Text 2060, 108 rader
Skriven 2008-02-09 12:43:00 av Glen Jamieson
     Kommentar till en text av Jim Weller
Ärende: PAGKAIN  80209
======================
 -=> Quoting Jim Weller to Glen Jamieson <=-

 GJ> Good lad!  They will remember you, and (hopefully) give you the
 GJ> service reserved for regulars.

 JW> They already knew me well and treated me as a regular; I'm the crazy
 JW> white guy that wants chile sauce with everything I order, even onion
 JW> rings or bacon and eggs. They put a little cup of it in every to go
 JW> order I place without asking.  

It is good to educate your food supplier that way.  Do they just have
the one type of chili sauce or do you get a choice?
 
 GJ> The culture of tipping [..] Do waiters get paid less than
 GJ> take-away packers and servers
 JW> Yes, they do. They are exempt from the minimum wage laws and
 JW> generally get paid less than minimum wage.

Thanks for this response; Ruth Hanschke (sp?) has also given a similar
reply.  It seems that your governments encourage tipping, in spite of
the imprecision of the taxable income of the tipped.
 
 GJ> What about a the McD and similar places - is it
 GJ> expected to tip table staff if dining in
 JW> No. Because there are no table staff. You carry your own tray from
 JW> the counter.

OK, I didn't know how things were arranged inside that M building.
 
 GJ> scales for staff with different duties?

 JW> I can speak to Subway, locally, because my step granddaughter worked
 JW> there for a while. The minimum wage in the NWT is $8.25. Because the
 JW> local economy is so strong the store paid the part time high school
 JW> kids $9.00 and the full time adults $11 to start, with $1 raises for
 JW> every 600 hours worked, up to $14. He now pays the kids $11 too when
 JW> they got organized. My S-GD Chloe was instrumental in that (with
 JW> some assistance from me in the background). The sandwich makers and

You old stirrer, you!  That would be getting up towards a living wage.

 JW> cashiers all make the same amount. The shift managers make $14.

Now that the sandwich makers get more, I would expect the shift
managers to agitate for more.
 
 GJ> Are there differences in
 GJ> tipping customs between the American countries

 JW> The US seems to think 20% is normal and fair. Canadians think 15% is
 JW> about right. (I only tip 10% at buffets because all the waitstaff do
 JW> is provide water and coffee and occasionally clear away plates.)

At the buffets I have been to, in other countries, the customer loads
his tray with his choice of food, then the cashier looks at the tray,
enters the prices into the cash register, adds it up and you pay
her/him the amount shown.  Is that the point where you add your tip, or
do you leave it on your table?

 GJ> Do any restaurants in Canadia or USA follow the practice often
 GJ> used in Europe, Mexico and Asia of including a "10% Service Charge" at

 JW> It is uncommon but not unheard of. When I come across it I add an
 JW> extra 5% for good service.

Do you add anything if the service was just average, or below average?
 
 GJ> So if you are a friend of the owner you don't give him as much money.
 GJ> Good idea.  Get to be a friend of the owner.  :)

 JW> The original idea was that one tipped servants but not the
 JW> proprietor who was presumably a person of means. Roslind says that

Tipping servants implies that the proprietor is a mean scrooge who
refuses to pay what his poor workers are worth, so the customers have
to give extra money so they can get food for their starving children!

 JW> is horribly old fashioned: when she owned a beauty salon with
 JW> several employees she was tipped regularly and accepted all tips
 JW> happily. And in fact her friends were the most generous tippers: 15%
 JW> most days, 25% when a colour turned out just right plus bottles of
 JW> wine and birthday and Christmas presents.

Tipping a hairdresser?!!!  Amazing!  They charge the earth, anyway.  My
hairdresser tips _me_, with little presents like a calendar at
Christmas.  Now another barber shop has just opened nearby, so I will
have to try that to see if the man is better value for the money, or if
my present woman hairdresser will drop her prices.
 
 GJ> I have seen mention of "baguettes"...
 GJ> a short French stick.
 GJ> Are these available in different
 GJ> kinds of bread, such as wholemeal, rye, or just plain white?
 JW> 99% are white. The French speak disparaging of the first as "health
 JW> bread" and ignore rye completely as too Germanic to be considered
 JW> food.

Coincidentally, yesterday I visited the Central Market, and found a
small bakery outlet there, which had bread labelled "Baguettes".
Cylindrical loaves 20cm long, by 3cm diameter, with rounded ends.  The
3 varieties on display were white, wholemeal and multi-grain.  This was
the first time I could recall seeing them.  They looked appetising, but
I had enough Turkish Pide bread at home, so didn't buy that time.

___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR]

--- FLAME v2.0/b
 * Origin: Braintap BBS Adelaide Australia (3:800/449)