US Election

I remember we were in quite an upmarket hotel in Williamsburg a few years ago, which had loads of complimentary services (free shuttle from the subway etc) and although we tipped for the obvious things, apparently there were certain things we didn't tip for which we should have done (like the shuttle driver). I felt like a right chump. So, before setting out on our road trip a couple of years ago, I spoke to an American friend so as not to get caught out again. His advice was "if you think you should tip, then tip. If you think you MIGHT have to tip, then better to tip". Armed with this knowledge, we landed in Atlanta, and jumped into our hire car. The first thing we wanted to do was stock up on food and booze for the road ahead, so we stopped off a Publix, and did a shop. It was quite big, and the very nice young man at the checkout bagged it all up for us very obligingly. The bill came to around $80, so I decided that $5 was probably a reasonable tip for his bagging services, and handed it over. Unfortunately, the look of complete confusion on his face told me that something had gone very wrong. "What's that for?" "Errr for bagging my food?!" He then offered to share it with the cashier, who looked equally perplexed. Not wishing to stick around for any more, I grabbed the trolley, ran off as fast as I could to the car, and immediately called my friend to figure out what had gone wrong.

"Oh, you don't tip that guy!"
"What the fck? You said to tip everyone!"
"Yeah, everyone except him."

Shoot me now.

 

Love this tale. Also love the fact that he offered to share it with the cashier.
I'd rather just pay for something even if it is more expensive (I can then decide if I can afford it or not) rather than tip. It's like when I went to the Gambia last year , I hated bartering just tell me what it's worth and I'll say yes or no!!

 

I hate that too. Myself and the wife were in Bangkok the other year in one of the markets, and I bought some fake Rayban sunglasses for about 400 Baht - which is about 3 quid. The bloke said 400, then him and the wife bartered for about 4 light years and I ended up paying 350 Baht - which saved me about 20p.

Apparently it's tradition over there - the market traders love it, it's all part of the job. The wife loved it because she got to haggle and barter. I just stood there like an embarrassed and mardy middle aged man.

Side note - I then sat on the sunglasses on the tube the following day and broke them. The saving was obviously worth it.

 

So how are you feeling that he’s pardoning murderers who happen to be political allies or friends of friends?

 

Apparently he’s now twigged if he pardon s the wrong ones, they will be free to testify against him if and when he ends up in court

 

It looks like Mike Pence will be writing to request legal Electoral College certificates from the six contested States today. If they fail to provide them he will then be legally bound as the President of the Senate to reject the votes from these States on 6th January and Trump will win the Electoral College vote by 232 to 227.

https://nationalfile.com/exclusive-...ce-card-can-save-trumps-presidency-on-dec-23/

 

....BIG Caveat! Only if what he is saying is actually true and accurate (not a 'given' by any means)....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-55420366

It highlights the problems with the whole American 'Lobbyist' influence on the Governance of the country and the power and influence of big business re political decision making especially within the Republican Party. Many major political figures are 'in bed' with Corporations and financial institutions.
I know it happens elsewhere including the UK but to a far lesser extent than the US where lobbying is standard practise.

It must be a bad package that got voted through if Pelosi is arguing in favour of Trump's amendments on this!!

 

Do you realise that all of those states have already certified legally? Pence can ask and they will just certify the same electorates again. You're a nutter.

 

I read up extensively about who to tip and how much before heading over there. I find handing it over the most awkward thing in the world though. It feels so cheeky giving someone a dollar for something, like I think they’re really poor and my less than a quid charity is going to change their life.

I tend to always overtip which is fun anyway as it helps to dispel the ‘British people are tight’ sentiment. Basically, in a restaurant I work out 20% and then round up to the nearest $5 or $10 so I can just leave some notes and leg it without having to faff about with change. One guy almost refused to take it once as it worked out at nearly 40% and I hadn’t even eaten my meal as I didn’t like it (not his fault as the server and the food actually looked great, I’d just decided to try something new and I’m not good at that). I overtipped as I felt really guilty about leaving it and I wanted him to know that I didn’t blame him.

We tipped someone in the hotel who arranged our SeaWorld tickets $20 and he sent a thank you card up to our room with a cake saying happy anniversary on (we’d mentioned it when he’d asked if we were there for any special reason). We then tried to tip the guy who brought it a dollar but he looked really worried and kept backing away and didn’t speak English so I have no idea what we did wrong there but he didn’t take it. Maybe he thought we thought it was from him and he didn’t want to take the credit?

I love going to Disney and standard shops/supermarkets as they don’t do tipping and it’s just easier without the embarrassment.

 

Do you realise those States each have two slates of Electors?

They aren’t legal if they were fraudulently determined and that is the decision Pence will have to make on January 6th. If he deems them to be fraudulent he will be legally bound reject them and then we will see if I’m a ‘nutter’ or not. Rest assured I will be back to take my medicine if Biden is confirmed on the 6th January.

Have you looked into the price of those 10 Year Sheffield Wednesday season tickets yet by the way?

 

Not 300+, and the majority were for what we might regard as relatively "minor" drug offences. You should fact-check your sources! Even a wild summation of Lord Dampnut's pardons would suggest a very different playing field, where he's simply lining up the cards in his favour to avoid a much-deserved prosecution himself.

https://www.justice.gov/pardon/obama-pardons

 

Pence doesn’t get to make that decision. It’s not his decision to make. He has no direct power over that joint session. How many times do I have to point this out?

And yep, I’ve already made my account on owltalk ready for my transfer, too.

 

Perhaps you should write to the White House legal team and explain to them the fatal flaw in their plan then.

You are going to look very silly if/when you are proven to be wrong.

 

I’ve seen no evidence that document is from anywhere other than some random MAGAt troll’s computer.

 

And there lies the danger in mentioning things you've "heard"!

 

He thinks ordinary people should get more, so he refuses to sign the bill - meaning they get nothing! We'll just have to wait until January 20 to get some sense.

Anyway Mr Tekky, if you want to join the Trump lobby you'll find Loko and Casual Tyke waiting for you over on the 'US Election' thread!

 

The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.