Ms. Esterday said she did not understand what all the commotion was about.
“You people are really nuts,” she told a reporter during a phone interview. “There’s kids dying in the war, the price of oil right now — there’s better things in this world to be thinking about than who served Hillary Clinton at Maid-Rite and who got a tip and who didn’t get a tip.”
Oh, look over there, it’s the flag pin flap writ in pancakes and coffee. Whatever it takes in the next round of irrelevent gotcha so that we don’t ever have to discuss real problems and issues that real Americans face outside the fantasy world that is the Beltway.
Taaa Daaaah! Presto Change-o!
For heaven’s sake, can we just this once discuss something substantive, in depth and with real emphasis given to facts and honesty and its application to everyday lives of Americans instead of a bunch of manufactured hooey and salacious BS that relates to nothing except tabloid ratings and manufactured idiocy? Please?
Because we have a year to go in this election coverage, and it is way too early to be this cynically lacking in content. There are a whole host of issues to be debated and discussed. Then again, perhaps not. Jeebus…
(H/T to Atrios. Photo via Leslie Duss.)
[And to be completely clear on the issue of tipping: tip and tip big. Waitstaffs live on their tips, as do the busboys and bartenders who get a cut of the tipping action in most restaurants. I've waited a bazillion tables in my lifetime, from high school forward, and I can tell you that no one survives long on $2.45 to $3 an hour for long without decent tips. Start at 20 percent and move upwards. And, for heaven's sake, I don't care which party the candidate represents, the political staff always -- ALWAYS -- needs to carry some cash for tips for the waitstaffers at whatever diner you are using as a location prop of the moment. Use your common sense. Doesn't negate the fact that the media is using this as yet another distraction-gotcha-come-lately, but for the love of pete, tip your waitstaff.]
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Ein?
Hello Christy!
Bhutto is freed from house arrest!
where’s the tip jar for this post?
The ironic thing was the story was total bullshit to begin with. The Bill was $150 and they left a $100 tip.
ex-restaurant workers tip best!
I’ve told my girls that a good test of a guy’s character is how they treat the waitstaff on a date…
do-si-do @ 3
lol!
Nice to see that some people have the sense to ask the right questions.
Quick! Hire that one as a reporter!
tw3k @ 5
Damn straight.
May I add something Christy? Even if you are paying the check with a credit card, tip with cash. Some resteraunts/bars/whatever will not clear the credit card tips until all the bank work is completed.
Yep, rome is burning and we’re talking lapel pins.
Here’s to ordering off the MSM menu…
No kidding, tip big and often.
I worked as a short order cook for a while right out of high school. seeing it from the inside, I always tip.
I even tip the gas station attendants in Oregon where they don’t have self service gas pumping. You ought to see the looks of amazement I get for a buck.
( I pumped gas for a living for a while too, back in the day.)
As for the media hype?
Get a life.
Loo Hoo @ 2
Hmmm. Interesting.
we are fortunate that our existing candidirt will continue to spew non committal nonsense. it will allow a leader to step in at some point. of course, that will be the antichrist and jerry falwell will appear on tv again, only live!, and bugs bunny will be driving a taxi in brooklyn just like it is all supposed to be.
Until there is a progressive media nothing will change. The MSM will continue to provide gruel for the mind to the masses. The blogs and AA Radio are a start but they do not drive the coverage. America’s traditional media is a far greater danger to average Americans than any terrorist. It’s time to acknowledge who the real terrorists are: The New York Times, Washington Post, ABC, CBS, NBC, Russert, Williams, Judith Miller, George Will, Hume,Broder, Matthews, et al
I made a similar comment about tipping awhile ago and got hammered; because “The important thing was better wages and benefits..blah..blah. My thought at the time was, it would be damn hard for a single mom to feed her kids a dinner of “political rhetoric”.
Loo Hoo @ 2
Morning Loo Hoo.
I wish I thought that was better news.
And images of Benigno Aquino flash before me as I read this.
Clinton campaign says they left $100 tip on a $60 tab. (That’s on drudgereport.com)
do-si-do @ 6
I knew that but didn’t pay close enough attention until it was too late. My daughter, having worked in the restaurant business, will not be making the same mistake.
Has looseheadprop checked in with a report on the rally in NYC yesterday? I still can’t believe it’s not a mainstream top story.
dakine01 @ 10
I always leave a cash tip when paying with credit but write the word “cash” in the tip line on the receipt.
Small wonder that the MSM has been reduced to what it is today; infotainment. Unfortunately most Americans have allowed themselves to be dumb-downed, but occasionally someone appears with enough common sense to speak truth to power.
Someone should give Anita Esterday a medal
This is really fucking rich. The mark of a Republican is that he insists the waitress “earn” her tip with exceptional service — correct that, subservience — pretending not to know she’s paid below minimum. And the food better be good, too.
Hi newtonusr! Such a world this administration has contributed to, huh?
Steve-AR @ 4
Yeah, apparently the confusion was because they paid the tip with the bills for the whole group of tables together, rather than leaving it on the table (via TPM, I think; don’t have time to look up the link right now.)
do-si-do @ 6
Good afternoon all. Excellent advice do-si-do! I’ll share it with the young people in my family.
Thankyou!
I heard this on NPR coming to work this morning and spent the last moments of my trip ranting like a banshee. Who cares!!!!
Meanwhile, what about … oh, good grief, fill in the blank – the war, the economy, healthcare, our new pro-torture AG, yada yada yada.
Sheesh.
newtonusr @ 9
Mothers of ex-restaurant workers tip really well…
Just because the minimum wage raised does not mean it applies to all classes of employees. Wait staff in AZ are excluded and paid with the following formula …..
base rate plus tips = minimum hourly wage
So no matter what, they rarely earn MORE than minimum wage. Each employee class gets a percent of the tips so if someone pockets a tip and it does not got into the general pot then others loose for the night.
