The Red Cross Called

I got this email today....

from: ((my dad))
to: ((me))
date: Fri, Oct 10, 2008 at 2:13 PM
subject: Red Cross called

Mary at Red Cross said it was time for you to donate again and that they are in desperate need.

My response:

Of course they are.... the major stock market players are all having heart attacks....and their ulcers are causing internal bleeding....

For the most part...Tipping is needed.

The very first job that I got in high school was one where all I worked for was tips. I was considered a "volunteer" and I did not have to pay any type of taxes. Today in many jobs it seems mandatory that a customer tip the employee, even though it is not. Some of these jobs include waiting tables, being a pizza delivery person, or working at a casino or hotel.

According to Business Today, tips should only be rewarded for good or superb service a customer receives. According to the American Society of Travel Agents in a Business Today article, 15 to 20 percent gratuity from the bill price is normal for restaurants. In big parties, 15 percent gratuity is already added for you. According to the same article, most waitresses think that 15 percent is a decent amount for waiting a table. According to Restaurant Gage.com, tips are the main income of the waiter or waitress. For some restaurant waiters and waitresses, the hourly wage is somewhere between $2-4. For anyone this is not enough, which is why tipping is such an important part of the job. Without tips, people probably would not have enough to pay for anything.

On the Pizza Driver Homepage, it states that the minimum tip for a pizza delivery driver is $2. Although the common gratuity is 15%, if it is less than $2 than the minimum should be $2. It also states that a great service person should receive 20% while a poor service person should receive only 10%.

From personal experience, many things determine the amount of gratuity a person is going to receive. The friendliness of the person, the amount of time the person takes to do the service asked, the amount of the bill itself, and the sometimes the quality of the food or items bought. Yes, I always try to pay 15%, but sometimes people do not deserve it. Because I know how it feels to do someone a service and receive a quarter, I know how a person should act to receive a good tip. From personal experience, some of the servers I have had do not deserve the 15% gratuity they want. But on the other hand, I understand that most people who get tipped don't make much money in the first place and need the tips. But I still believe that if they want more money, they need to do more work to get it.

Only 35 MPG?!

The United States Government just passed a bill into law that states that all new motor vehicles produced after 2019 are required to have at least a 35 mile-per-gallon fuel consumption. While this law is good, in that car manufacturers will be required to make slightly more fuel efficient vehicles, it is horrible that it is only 35MPG. With China and Japan producing 100MPG cars now, and requiring vehicles be at least in the 70s, American car companies cannot even sell most of their cars over seas. Europe is the not as high as Asia, but most of their vehicles are at least in the 50 to 60 MPG range. While the bill was supported by many "tree-huggers" it is said to be the only compromise between the legislators and the car companies. COMPROMISE?! Why is our government compromising with businesses?! Our government should be looking out for the people, not the companies.

Price Gouging?!

With gas prices rising like the temperature, there is all of this talk about gas stations price gouging again. When there was a shortage here in Georgia, because of the hurricanes and the current war, we saw prices rise above three dollars and sit there. At one point, right after a major hurricane, prices went even higher and then we saw businesses began to price gouge. Some gas stations had gas being sold for over nine dollars per gallon. Everyone was freaking out because of the shortage, and people were paying this much.
Because of this extreme gouging, the governor set a price that the gas stations could not go above, and placed an 10,000 fee for price gouging. My question is, what gives the governor the right to do this? Why does he get to make a decision to to deter the basic fundamentals of capitalist business in this country?
Price gouging should be allowed. Gas stations should be able to rise prices as high as they want and make money off of the people who are too stupid to wait to buy gas. Florists should be able to charge a hundred dollars for a simple dozen roses on valentines day or mothers day for the guys who wait until the absolute last second to buy them. American business is the backbone of the American economy. Let business do what it wants. We are a capitalist nation, and therefore we should not let the government control business. Let the people. If a gas station wants to charge ten bucks a gallon for gas, well then no one wants to shop there and the station will either drop their price or go out of business. If a business can make some money off of other ignorant Americans, let them.