• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Why should i pay $14 to enter the US?

I don't see the problem in having you bear that cost, rather than US taxpayers.

Haha, what the hell, why should foreigners/non citizens pay the debts the US made?

Exactly my point re:tipping in the US.

I don't like doing it(we don't tip here in Australia)and I very rarely did it when there.
And that's why I always give foreigners shitty service, or I add the tip to their bill without their knowledge.
 
Wow, that's just inviting some creative vandalism. Pretty much any place that charges to use the toilet deserves a nice brown present in their merchandise. That's probably the most anti-human business practice I can imagine that doesn't actively involve slavery.

Is a contract like that even enforceable? Because that's duress dripping down your pants leg.

It's all explained right here. :D
 
Haha, what the hell, why should foreigners/non citizens pay the debts the US made?

Exactly my point re:tipping in the US.

I don't like doing it(we don't tip here in Australia)and I very rarely did it when there.
And that's why I always give foreigners shitty service, or I add the tip to their bill without their knowledge.

Since I wasn't allowed to add gratuity and, every so often, you would get a good foreign table, I had to gamble that I'd get lucky and have a table that knew better. Probably one in five actually tipped well, but I would feel bad if they were going to tip well and I gave them shitty service.
 
Well, to be fair, even my "shitty" service is still pretty good. My conscience prevents me from giving people actual shitty service.
 
I just found out theres a charge now for the ESTA.
I am totally furious. Apparently obama is behind this. Thanks so much for voting in a mindless puppet!
The law had be passed in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Obama simply signed it into law.

:rolleyes:
Non-petition-based non-immigrant visa: $140.00
Covers:
Visitor Visa: Business, Tourism, Medical treatment
Transiting the U.S.
Crewmembers - Airline, Ship
Student, Academic
Media and Journalists
Exchange Visitors
Students, Vocational
NAFTA Professionals
Victim of Trafficking in Persons
Victim of Criminal Activity

ESTA: Visa waiver for tourist visits up to 90 days. Good for up to 2 years. $14.

You do the math.
 
When I travelled in West Germany, (yes it was THAT long ago) one didn't have to pay for the toilet..just the paper :eek:

There was a place in New Hampshire that charged to use the toilet. My dad lifted me over the door (I was young) and we saved 50 cents. Plus all people do is leave the door open for the next person so they wouldn't have to pay. It was a joke.
 
Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs, aka HMRC, aka "those thieving gits".

Yes, but the paperwork isn't as complicated here and if you leave the country you don't have to file. Better still is that you can do PAYE and NEVER FILE!

I'd love to do my non-taxes online (thanks to the foreign income exclusion my 1040 is a bunch of zeros - what a waste of time), but apparently someone in charge over there thought online taxes should become a cottage industry so you need to buy someone's software to do it. Screw that!
 
This is hilarious. Both the OP and the responses.

Hm, either disturbing or hilarious depending on mood, I suppose...

Exactly my point re:tipping in the US.

I don't like doing it(we don't tip here in Australia)and I very rarely did it when there.

We don't? I certainly do if I go to a good-quality place and get good service, and so do most people I eat out with. Not to the extent that one might tip in the US, perhaps, but about 10% of the bill.
 
We don't? I certainly do if I go to a good-quality place and get good service, and so do most people I eat out with. Not to the extent that one might tip in the US, perhaps, but about 10% of the bill.

That's the convention here; when I go to the States I tip %10 as well - %15 seems a bit excessive to me.

In Japan it's apparently rude to tip at all however, so I'd go with the convention there!
 
Almost all places here have a "Service included" sentence on their menus or their bills, so if you get good service, you generally just round up.
No one is expected to tip, but it is of course appreciated.
 
That's the convention here; when I go to the States I tip %10 as well - %15 seems a bit excessive to me.

If I consistently got 10% tips, they'd fire me because they thought I was a lousy server. Not only did you probably ruin a waiter's mood by giving a 10% tip, you possibly got them in trouble with management. I know you might not like the custom, but it's a custom already factored into the price.
 
I shouldn't think your tips would be your employers business myself. My sister used to be a waitress. I always tell her if she's so concerned she can tip %20. I also don't see how the price of a meal should or would factor in a gratuity - that makes no sense. The price should factor in food costs and other overheads; not an elective expense on the part of the patron.
 
I shouldn't think your tips would be your employers business myself. My sister used to be a waitress. I always tell her if she's so concerned she can tip %20.

Well, it depends on the restaurant, but some require servers to pool all their tips at the end of the night. Some restaurants have everyone split the tips evenly, including people who weren't serving (for instance, the cooks, dishwashers, bussers, etc.) Others don't split the tips evenly but still give the non-servers a cut.

Also, I think your employer has to know what you were tipped for tax purposes, so they can report it to the government. My wife got in some hot water with the IRS once because her job over-reported how much she was tipped. :mad:
 
Ah, you're not wrong there. I should think negative feedback and idleness would inform the poor performance of staff rather than amount of tips though.
 
I shouldn't think your tips would be your employers business myself. My sister used to be a waitress. I always tell her if she's so concerned she can tip %20. I also don't see how the price of a meal should or would factor in a gratuity - that makes no sense. The price should factor in food costs and other overheads; not an elective expense on the part of the patron.

A server is paid 2.23 an hour, as opposed to 7.15, which is minimum wage. If they had to be paid 7.15, the cost of the food would triple to cover the wage. The way it works now is the restaurant essentially doesn't pay the service part of the job. If the server did a terrible job, you essentially don't have to pay either. But if they didn't, you need to pay them. It isn't a bonus for doing a good job. It's the same as paying a cab driver for driving you home. The tip is for the service itself, otherwise they practically work for free.

The basic assumption at my job was that you could get 18-20% and, if you got less, you were a bad server. So they would take away tables to let you focus more attention on the tables you had. In other words, you would only have 2 tables to take care of. If you continued to only get 10% I'm really not sure what they'd do. They certainly wouldn't be happy with it. Feedback would be nice but most people don't give it. So they rely on sales numbers and tip percentage.
 
Well that sucks. I doubt I'm costing people their jobs by being tight though; especially since I don't eat out alone when I'm in America.
 
Probably not, since it would require everyone else being stingy. But enjoy your discounted meal.
 
How do restaurants get away with not paying minimum wage? And why do people take such jobs? Or is it just a last resort because you can't find something else?
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top