Be interesting to know how many pups worked in restaurants to get through college. I did.
Sometimes the little things like how much they tip says volumes about the character of a candidate. How many times have we heard about how Bush takes something from a store and leaves a quarter or nothing to pay for it and none of his staff come through with the rest of the payment? (I don’t actually expect the President or candidate to worry about the actual payment, their staffers should.)
From the 2004 campaign – I live in St. Louis, we hosted one of the debates. At the same time, the Cardinals were in the playoffs. The day before the debate, I was in a horrendous traffic jam coming home from work. Heard on the radio that one of the candidates had arrived at the airport and was driving down the highway to Ladue. Closed I 270 and all of the bridges over it. Care to guess which candidate had to arrive during rush hour and drive down a major highway, inconveniencing half of greater St. Louis who either just wanted to get home or go to a playoff baseball game? John Kerry didn’t arrive until around 8 PM when traffic was light. I’m still PO’d about it 3 years later.
Of all the discussions worth having, only this crap fits into the network soundbites.
Stephennnn @ 22
So people actually think the news is accurate?
I guess it all depends on the sponsors…
Who’s Failing Us With Bad Information?
OT – heard on Thom Hartman
“Conyers has been threaten by Pelosi that she will take away his chairmanship of the HJC if he proceeds with impeachment”
OMG…
Elliott @ 23
yup! peel that veneer off the msm!
katymine @ 34
God help this nation.
The disconnect that we have seen for at least a decade is now being articulated by ordinary people. The centralization of so-called poltical ‘news’ reporting in Washington DC along with infotainment programme executives has pretty much severed the connection between people and their media. She should have told the reporter, ‘get a life’.
We can’t expect the national democratics to tap this vein of resentment. It has to start local, as Howard Dean figured out some years ago. Get the local party in shape to the point where activists can have real influence on elections, and we will get better candidates. The notion that money and some financial backing qualifies a person to represent a constituency has got to be broken. There has to be real representation for a change.
Steve-AR @ 4
But it doesn’t beat getting linked to by Drudge. All the traditional media loves him. Don’t you know!!
katymine @ 34
She sounds like The Decider: making demands with no explanation and few accomplishments.
katymine @ 34
Primary Pelosi!
Loo Hoo @ 30
Me, too. But not for tips.
Loo Hoo @ 30
I did too, very briefly. I could probably take the award for worst waitperson ever. I just couldn’t convince myself to care what people ordered.
Office work suited me much better and got me through most of college.
tw3k @ 35
I wonder what kind of tippers those of the MSM are?
TexBetsy @ 36
There is no god, it can’t help the nation.
Elliott @ 43
Cow tippers.
hillary claps her hands for no apparent reason.
obviously, she’s not qualified to be a candidate for president.
lightly @ 28
Yeah, Morning Edition ran a confusing semi-correction. I ended up knowing less than before they ran it. But at least the reporter admitted the messup.
katymine @ 34
And she wonders why people protest in front of her house. What the hell happened to her since becoming speaker? She is fast becoming a monumental disappointment. Is she afraid of the Broder’s and Mr. Potato Head’s(Russert) of the world?
katymine @ 34
wha…….?!!!!!!!!!
Knut Wicksell @ 41
I did and after as well.
Bustednuckles @ 45
707!
tw3k @ 7
Upper right hand corner of the page…
Loo Hoo @ 20
“Um, what rally” said the New Yorker.
yellowsnapdragon @ 42
I was pretty good but I did spill a bowl of soup in a lady’s lap one time!
My last ex..left home at age 17 and moved to HI. She worked her way through College and Med School on tips.
katymine — I’m in fairly close contact with several people close to Conyers, and I have never heard that from any of them. FWIW
linda @ 46
gotta engage the audience somehow.
Joe Klein’s conscience @ 48
She gives “house arrest” whole new meaning.
Although my stints as a waitress were brief (and memorable, since I’m both absent-minded and bad tempered) I always start my tipping at 20%.
Good service gets more, for instance, cab drivers who carry my groceries up two flights of outside stairs, my tips start at 40%.
Only wish I could afford to tip like a friend wealthy from real estate: he overtips until the wait staff is giddy.
tw3k @ 54
Carafe of red wine here…
msmolly @ 52
good point!
Loo Hoo @ 30
Nurses aide….. kind of the same work with no tips
Waiting tables is a tough job, so I always tip well. Never done it, but I know many people who have.
BTW, I spotlighted this to the worst offenders in pundit world.
newtonusr @ 60
at least it wasn’t hot!
tw3k @ 61
(grabs calculator) ok, 40% of saving the democracy, serving up accurate journalism with integrity is about…
katymine @ 34
Any reason given? Poor Conyers is getting it from all sides, huh?
Flamethrower @ 47
NPR devoted TWO segments to this, first yesterday and then this morning. Shows where the news priorities are, doesn’t it?
On the Conyers-Pelosi story: found this at DemocraticUnderground:
I wouldn’t bet against her threatening him if he actually does anything on any of the stuff bottled up in his committee. She’s made it clear that she doesn’t have time for impeachment, whether anyone else wants it or not.
neokneme @ 33
Investors or consumers of news should just assume that most of the information is incomplete, missing, or wrong. I only watch cable news to make fun of it and see how fast it takes a reporter to go off the rails in his/her story.
I don’t pretend to be an economic expert on but it truly shocks me when I see that I know more about some economic issues than the resident media experts and that in many cases they simply do not know what they are talking about.
