Not just NO...
In Miss Manners' most recent column is this question about a drive-thru beer store:
You drive in, open a window and tell the girl in a bikini what you want.... I assume part of the business model includes the girl in the bikini being underpaid and expecting tips from fellows who find her appearance compelling.Buddy, listen up. Miss Manners shirked her duty here, but I'm telling you: No. You're from Texas, so let me make that, "Bless your heart, darlin', but hell no, what are you thinking?"
As a gay man with a tiny rainbow Texas on my license plate (covering up the actual silhouette of Texas thereon), am I exempt from this? If a man of similar age, attire and friendliness served me in the same situation, I'd give him a dollar.
You even admit you know the girl is underpaid. You don't tip because you're sexually attracted. That's why you overtip. (And a dollar? Really?) You tip because the agreement is that you pay part of the server's salary.
Sure, everyone would be better off if the servers were just paid decent wages and/or the tip was part of the bill. But as it is, restricting your tips to people who you find pretty is appalling. If you know she's not being paid the lesser minimum wage that assumes she'll make tips, that's one thing. But to open with "underpaid" and reject your part of the bargain - guy, get out of your damned truck and walk into a liquor store. Sheesh. What next? Straight men don't have to tip male waiters?
(And speaking of that truck, the one with the rainbow decal on it - one thing you might want to consider. Do you really want that girl to decide that gays are cheap bastards?)
Labels: gayrights, links, miscellaneous
3 Comments:
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At 5:50 AM, November 06, 2010
Anonymous had this to say...
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At 12:00 PM, November 07, 2010
The Ridger, FCD had this to say...
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At 12:01 PM, November 07, 2010
The Ridger, FCD had this to say...
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<-- Older Post ^ Home Newer Post -->This post highlights some cultural differences between my country and yours, some that are old news and some that are new to me. The old news is, of course, that Australians don't tip, and that wages are based on the assumption that tips don't exist.
What's new to me is the idea that the stereotypical server in a drive-through liquor store (drive-through bottle shop as we call them) is a girl in a bikini. The letter gives the impression that this is culturally standard in Texas, but over here the server is almost invariably male and fully clothed (I've never known an exception). Gender wouldn't matter either way in a perfect world, but it's remarkable that the bias falls one way here and the other way there. Is this a Texas thing or an American thing generally?
I also didn't know before that drive-through liquor stores existed in America. I know that British people (who certainly don't have them) often find the idea very strange.
Your wage structure is better than ours.
I don't know how typical it is, but we sure have plenty of places where the waitresses are either free or compelled to dress in skimpy clothes to attract the guys, and hopefully boost their tips.
ps - I personally find the combination of drive-through liquor stores and drunk-driving laws incompatible, but then again, this IS Texas.
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