Bobby is positive a 7-Eleven clerk mistook his $20 bill for a $10 and shafted him on change. He brought the issue up to the clerk, who shut him down and sent him on his way. Since Bobby is a regular at the convenience store, it made the situation more awkward and rendered him more inclined to accept defeat. [More]
etiquette
Florida Pizza Joint Adds A 15% Tip Automatically
By 7.27.10
A pizza place in Jacksonville, Florida has decided to pay its servers a higher wage and in order to pay for it, automatically add a 15% tip to each order. Signs are posted and you can ask the server to take the tip off the bill if you want. [More]
How To Tell If You Should Give Up Your Seat On Public Transportation
By 6.10.10
If you’re someone who is willing to give up your seat on a train or bus for a pregnant woman but not just any female, the BBC has you covered with a rule-of-thumb guide that helps you identify an expecting mother. The excuse for this sort of potentially-offensive story is that if you offer a seat to a non-pregnant woman she may take it as an insult. [More]
Is It OK To Lower My Tip When Pizza Hut Hikes Delivery Fee?
By 4.27.10
We’ve established that pizza delivery fee hikes don’t necessarily go to the driver and thus should not be considered part of the tip. [More]
Baseball Park Food Is So Overpriced, Do I Still Have To Tip?
By 4.25.10
Reader J was at the Giants game the other day and bought a seriously overpriced ballpark item from a vendor and was wondering if an additional tip was appropriate for a $6 hot chocolate. [More]
Behave Like A Jerk, Get Better Service
By 2.11.10
Drawing on Assholeology, the new book he co-authored, Chris Illuminati explains in this Asylum post ways to get better customer service by, to put it kindly, being the squeaky wheel. [More]
Are You Cutting Back On Tips This Season?
By 11.23.09
The end of the year is usually when you tip service providers, but if you’re on a reduced budget then you’re probably going to want to scale back this year. Here are some suggestions from etiquette experts contacted by Reuters.
50 More Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do
By 11.6.09
As promised, here is part II of the NYT “Stuff Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do” series. The list was written by a fellow who is opening a seafood restaurant in Bridgehampton, NY. We’ve grabbed the most debate-worthy of them for your enjoyment.
50 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do
By 11.3.09
Over at the NYT there is a raging debate going on about restaurant server etiquette. We won’t reproduce all 50 “do nots” here, but we did pick a few particularly debate worthy edicts.
A Visual Primer On Airplane Etiquette
By 9.24.09
Here are 14 photo illustrations from Australia of jerk-like behavior on airplanes, for those of you who aren’t creeped out by the weird “lets use clones” art direction of the piece. The weirdest tip is that it’s apparently okay to kick your fellow passenger in the crotch if you’re certain you can do it without waking him up, but hey, that’s Australia for you.
Consumers No Longer Forking Out For Knives
By 8.2.09
Culturally bankrupt shoppers are now buying twice as many forks as knives, according to a British department store. The Brits blame the erosion of their cherished culture on “the American habit of using a single fork.” And that’s not all. Apparently we’re also ruining their understanding and respect for the elegant tradition of proper place settings.
In Which A TV Reporter Pretends To Be A Total Cellphone Jackass
By 5.15.09
While it is certainly not breaking news that people act like total jackasses when they’re on their cellphones, we nevertheless felt compelled to bring to you the following clip of WGN’s Pat Tomasulo acting like said jackasses on the streets of Chicago.
Subway Says Get Off Your Phone Or Go To The Back Of The Line
By 7.28.08
Sean says he approves of the this sign that he saw at an Idaho Subway location today, but his wife wasn’t a fan…
Who To Tip And How Much
By 11.21.07
Ah, holiday tipping, that peculiarly American pastime that erupts into an orgy of envelopes and awkward “thank you”s at the end of every year. Kiplinger tries the impossible: putting together a guide for who to tip and how much to give. Even they admit that it’s nigh impossible to create a definitive guide—they suggest “handing out end-of-the year tips for one to three people who have given you exemplary service during the year.”
Airplane Etiquette: What Should You Do When The Jerk Next To You Is Watching Porn?
By 7.5.07
PCWorld examines an interesting problem: What to do when the jerk next to you is watching hardcore porn on his laptop? Or what can be done about jerks who let their kids watch movies with no headphones? Can the airline do anything to stop jerks?
A Little Word On Cell Phone Etiquette
By 8.4.06
Dumb Little Man’s got some great tips for decorum and modesty with public cellphone use, which we rewrite for you here.