Jane (nyc) @ 19
Can be overrated. I’ve dealt with guys very generous on the waitstaff, but still real assholes with the people they date.
I have a pretty funny Denny’s story that involves a grilled cheese sandwich flying through air in slow motion, but it will have to wait for Late night…;)
I dated a waitress once. Never again. All they talk about is their tips.
do-si-do @ 65
and about 90% of 10% for accuracy and honesty…
That Dana Milbank column is precious. The man’s clearly been reading too many inflight magazines.
I wish there were a way to reflect this incident back on the MSM. they are so shallow.
OT..Good news….
Rep. Jim Saxton, the twelve-term Republican from New Jersey’s 3rd District, plans to retire after his current term, an announcement that could come as early as today, according to sources familiar with his decision.
WaPo
George Simian @ 72
Based on your experience with one waitress? Perhaps they’re individuals and have different topics of conversation.
P J Evans @ 68
and she lets do-no hojo sit, wtf.
peanutbutter @ 70
rats, word got out, huh? did this treat the waitstaff nice thing become part of the Mystery Method?
sorry about the dates from hell.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 56
That is why I put in where I was hearing it….
If you can get the audio of the Ed Schultz & Wasserman Schultz interview yesterday. I was shocked how Ed really was pinning her to the mat on impeachment. Wasserman Schultz was no no no… no time, too many other things to do…. the people do not want it….. not in the top 10 things the American people want….
When we knew in Oct 2006 that impeachment was off the table, why would it be in our top 10?
Yellowsnapdragon, that is so funny!
I did too, very briefly. I could probably take the award for worst waitperson ever. I just couldn’t convince myself to care what people ordered.
Ah, I think I’ll get that gal a tuna sandwich, and grandpa should have the soup. The kid should be eating more vegetables, and the fat lady does NOT get the banana split she ordered. A salad would be much more appropriate. To hell with ‘em!
If I were John Conyers I would call Nancy’s bluff. What an idiot she is. Has she turned into a republican????????
Steve-AR @ 76
Cool! Who’s running against him?
Um, the election is a year away. There can’t be many more retirements to announce, right? This is cutting it a little close for the people of both parties who’ll run for the seat.
Joe Klein’s conscience @ 48
I think disappointment is pretty weak word for what she has become.
Why do so many people say that there is more important work to be done? And that impeachment would be a big distraction? Does it really need to take that long? The Mukasey nomination practically flew through.
Of course if they had done some investigation earlier this year, they would have been strengthening their negotiating position…instead, Nancy-girl negotiates with herself and unilaterally locks one of her biggest guns firmly in its holster.
It’s not just bad for the Constitution…its bad for politics. Exactly why is exposing the BS that Cheney and Bush have been up to bad for the Democratic brand or short term political gain?
marymccurnin @ 82
y yes she has
Funny, I thought the more telling comment was this:
“Esterday, speaking to NPR from home later Thursday, said the Clinton campaign staffer who visited the diner apologized to her and said a $100 tip was left on a credit card the day of Clinton’s visit. Esterday said the staff member said the money was meant to be shared. “I explained to her that our credit card machine, you know, doesn’t add on the tip,” Esterday said. “And she said, ‘Well, then, they left a $100 bill there.’ And I said, ‘Well, it didn’t get divided up amongst us, because I had gotten nothing.’ “She just said, ‘Well, there was one left,’” Esterday said. “She just kept repeating, ‘There was one left.’”
TexBetsy @ 77
Nah, all the same. They all come out of the same test tube and then are reared in the same waitressing academy until they’re old enough to complain about tips. Then they’re loosed on the world after a secret ceremony involving .., oh wait, sorry sworn to secrecy on that one.
Hugh @ 69
Long live pots and pans… “~}
Got me thru and well past college. Taught me much too. Dumped a shrimp cocktail down the very low cut dress of a customer – not good to see and hard not to laugh.
Waitin’ tables: easy to do; hard to do well.
Sparkatus @ 53
Courthouse steps over the feds wanting to take over New York’s elections. Scary article by Looseheadprop about this time yesterday.
Sparkatus @ 84
On the way home for lunch, I caught a bit of Diane Rehm, and a caller asked the panelists why impeachment was “off the table” and the answer was “bad for Democrats, a distraction, yada yada yada.” Since I didn’t hear much, I’m not sure who gave that answer. Made me pound the steering wheel!
Loo Hoo @ 90
Ah, ok. Thanks.
Considering that it’s already been shown that Hillary’s people did indeed leave a massive tip, that’s what makes this even sillier.
Somerby has got to be blowing a gasket over this.
OT..Oh..this is just peachy:
Israel and the United States have agreed to appoint two working committees in order to hone a joint strategy against Iran’s nuclear ambitions, public radio reported on Friday.
link
For those of you who haven’t lived in the center of the political universe, Iowa, a maid-rite is known as the sandwich you ‘eat with a spoon.’ Normally, you don’t get a plate, but eat it atop a waxy paper wrapper. As the meat inevitably falls out of the sandwich, you scoop it off the waxy paper with a plastic spoon.
If Hillary gave a $100 tip, it would be the greatest tip in the history of maid-rites by several fold.
Cujo359 @ 87
lol!
OT .. but worth a read. For those of us whose contempt for Liarman knows no bounds, read the Comments section in this NYT article.
Lieberman calls liberal Democrats paranoid
msmolly @ 91
And they’re getting so much done, aren’t they? Frankly, I wish they’d get distracted so they’d stop passing legislation. Maybe someone should leave bright, shiny objects around for them. My cats used to love dead batteries under the sofa.
Been missing KKKarl?
