mystery charge is. They've already eliminated parking and the bookstore. The schooling I'm transferring to in Vermont is getting impatient and the longer my currently school takes, the longer I have to wait to register which means the more time classes have to fill up.

As for crazy co-workers: My co-worker is a nutcase religious, extremist who is convinced that our client (who is special needs and is autistic), is possessed by a demon and constantly tries to witness to me while I'm on the job.

Erzsebet

So we went to talk to the apartment complex about taking care of the bed bugs. And ultimately, the apartment complex's solution is that we need to change apartments. Originally, we thought they meant from this apartment to a different one in the same complex. But no. They mean a different -complex-.

So not only do we have to find a way to make sure we don't take not one bedbug with us (because they won't be -treating- the bed bug problem till after we've gone), we have to come up with the money for rent, a deposit, and a pet deposit for two cats by the first--and, actually -find- an apartment as well. -And- actually move. While we both hold down jobs.

Also talked to an exterminator this morning who said our one-bedroom apartment would be about 900$ to get rid of the problem, and the earliest available slot is June 6th. And the apartment complex says that their method is not good enough, because it essentially involves nuking the crap out of the apartment with thermal radiation that'll kill all the bugs and all their eggs, but does not involve taking the furniture out of the apartment.

Furtum

Erzsebet said:

So we went to talk to the apartment complex about taking care of the bed bugs. And ultimately, the apartment complex's solution is that we need to change apartments. Originally, we thought they meant from this apartment to a different one in the same complex. But no. They mean a different -complex-.

So not only do we have to find a way to make sure we don't take not one bedbug with us (because they won't be -treating- the bed bug problem till after we've gone), we have to come up with the money for rent, a deposit, and a pet deposit for two cats by the first--and, actually -find- an apartment as well. -And- actually move. While we both hold down jobs.

Also talked to an exterminator this morning who said our one-bedroom apartment would be about 900$ to get rid of the problem, and the earliest available slot is June 6th. And the apartment complex says that their method is not good enough, because it essentially involves nuking the crap out of the apartment with thermal radiation that'll kill all the bugs and all their eggs, but does not involve taking the furniture out of the apartment.

Yeah... damn sorry to hear that but it is kinda involved was what I was trying to point out before. I had a hell of a time, but again here is the best advice I can give for what you are now gonna have to do, from someone who has been there.

Get all linens, clothes, everything.

Double bag in black trashbags. This sounds extreme and might well be superfluous but I didn't want them in my car during transport to coin wash, so I bagged them normally, then put another bag over the top of the other one, upside down double bagging if you will, so there was no way one of the bastards could escape.

Buy new clothes, I went with gym shorts and a pack of white tee's.

Change into new clothes.

Coin wash, highest heat, double dry on highest heat dry you can.

You now have sufficiently debedbugged your clothing, in preparation for transport to a new domicile. I stayed in a hotel for a week or two which was a giant factor in my paranoia, worried that the hotel I'd go to would have them. I learned on the interwebz to keep my suitcases etc in the bathtub until I'd pretty insanely and thoroughly checked the room. I found a new place ASAP that wasn't beautiful but the sleep I got there was. You can also buy these mattress cover things that are supposed to like... stem the flow during the initial infestation but... I didn't even want to risk that. I got a new mattress and boxspring and yeah.

Super sorry to see you doing all this, it was so goddamned stressful for me at the time. The sleep thing really got to me, I had junkie/fiend-like DT kinda itches on my skin for the longest time. I slept on the hood of my car in Colorado a couple times... which means to say I'd rather risk bears, coyotes, wolves and coons than the possibility of them.

Erzsebet

Have access to the coin-wash in the complex. Just gonna use that. Car's still getting fixed.

Waiting for the cleaning service to clean the apartment so I can pay them and walk down to go get quarters. Also buying new tubs with sealable lids and just trashing the suitcases I have. Will washing/drying everything I have on high heat and then sealing them in bins work? Should I store the bins in the car so they're not exposed to the infestation again?

Meyvitch

Voice of experience: You can never have too many plastic bins and duct tape. They can't get through plastic, specifically plastic duct-taped-sealed on top. (They're also a hell of a lot easier to move with)

Solaria

I hate having to go into the ER yet again last night..meh..this stuff just needs to be overwith already.

Aryanne

Last week at work was dubbed "Week of Hell" by everyone at work, but we got through it, by golly-gee. Now this week is almost over and we're saying "Can we have the week of hell back?"

Can not *wait* for Memorial Day to be over... Running on sanity-fumes!