Running Bear's August 2025 Coffee Shop

[chadbag]

Then you add in the "mandatory tip" thing, and it's no longer a tip in my mind; it's part of the price of the meal. That mechanism is flat out fraud as far as I'm concerned; they're putting a meal price on the menu that's 18% or however much lower than the actual price. It should be illegal; they should have to give alternate menus to large groups or whatever that include the correct prices instead of sneaking it in at the end.

My policy is to tip good service somewhere between 20-25%. What I do is to take the pre-tax price and take 20%. Then I round up to the nearest dollar. And then I sometimes add in a buck or two to that, depending on service and what the total bill was.

IF the company has mandatory service charge, which is normally around 18%, then that's it. I don't add another tip to it. At all. They chose and they chose wrong.

For those who spread tips out over all staff, the actual server should get a minus of 50% of the tip, of not 75%, and the rest spread to the other staff. I know when we first got married and my wife was not yet licensed in the US as a nurse, she worked as a waitress at a sushi / japanese restaurant* and her tips were what we lived off of. Luckily sushi is expensive and they sold a lot of alcohol so tips were pretty good. But even though they had to wait the people who actually sat at the sushi bar, IIRC all the sushi bar tips went to the sushi chefs. They only got the tips, which were grouped together and shared, from the customers who sat at the tables in the restaurant. It was still not a bad income but seemed a bit unfair to me. But since then I've always tried to be a reasonable tipper.

In most cases I refuse to tip at cafeteria style fast casual, and any place that is not sit down service. Occasionally, in the cafeteria style where they make your burrito or whatever as you walk down the aisle, if they're pleasant and have no problem with my "special requests" and stuff and do a good job, I'll add 41 tip or something on the machine. Otherwise I hit "no tip" at places like that. Those place around here pay the line workers and kitchen staff far more than minimum wage. Tips are for good service by the wait staff who get paid the stupid $2.xx / hour wait staff minimum.



* as one of the only actual japanese -- only the head sushi chef was Japanese otherwise. The owner was Taiwanese and the main managers were Taiwanese, the head non sushi chef was Mexican (he had a japanese girlfriend and could could japanese very well), and the rest of the kitchen staff were mainland Chinese, and the rest of the waitresses were "asian". Didn't matter what so they had Chinese/Taiwanese, SE Asian like Vietnam, etc. All Look Same. (alllooksame.com)

 

[migalyto]

. It’s like a soulless vibe! Interesting place that unfortunately we cannot wait to leave

Maybe its us Midwesterners? I felt the same way when we went to visit my sister in Portland for 5 days.

I was uneasy the whole time and couldn't wait to be on a plane back to Chicago.

 

[CambriaArea51]

Afternoon all, 80 and low dew point. Calm winds tonight to have a campfire and watch the sunset.
Happy Belated Birthday Hughie

 

[Marlin39]

Maybe its us Midwesterners? I felt the same way when we went to visit my sister in Portland for 5 days.

I was uneasy the whole time and couldn't wait to be on a plane back to Chicago.

I live about 15 miles south of downtown Portland and we're in a different world. Seattle, Austin, SF, Portland, etc. all suffer from the same problem.

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

SHHHHH don't say that to loud you know how America is with oil!!!

Yeah, I do know.
"The top three largest oil producers in the world are the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Russia, with the United States leading in production. In 2024, the US produced over 20 million barrels per day, followed by Saudi Arabia and Russia with approximately 10.9 and 10.8 million barrels per day respectively, according to Statista."

 

[insomniville]

For those who spread tips out over all staff, the actual server should get a minus of 50% of the tip, of not 75%, and the rest spread to the other staff.

That would be better, but still feels off. A better way would be to somehow enable customers to leave separate tips for, say, the cook. Not sure how that would work in practice, though.

IF the company has mandatory service charge, which is normally around 18%, then that's it. I don't add another tip to it. At all. They chose and they chose wrong.

Amen.

According to Merriam Webster, the definition of "gratuity" is:
something given voluntarily or beyond obligation usually for some service

The offending restaurants often call it a "mandatory gratuity". Oxymoron much? Fraud, I tell you.

 

[chadbag]

Maybe its us Midwesterners? I felt the same way when we went to visit my sister in Portland for 5 days.

I was uneasy the whole time and couldn't wait to be on a plane back to Chicago.

No, we Intermountain folks would feel the same way. I won't say more for fear of breaking forum rules.

 

[TLOC]

If u are going Saturday let me know h

Afternoon, folks. It's 92F and 54% out here on the patio today.