Rove Decries ‘Nutty’ ‘Vitriolic’ Bloggers Who Spew ‘Bad Words’
Dude. Who’s the kook? Show up sometime…
msmolly @ 91
Exactly!
So more time can be spent Condemning Move-On? Revising FISA? Confirming Mukasey? Spending on Iraq? Vilifying Iran? Not enforcing subpoenas?
What could possibly be more important than getting the criminals at the top out?
And, yes, tipping is good. Used to wait tables myself. Funny, everyone talks about it being tough. But it was also the best money I made for a quite some time.
TheOtherWA @ 83
Harumph! My thoughts exactly. You have, in short and sweet language, crystallized my thoughts on this presidential race. Who, except the MSM, gives a damn about who tipped who, who wore a flagpin, who forgot to put a hand over their chest for the pledge. I have a kid suffering from autism and I fight every month with his school and my insurance company for his benefit. I have had two liver transplants and take $1,000’s of dollars of meds each month – I am worried about losing my job and my insurance. I can barely fill my tank anymore because of gas prices. And lastly people are dying in an illegal war. I just about give up…
Jane (nyc) @ 97
From the article:
Classic Holy Joe. Let’s work really, really hard on these bad ideas and then they’ll be good ideas.
neokneme @ 99
Perhaps this is how Republics plan to dismiss blogs in the coming election season without addressing any issues. It’s a new take on the “liberal media” mantra.
Cujo359 @ 98
seriously the 110th should NOT pass anymore legislation. They are making things worse. Accountability is much more important for our democracy.
Jane (nyc) @ 97
Personally, if given the choice between our kind of “paranoia” and the kind that starts wars, I don’t think it’s a tough call.
Barbara Cubin retiring? That’s too bad..A Dem might have beaten her but not a “New Thug’.
Loo Hoo @ 66
Just phoned the Speaker’s office and raised hell over this — staffer says it’s just a rumor.
I told him to tell the Speaker to get the Cheney impeachment hearing scheduled as soon as possible — AFAIC next Monday wouldn’t be soon enough…
There is a fairly horrific Froomkin up today about Bush visiting a military rehabilitation center and claims that he understands war firsthand.
Remember our brainstorming session yesterday? Well my son and I have both been busy photo-editing some of the ideas we discussed. Results are here.
(He is home from school with a stomach bug.)
Jane (nyc) @ 97
“For all of our efforts in the 1990s to rehabilitate a strong Democratic foreign policy tradition, anti-war sentiment remains the dominant galvanizing force among a significant segment of the Democratic base.
But another reason for the Democratic flip-flop on foreign policy over the past few years is less substantive. For many Democrats, the guiding conviction in foreign policy isn’t pacifism or isolationism—it is distrust and disdain of Republicans in general, and President Bush in particular.”
Sweet Jeeezuz; I can’t stand this idiot.
Elliott @ 23
Funny, but our old friend David Brooks mentioned over a year ago, that Hillary would do well because of working moms and waitresses. Given the common sense this women displayed, Brooks may actually be right for once.
I hope she passes her wisdom on to her customers.
Brisingamen @ 108
thanks! I was developing turrets
katymine @ 34
Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman explains to Ed Schultz why impeachment is off the table:
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/….._1109.html
No impeachment and no results. Why do the Dems keep the same leaders? There needs to be a change before the Republics rise again.
Hugh @ 109
From the first paragraph:
President Bush, who claimed earlier this week that he understands the consequences of war “firsthand,” shot at insurgents on the streets of Baghdad yesterday.
But only in virtual reality.
Bush tried his hand at a computer game designed for recovering soldiers during a visit to a private Texas facility for grievously wounded veterans — a visit that he sandwiched between two big-donor Republican fundraisers.
tw3k @ 105
Personally I think the 110th is out to be the 109th’s ‘do nothing’ record, by saying they don’t have time for work.
If they don’t have time to do their jobs, we don’t have to pay them those well-above-median salaries for their non-work.
katymine @ 80
For the Lady’s sake, people — Call the Speaker’s Office 202-225-0100 and tell them you’re a voter and you want the Cheney impeachment hearing to happen, the sooner the better!
neokneme @ 99
Hmm! Maybe he is LibertyMike?????
Hugh @ 109
Just like he understands hard work, or ranching, or horses. Republicans must be so proud.
P J Evans @ 116
the 110th needs a recall.
The thing that really gets me about the gotchas and fluff in the presidential race is that we’re constantly told by apparently sympathetic media people that the reason we don’t get coverage of all these really important actions that are undermining our government, or matters before Congress that can really have an effect on the country is that there isn’t “news” there; that they can’t write about it again unless something “new” happens.
And yet when we have a presidential race, it’s an absolute requirement that they must write about it, so they’ll go to any lengths to manufacture “news” so they have an excuse for a story.
Feh.
President Plays Virtual Soldier
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r…..058364.php
So the President was down in San Antonio today, visiting the rehab center at Brooke Army Medical Center, where lots of wounded Iraq War vets go for further treatment.
As is usually the case in these kinds of visits, the President took a tour, shook some hands, and gave a speech. But we got a hold of a copy of the pool report of the visit, and the President apparently also got a chance to play a little virtual soldier on his tour:
Bush saw a number of cutting edge virtual reality games that allowed recovering soldier to simulate riding a car or boat. One game simulated shooting in a Baghdad neighborhood, a game she said POTUS participated in with two other soldiers there and helped shoot the bad guys, at least virtually.
That must have been quite a scene. I wonder how it went over.
TexTeen is getting better, Betsy.
tw3k @ 120
It’s defective. Was it made in China?
Here’s some more head-exploding stuff.
I agree with the premise of Christy’s post, but shouldn’t we also be asking why it is that this kind of wage arrangement is tolerable in 21st Centery America? Doesn’t this mean that waitresses are not getting a minimum wage? How can the restaurant industry get away with figuring voluntary customer tips as part of its wage structure? Why shouldn’t we just boot the Restaurant industry in the a$$ from the 19th century to the 21st century and require them to pay at least a minimum wage? Or have I been living too long with my head in the sand?
Bob in HI
newtonusr @ 123
Thanks. 2 or 3 of them are actually mine.
bobschacht @ 126
Good question Bob. Let’s re-frame the controversy that way.
Speaking only for myself of course, I’d like to debate Iraq, Iran, Kyle-Lieberman, global warming, campaign money origins, the DLC, NAFTA, outsourcing, the “Third Way”, education, health care, leadership, the DLC, Mukasey and the implications, the Middle East, “right to work” and a host of other issues.
I totally agree, Christy, this is not an issue.
But this is:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories…..0694.shtml
By all means… let’s cut to the issues.
PeteCO @ 125
talk about cognitive dissonance?!
OT: there’s a petition out for indicating your support of the WGA strike!
http://www.petitiononline.com/WGA/
It seems to me to be in really bad taste (not to mention insensitive, callous, and stupid) to give vets who were wounded while in Iraq video games that simulate war in Iraq.
And in other bad-taste news, yesterday Laura flew to Amarillo (from someplace) for a 40 minute meeting. I guess the rest of the seats in the 737 were for the adoring entourage.
Loo Hoo @ 30
I didn’t, but my sister did. I started tipping more after she shared her stories with me. We were both at the University of Michigan at the same time for a few years.
Bob in HI
Maid rite
I want to know what Senator Clinton ate at the maid rite –isn’t she the one who is always crying”eat carrots bill”
Most Roadfood is found in unique restaurants – individual, one-of-a-kind places that sing of their town or region. However, there are a handful of small chains that somehow fulfill the Roadfood criteria – great local food and color – that we cannot resist. Maid-Rite is one of those. An Iowa institution since 1926, the Maid-Rite sandwich shops throughout the state specialize in a very unglamorous but addictive version of what Midlands folk know as a “tavern” or “loosemeats” sandwich: seasoned ground beef that is stirred and worried as it cooks so it never clumps. The result might best be described as a sloppy joe without the slop: a heap of flavorful, pebbly beef that gets piled into a bun.
There are Maid-Rites all over Iowa; and frankly, we’ve never eaten a bad one; but we have especially fond memories of a recent visit to the one in Newton. It was 9am, just after breakfast hour, and we feared that lunchtime sandwiches might be hours away. No, the cooks told us that the meat was just ready, as it always is this time of day for those customers who need their fix early. We sat at the counter and had a Maid-Rite and a Cheese-Rite, both with the works, while a veteran customer across from us called out an order of “Meat and coffee.” Alongside his cup of coffee was presented a good-size bowl filled with nothing but hot, seasoned Maid-Rite meat – no bun, no condiments, not even a pickle to distract his taste buds as he spooned his way to the bottom.
Once nice thing to know about the Newton Maid-Rite is that it has a drive-through window, so you never have to leave your car to get a bag full of sandwiches. A word of warning: once unwrapped, a Maid-Rite is virtually guaranteed to spill all over everything. from the Stern’s roadfood
Brisingamen @ 117
i made 11 calls today – including her office. this is no time to let up.
peanutbutter @ 133
Actually not so off-topic…
And thank you.
Tanbark @ 130
Nobody should be surprised by this; he pulled the same sh*t when Blair was first running in 1997. It’s what he does.
During the 2004 campaign there was a made uo restaurant story with Kerry too ==the goopers have their play books and they stick to them regardless of whether they are working
P J Evans @ 134
That is some sick sh*t!!
Oklahoma kiddo @ 131
This thread seems to be about waitstaff, so…who does Nancy serve, anyway?
P J Evans @ 134
Actually, there’s an experimental therapy along those lines. I suspect that by treating the nervous system to the same sensations in a non-threatening situation, they hope to lessen the association between those sensations and the anxiety the patients felt in combat.
OT, only slightly:
I met Mark Pera last night at a fundraiser. He’s a candidate for Congress in the Chicago southwest city/suburb. He was written up here in firedog and Howie. Done some live chats.
He is a great guy — a true blue Dem with BALLS. So many Dems at this fundraiser were asking the same question: Why won’t the Dem Congress stand up to a Preznit with a 31 percent approval rating?
I also met his wife and daughter. Really nice people. They are very excited about the netroots support. These are people who will not forget where their support lies if they can knock off Lipinski.
He’s running against one of Bush’s reliable democrats, Dan Lipinski.
Here’s Mark’s website again if anyone’s interested in helping him or reading more about him.
http://www.markperaforcongress.com/
That “perhaps not” link is a great Friday afternoon read!
Maybe Jane and Marcy could come up with a more narrowly focused Plamegate tour.
My first ‘real’ job ( I was fifteen) was in a restaurant as a combination potato peeler (100 lbs a night), bus boy, and ‘pearl diver’ for a little place called “Old McDonald’s Farm” out on Grant Line Road in Sacramento. I got $1.19 per hr. Every Thursday afternoon, after school I mowed the owners lawns, before going to work. My next job was as a pot washer at the Red Coach Inn on Hwy 50 going east, toward Placerville, Ca. Then I moved up to soda jerk for Baskins-Robbins (Town and Country, Sacto) in my freshman year at ARJC. By then I was making $1.35 an hr. After that I hit the big time. A bagger (courtesy clerk ) for Lucky’s in Rancho Cordova). And my junior and senior year at Chico State, I worked in the morning for Ace Hardware, school in the afternoon and a liquor store located on Mangrove Ave., in Chico,Ca. until eleven pm seven nights a week. During my last year at Sac City, I was a pump jockey at the Richfield gas station on Alhambra Blvd. in down town town Sacramento.