Two and a half inches of rain yesterday. TWO AND A HALF INCHES! On a random day in early August where they said we had a 30% chance of getting about a tenth of an inch. @santafewillie: lucky indeed!

The rain was much appreciated.

Am still feeling just kinda meh. That's now coupled with an unpleasant issue today, which is not making me happy. I do not want to be tethered to the bathroom tomorrow, since I have a train show to go to!

I'm hoping that will be fun. The train show, not the bathroom...


I'm guessing that's all HO? If any of it is N, let me know what you have and I might be interested.


Holy crap! That same bottle is... $2.39 at my local Target. More than twice the price before sales tax is insane! I member when they were $1.50 out of a vending machine...


Tipping is becoming a bit of a trigger for me in general, I think. And I've never worked in food service!

I've always seen tips as rewards for good service. They are rewards to the serving individual, directly from the customer. I am not tipping the business; I'm tipping the worker! In far too many jurisdictions (including mine, sadly), this isn't what happens, though.

Where I am, minimum wage is $7.25/hour, if you're not a food service worker. If you are, it's $2.13/hour, though the employer still has to make up the shortfall between there and minimum wage once tips are added in. How the hell is that not considered theft of those tips from the people who rightfully earned them?

It's exploitative in a way that I really don't like, and that I think is deeply wrong. I'm tempted to say that people in jurisdictions like mine should stop tipping completely since it's not the tipee that's actually getting the money; make the businesses pay their workers properly until the law is fixed.

The "shared tips" thing also bothers me a little, but it's far less offensive. The rest of the staff does have a bearing on the service, so it's at least an attempt at fairness if it's done properly. Right up until the employer claws those tips back by not paying a reasonable wage...

I feel really bad for all of those people.

Then you add in the "mandatory tip" thing, and it's no longer a tip in my mind; it's part of the price of the meal. That mechanism is flat out fraud as far as I'm concerned; they're putting a meal price on the menu that's 18% or however much lower than the actual price. It should be illegal; they should have to give alternate menus to large groups or whatever that include the correct prices instead of sneaking it in at the end.

Yeah, I tend to rant about this. Sorry. I'm going to shut up about it now before I end up writing a (bigger) book...

--

On a lighter note, the Austin train show starts tomorrow! I have no idea what to expect, but I'm very much looking forward to it. My only issue is that I wanted to take the train down there, but it would probably be a mistake; I don't want to have to carry any purchases I make back home on said train. Maybe on Sunday, depending.

I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Have a good day, folks,

If you go the Austin show let me know how the vendors are. The son asked me last week if I needed anything. Has a modelrailroader ever said no to that question? He’d go Sunday if you think it’s worth while. Other than my trains his girlfriend has never seen model trains. They are close enough to walk to the Palmer Events Center or ride the scooters!

We are relaxing below the Space Needle 515’ to the deck plus more for the spire

The Museum of Pop Culture was eXcellent. I think purposely the exhibits were set up behind glass to create intentional lousy pictures because of the glare

The museum was created and endowed by Paul Allen co-founder of Microsoft. It’s now an independently funded museum but it does contain many of the modern cultural items PA collected and gave to the museum. The Jimi Hendricks experience to me was worth the admission alone. PA was a huge Hendricks fan and there must be a thousand items of Hendricks on display including parts of guitars he destroyed while playing at Woodstock.

We Ubered to the museum. Went to the base of the Space Needle and then took the monorail from the Space Needle to Nordstums all of .8 miles for the full monorail experience. But the $2.00 each ride was quick, bumpy, fun and ended 2 blocks from our hotel.

Had to celebrate the Monurail ride with a fresh out of the oven, French toast, powdered sugar and apple cookie. Terry had the Chocolate chocolate all everything. I could feel the blood glucose spike on the 1st bite. Was definitely worth what we paid for them!

Sitting in a park getting ready to venture on in a few minutes. There is a terrible live band playing but not all music is great but the crowd in this food truck park is having a good time.

 

[TLOC]

I remember 5 cents for a soda in a machine.

I had to choose between a pack of baseball cards Hershy bar or a soda; each was 5 cents. I always choose baseball cards, but I still remember the quick debate in my mind.

You got gum with baseball cards though

 

[insomniville]

If you go the Austin show let me know how the vendors are.

Will do!

 

[chadbag]

According to Merriam Webster, the definition of "gratuity" is:
something given voluntarily or beyond obligation usually for some service

The offending restaurants often call it a "mandatory gratuity". Oxymoron much? Fraud, I tell you.