On tips
I understand that the norm for tipping has been slowly changing from 15% to 20%- and the price of meals has been changing as well.
If we go out with another couple and have a full meal- the tab will be $300 or so. If the server gives average service, should she/he get $60? If he/she is taking care of four tables times two seatings in the evening- that’s $500 for four hours work. Seems a little excessive to me.
mc @ 142
Who does HRC serve?
Oklahoma kiddo @ 148
I want to know what is Harry’s problem. Seems like he wanted this vote to be pushed through at the last minute. I want to know exactly who Harry Reid is working for?
Cujo359 @ 143
Yes, its called “desensitization“.
Done properly, it can be a useful therapy in dealing with PTSD.
Bob in HI
I asked a waitress if she preferred a cash tip to credit card. She said credit card: then she would be taxed (waiters/waitresses are taxed on their ‘presumed’ tips) on the exact amount rather than the gov’t assumend amount. Also, the busboy couldn’t take it (tho I don’t think they do very often)
Oklahoma kiddo @ 146
OKK – was that near Rudys?
People probably tip more if they put it on the card.
I don’t think that most of today’s presidential candidates have a clue as to how most Americans live their lives. Do public financing of elections and perhape that would change.
More coming out on the Mukasey voting maneuver: Reid does appear to have pulled a fast one, but who bought him is still unknown.
Why Didn’t Senators Running For President Vote On Mukasey? by Greg Sargent, at TPM.
My step son has a degree in hotel management and food and beverage. He has worked in management positions with several big hotels that pay pretty well. Strangely- he can make more money waiting tables- (he’s REALLY good).
rwcole @ 153
If I have to put a tip on a credit card, I always apologize.
rwcole @ 153
I’ve always done 8% on the card and the rest in cash. Tax guys get what they want and the server has walking-around money.
rwcole @ 146
In most places with prices like you describe, the server “tips out” — that is, shares a percentage of the tips with others who help with the service: those who bus the tables, dishwashers, cooks, wine steward, etc.
Most good servers will tell you that providing the pleasure of your dining experinece is a group effort.
(full disclosure: I’m a former bus boy.)
I had a cringe-moment-by-proxy when I heard the waitress who said she didn’t get a tip. I can believe that during the commotion of Clinton’s stop, the tip was not explicitly directed to any one person and it was just an oversight. (I used to wait tables during college and I know that during a rush, it’s better to hustle and worry about divvying up later) But, fer Gawd’s sakes, Hillary, keep a couple yuppie foodstamps in your pocket so this kind of thing doesn’t happen again. Even if you tip generously on te sly, it makes so much of an impression if you do it so that the person who served you gets direct acknowledgment from you. Servers remember when they’ve been slighted by even minor people like dogcatchers. Imagine how the waitress felt when she thought Hillary stiffed her. It’s a PR disaster.
Don’t let it happen again.
Yay!!!! Conyers being strong on impeachment!!! No, wait….
“But when the Congressman touched on the issue of impeachment, the crowd cheered as though the Miami Dolphins had won its first game this season.
“Nancy Pelosi can take impeachment off of her table, but she cannot take it off of my table,” Conyers said to cheers and pleas from the audience to remove Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney from office.
Conyers reluctantly admitted, however, that there was not enough time to carry out the impeachment process and still tackle pressing issues such as universal healthcare and temporary protective status for Haitians.”
Say wha??????
Along these same lines…why do I know about B. Spears child custody situation? Or whether or not Lindsey Lohan is in or out of rehab?
Why did this stuff escape from Entertainment Tonight and onto mainstream news programs?
LS @ 161
http://www.browardtimes.com/in…..;Itemid=45
newtonusr @ 152
That was in El Dorado Hills on the southeast side of hwy 50. Going up the road past the Latrobe turn-off. Later this place became an eaterie called Sam’s, I think. I am not familiar with Rudy’s.
portia.vz @ 160
except of course they had left a tip and the mangement stiffed the waitress
I was a waitress at a cafe on the grounds of the Chautauqua Society for a summer…
Joe Klein’s conscience @ 149
Harry Reid has no problem. We do. We think he works for us. He doesn’t.
Ask yourself. When was the last time any of our present candidates for prez had a real job?
The trivialization of politics, the reduction of political discussion to haircuts, tips, Chelsea…ad nauseum…is a deliberate political act which, to use a cliche, works on many levels.
The political media knows exactly what it is doing, and why.
LS @ 161
The Democrats have a distorted sense of priorities. Even universal health care, as important as it is, is not as important as defending the Constitution. After all, when they take the oath of office, what issue is the sole condition of the oath? Did their oath say anything about universal health care? Anything about temporary protective status for Haitians?
Bob in HI
Oklahoma kiddo @ 164
Yep, Sams. More like a rest stop now. Been through it many times on the way to Poor Reds.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 167
What job does Mike Huckabee have now..he hasn’t worked since he left the gov’s office
Peterr @ 159
I concur. The server will tip the service bar 10%, the busboy 5-10% (the higher the better if you want the table cleaned regularly and well-watered), the maitre’d might get a cut. My general rule of thumb is divide the check by 6 for a base level tip. If the service is exceptional, and when you’re spending $300, it better be, tip 20-25%. You may be one of only a few tables the server has all night. You take up that table for hours (for $300 and 2-3 bottles of wine). When the table doesn’t turn, the server can’t make up that money from volume. So, yeah, tip generously.
BTW, the server has to declare tips these days and could come away with a negative paycheck if taxes on tips out strip the regular wage. It’s happened to my daughter. Not only that, but the IRS periodically audits restaurants and servers can get stuck with a sticker shock tax bill if the numbers don’t add up. So, tip well or go to Micky D’s.
Well, I could care less about the tip/no tip hullabaloo.
This story has provided me with a quandary.
I think I west to High School with Anita the waitperson. I’ve kind of wanted to say hi and see how she is doing for several years as I’d not heard much about her for say 10 years or so.
After listening to Anita speak on NPR, she’s in the right part of the world, same name, correct age, same field of employment (nursing home)that I last heard she was doing, same tenor to her voice as the Anita Esterday I graduated from high school with.
I googled her and got her addy and phone.
I’ve been thinking of calling her, but I bet her phone is a funnel o’ poop right now.
Should I wait till her 15 mins of fame are over or call her this evening?
She might make her feel good, ya know.
Chris
There is no need to be upset and worried. The Democratic Leadership Council’s leadership team is coming to town (DC). They’ll take care of the working women and men of this country. It may not be “morning in America, but it is the third way.
P J Evans @ 155
This doesn’t answer the question why all 4 of the candidates were conveniently gone. Nor why they seemed so uninterested in following what was actually happening. On this one, the Democrats are lying pretty much across the board.
katherine Graham Cracker @ 165
Which makes my point even stronger. You don’t know what the management is going to do. Lots of restaurant managers aren’t real scrupulous. So, it is even *more* important to tip the waiter directly. She should just make it a habit.
Christie Hardin Smith above said:
“For the love of Pete”
and that is a sweet and lovely thing to hear on a cold, wet day in New York City.
Thanks and thanks for thinking of waiter personnel.
bobschacht @ 169
Shoter Conyers: I would impeach but I have some leaves to rake.
katherine Graham Cracker @ 171
On this particular issue I am attempting to be bi-partisan. ;0)
When I pay a restaurant bill with a credit card, I usually tip the waiter/waitress directly with cash. I don’t trust any restaurant management.
OTOH, getting the chagrined reporter to eat his words on NPR was totally worth it. The Clintons aren’t going to let an opportunity pass to correct the record. They totally get it and reporters are going to have to start being fair or more of these embarrassing moments will happen.
Now, if they can only get Tweety to go F%^& himself.
LS @ 161
Look, I’m a big fan of Conyers, but that’s just bulls*it.
First of all, raise your hand if you think this congress is even gonna touch the issue of universal healthcare with a ten foot pole.
The same folks that couldn’t get SCHIP passed?
Secondly, impeachment is now so damn popular among the masses it would take on a life of it’s own- once the issues were laid bare on the table the resulting momentum would move this through Congress like a hot knife through butter.
If Pelosi really is threatening Conyers on this issue he should force her hand and make her strip him of his chairmanship. The resulting outrage and blowback would be unbelievable.
Call her bluff. She’d never do it.
Great quote from Matt Yglesias re: Lieberman –
I feel tremendous empathy and compassion for those who toil in the so called ’service industry’.
More important: Hillary didn’t even vote in the Muck-assy debacle.
Besides Schumer and Feinstein, Democrats voting to confirm Mukasey were: Sens. Evan Bayh of Indiana, Tom Carper of Delaware, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Ben Nelson of Nebraska. Of the Senate’s two independents, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut voted for confirmation and Bernie Sanders of Vermont voted against.
Not voting were Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden of Delaware, Hillary Clinton of New York, Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Barack Obama of Illinois. All four had said they opposed Mukasey’s nomination.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 164
Rudy’s is on Folsom Blvd. off of Hazel parallel to 50
epu land
Quick driveby waiter stories
My nephew the actor waited on Monica Lewinsky at an upscale NY eatery during the frenzy(she tipped 25%)
My Brotherinlaw the political science major sometimes makes tips of over $500 dollars in Vegas but may lose his condo to a subprime ARM. Go figure
We are approaching Christmas as you know folks. When you eat out, tip big if you can.
I am slack-jawed in amazement.
David Dreier has proven himself to be one of the ten stupidest human beings ever to walk the face of the earth.
How did this guy get promoted out of the third grade? He clearly doesn’t “get” arithmetic.
Check out his comment on H.R. 3996, the revenue-neutral AMT patch that passed the House today.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponlin…..es.html?hp
TexBetsy @ 36
What percentage of this country wants to see impeachment proceedings go forward…70% or so…what the fu..
BREAKING:
it is mukasey’s first day
on the new job — and conyers
and nadler all all over him,
by letter, like white on rice!
[well — maybe not that rice.]
three secret torture memos. . .
Y E A H — take a look!
Loo Hoo @ 81
There are a couple of places where I sometimes ask the waiter what I want for lunch when I am decisionally impaired. I don’t know how they do it, but they are always right.
“Waiting tables is my day job to pay the bills. I’m actually a ____________” Fill in the blank: writer, actor, painter, actress, and so and so on.
BTW, what is the real world?
john in sacramento @ 186
Don’t you just love going up or down Hazel Ave. during ‘getting off work time’. I lived in Sacramento before there were freeways.
DiFi for Telecom immunity
portia.vz @ 160
According to the report on NPR this morning, a representative came back (after this hit the news yesterday) and gave the waitress $20.
There is a cancer on the Democratic Party. Reid, Pelosi, Rahm, Harold Ford Jr., Feinstein, Hoyer, Lieberman. And one other.
nolo @ 191
Hahahahaha…an exam on the first day of skewl.
Hillary & Obama want to be our Leaders, but they WON”T LEAD!