Just to put it in perspective. Japan is one of those "no tipping" cultures, though there are exceptions. They pay the staff and it is not expected to leave a tip at restaurants or hotels etc. Again there are some exceptions and ways of doing so for outstanding service or things like after midnight taxi rides where you can but I won't go into the details of when it might be appropriate or how it is done as its not germane. In general, Japan is no tipping.

The reason I bring this up is that some hotels and restaurants and stuff have a sign in the room, menu, etc that says, in English, something like the following. They probably don't even say this in Japanese -- its for the tourists who come from tipping cultures.

(I'm making these words up but I have seen this in many hotels et.)_
----

No Tipping. In Japan, tipping is not expected or required. The staff are adequately paid to do their job. A 10% service charge is included in the price of the service, which is shared amongst all staff. No tipping is expect or required

-----------

That sort of thing. It's not a service charge listed separately. It's in the price already that they quote you when you book the room or the food. They just explain it so the dense Americans understand how it works.

 

[chadbag]

The museum was created and endowed by Paul Allen co-founder of Microsoft.

Paul Allen was also a huge warbirds fan. He bought a lot of WW2 and other planes and had them restored to flyable condition and I believe there is a museum or exhibit of the planes.

 

[Bruette]

You got gum with baseball cards though

Yes, I did but I didn't like it.

My sister Theresa did, and she was always happy when I gave it to her. We were poor kids; something was better than nothing.

Life was so simple back then.

 

[insomniville]

It's not a service charge listed separately. It's in the price already that they quote you when you book the room or the food.

Yeah, that's totally fine with me. You can easily reframe it as "we're giving a 10% commission to the staff". Can't reframe it that way so easily with the current American trend.

 

[bnsf971]

I remember 5 cents for a soda in a machine.

I had to choose between a pack of baseball cards Hershy bar or a soda; each was 5 cents. I always choose baseball cards, but I still remember the quick debate in my mind.

When I was a kid, I could get a bottle of soda for a nickel, but I'd have to drink it there so I didn't have to pay 2 cents deposit. My allowance was 10 cents a week. A Reese Cup was a nickel, and the soda was a nickel. I also had to buy them separately, because a nickel soda plus a nickel Reese Cup would be 11 cents with sales tax, but buying each one in a separate transaction would save me the penny so I could get both.

 

[DirtyD696]

You got gum with baseball cards though

I don't know if it was any better back in the day but when I was a kid in the 80s and 90s baseball card gum was nasty. It tasted like cardboard and was about as chewy as glass. My brother collected them back in the day. Some of them might have one day been worth a fortune but our mom threw them out because she was a domineering old battle ax who hated to see anybody being happy and our dad was a passive coward.

 

[Bruette]

My wife always puts a 25% or more tip on the credit card receipt. I always carry cash when we go out. Any staff that comes to my table, excluding managers, gets a cash tip. Double tip, sometimes triple tips. On the bright side, I don't enjoy expensive places. What's an extra $20-$100?

I don't trust management with tips. My wife feels guilty for not adding the tip to the receipt. This way we both are happy. Isn't that part of the reason we go out?

I tip anyone anywhere for service. Service workers will love you for it.

I feel that working for a W-2 is a racket for the employer and the tax man. I know there are good employers out there, I just don't trust them. It costs me more, but generosity always feels good.

I went out to a buffet once with a guy I knew. He left two pennies! I asked why "the service sucked" he said. I dropped a twenty when he wasn't looking. The poor old lady was swamped; big damn deal she only filled my cup once. I never went to eat with him again.

The wonderful lady that raised me told me once "If you can't afford the tip, don't take a cab"

 

[migalyto]

I don't know if it was any better back in the day but when I was a kid in the 80s and 90s baseball card gum was nasty. It tasted like cardboard and was about as chewy as glass.

I would say, that's a very sound description of it!

I just remember it was so brittle and your jaw ached after chewing it for a few minutes!

 

[DeaconKC]

It's short enough, I'll post the first page here;
View attachment 235862

View attachment 235858

Here are the track plans:View attachment 235859

Looks like if you're after the original John Allen trackplan, this isn't it.

There is more text on the next page talking about what the students did. That's the extent of the article.

Yup! You nailed it. This is what I was looking for.

 

[logandsawman]

Yeah, I do know.
"The top three largest oil producers in the world are the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Russia, with the United States leading in production. In 2024, the US produced over 20 million barrels per day, followed by Saudi Arabia and Russia with approximately 10.9 and 10.8 million barrels per day respectively, according to Statista."

We were getting 10 million barrels per day in North Dakota alone back in 2012, the peak of the boom. The roads and infrastructure suffered, however. It is better overall to get some from Texas and Oklahoma, too.