I guess Feinstein is another Faux-Dem. Really a Repug.
Hugh @ 175
yes – i left greg a comment with the reid’s statement (before 10am!) that you and pow wow directed me to… hugh, you may want to do the same and provide more info than i did. it sounds to me that greg is just repeating the lies he is being told.
ruby s. jones @ 190
At risk of being EPU’d,
Any SoCal firepups who want to voice their displeasure
withabout their Democratic representatives in Congress or state offices go to the E-Board meetings in Anaheim next weekend and tell them what you think[slight edit: don’t know if the pols will be there but the people who make the party work will be there]
Nov. 16-18 at the Sheraton Park Hotel at the Anaheim Resort
The Dems made a lot of noise about Gonzales. And what is the result? Mukasey.
LS @ 199
With any luck he will soon be really, really sorry he took the job.
rwcole @ 147
In an establishment charging those prices, it’s likely your waitperson has to “tip back” to busboys, the maitre d, and the wineserver. And there’s at least an hour of prep and an hour of setup for tomorrow, so count on six hours, not four. Tipping back 30% isn’t uncommon, so figure: $60 x 4 x 2 = $480, less 30% tipback = $336/6 = $56/hour
And that’s if every table turns, is full, and tips generously. None of which can be counted on, unless one is tipping back to the maitre’d. Three shifts like that per week yields a gross of a little over $1000. Which, with a family of four, qualifies one for SCHIP in most states.
Both of my daughters work at one of the best restaurants in the bay area for servers. Fat fat cats go there. They both make about $45,000 a year working 3 or 4 six hour sifts a week. They are putting themselves through graduate school. $45,000 might sound like a lot but in Marin and Berkeley it is not. My oldest has considerable physical issues from being a server for ten years. Restaurant work is demanding in many ways particularly in Mill Valley were the rich are – well- rich. And 20% has been the norm for years.
Are there any Democrats here who have a sense, with respect to principles, of under representation?
Oklahoma kiddo @ 207
Yeppers.
Bernanke says that the limit for conforming loans should be lifted from the current $417K—when asked if it should be raised to a million- he said “that sounds about right”.
THAT’S out of touch.
OKK @ 195 fuggetaboutit, don’t need the aggravation of going anywhere near there between 3 and 7 pm ;-)
How did the Democratic presidential candidates vote on the new AG?
“Chuck Schumer’s logic is just another step toward the day when campaign ads of the future will deliver as a straight line the news that the opposition is, “Wrong on cannibalism. Wrong for America.”
http://www.dailykos.com/storyo…..92119/7549
Oklahoma kiddo @ 211
They didn’t…
Oklahoma kiddo @ 207
Are you asking that of us, after seeing what we comment on all the time, day in and day out?
Oklahoma kiddo: They didn’t vote. They claim Reid called the vote to quickly for them to attend. Sounds like a scam to me. Any why wasn’t it the usual 60 votes to confirm? Very stinky indeed.
My gut gets this really nasty churning feeling when I have occasion to read about or see a picture Diane Feinstein. It is a feeling of having been taken advantage of, a feeling of pure disgust. I feel worse about her than Lieberman.
Fozetti@#185:
Are you SERIOUS???
After voicing their opposition, neither Clinton nor Obama showed up for the vote?
Are we talking about THE vote; the one that confirmed him; not something to get it out of committee or something?
Please; come back to me on this. That’s unconscionable.
peanutbutter @ 214
Then I would ask, what do we do about it?
marymccurnin @ 216
Not for long…
Oklahoma kiddo @ 218
I am heading for city hall on monday morning and changing to Independent. It is the only way I can see to express my anger. Damn their hides.
Tanbark @ 217
I am disappointed that Dodd didn’t vote either :/
I wonder what the Democratic leadership will do if GWB decides it’s time to attack Iran?
TeddySanFran’s upstairs…
Oklahoma kiddo @ 222
voice their displeasure and then give him everything he asks for to do it.
newtonusr @ 219
Those Lieberman statements put me in a good mood. It’s nice to know he’s flustered.
Here’s a really good excerpt of a Craig Unger book describing how Cheney created the administration’s foreign policy team.
http://www.salon.com/books/fea…..of_bush_3/
Fern @ 204
here’s to the hope that
mukasey will be as good as
his word, and renounce these
positions — in the memos — as
he said on day one of his
hearings — october 17, 2007:
“worse than a sin — a mistake“
renounce them expressly, judge mukasey!
p e a c e
TexBetsy at 110 Could you add a tear coming down from the Statue of Liberty’s eye?
And Christy, for some of us it should only be 20 percent, but for the rest of us, senior citizens or not, the ones like me who can afford it, not that I’m rich, but I’m not poor either, it should be 25, these people work too hard and their bosses are usually scum. So it’s up to us. Smile or not, busy our of his/her mind and off her/his feet or not….it’s 25, and I don’t care if it’s cold. They’ll take it back and heat it up. Jeebus! and a smile (from us) helps too
do-si-do @ 6
That’s very true. I’m also teaching my nephew to watch how his date treats the waitstaff. If she acts like a princess and treats them like servants, run, don’t walk to the nearest exit (after leaving a big tip!).
skeptic @ 228
an excellent idea! — i did one,
myself, this morning, as well. . .
based on txbetsy’s idea of lady
liberty being waterboarded. . .
This little story, nonsense when it was Drudged yesterday — Bad Hillary! Cheapskate who just pretends to have compassion! — has now been recycled since NPR’s sheepish apology and Hillary new factcheck site — good idea, Hill. Now Fox ran the story this morning that waht this incident showed was a typical, guilt-ridden liberal overtipping! I kid you not. No correction or apology from Fox, naturellement.