wow. I wish I lived in your world.

Garbage collectors in NYC earn waaaaaaaaaay more than starbucks workers, I assure you, and they get good city benefits.

I do think it's worth discussing. Do Wall St guys who earn over 200K think they are underpaid? Maybe. My question is why are they valued more than a schoolbus driver? I think this country is insane and I don't understand the value that is placed on things. In Europe to be a waiter or a counter person in a cafe is considered a professional job and is compensated accordingly.

My trouble is that I think the whole system is broken. The idea that people make what they make because "that's the way it is" doesn't work for me because I don't think it SHOULD be that way, and it doesn't kill me to add a little change to the tip jar so I do it.

I also tip if I drop off laundry, again, because it's a crappy job and they don't get paid much. Shall I assume that they don't get paid well because they somehow aren't worth it? Yikes! No. I give them a buck. Big whoop.

So you believe that everyone in this country is paid what they're worth? I must respectfully disagree. And you actually make my point...if they don't like it, they can leave and be replaced. Is that what you mean by "demanding higher wages?" Yeesh.

It's not mindless at all. It's very mindful. I'm doing my small part to correct what I see as a huge inequity in how people are paid for what they do. I think coffee shop workers should be paid more than they are because they work hard and put up with a lot of crap. So I tip them. This seems simple to me...I don't know why it should be so controversial?
As for cooks and dishwashers, I got my first fulltime dishwashing job when I was 16 and that's how I paid my rent, and yes, I made minimum wage, which was then less than $3 an hour, and yes I busted my ass and should have been paid more, etc., but I see no logic in not tipping coffee shop workers because dishwashers or cooks or waitresses "deserve" it more. How does that help put a few more dollars in the coffee shop worker's pocket? It doesn't. And I don't see a problem with putting a few more dollars in somebody's pocket, whether they personally made my coffee or not.

Well, I'm a little older than you but you've probably got me beat since I haven't worked food service or retail in a while. I have NO idea how many jobs I've had...scary question. Anyway, we can agree to disagree, but I'm still going to toss my change into the tip jar!

it really depends on the job. I have had lots of retail and food service jobs too. I think retail is pretty much always easier.

As for you having more service industry jobs than anyone I'll ever know...how old are you exactly? Not sure you want to get into that contest with me.

Working at the Gap and working at Starbucks are totally different.
Do you think $7 or $8 an hour is a lot of money for a baritsa? I don't. Even $10 is not a lot of money for what they do.

I don't go to Starbucks or McDonalds anyway, but if I go to a coffee shop I generally tip pretty decently. Say I spend $2-3 on a coffee drink (though hopefully I don't) I might tip fifty cents which is a pretty good percentage. I just think food service is hard work - baristas are on their feet all day too - and dealing with the public sucks. People at Starbucks, for example, tend to be demanding and nasty. I just think its kind of a no-brainer to drop some change in the damn jar.

I hate to say it, but I think people are really spiteful about tipping and are looking for an excuse not to do it. I would prefer that we did not operate on this kind of system, too - for example, a bunch of my friends were just laid off when their restaurant was closed as a result of eviction by a ruthless landlord/greedy real estate deal, and they'll all collect unemployment based on their actual paycheck, which is crap. I would rather that waiters and servers and baristas got paid really well and had pensions and health insurance like in Europe. Meanwhile, I am going to keep tipping 20%.

plenty of FN recipes are fussy with lots of weird ingredients. I don't think Asian food is too difficult for FN...I think they're just not interested in it.

no, she would make some kind of horrible chinese "sammy" with wonton skins, god fricken help us all.

I totally agree. TFN is on crack...everything is so hyper and overdone. She is just one example of the trend.

Sorry, but I don't think there's anything all that creative about using olive oil in potato salad...I think most of Europe and the mediterranean has been doing that roughly since the beginning of time. I can't speak about the recipe, of course, since I have not seen or tasted it.

And this, my friends, is why I tip. These days, more and more of those jobs formerly held by teenagers are being held by adults and they don't pay much.

I have no problem with this either. I would last about five seconds at starbucks waiting on all the whiny skinny-chai-latte a*holes who line up around the block. I think they all deserve a few extra bucks.

Where there is a tip jar, I tip. I think tip pooling probably sucks for them, but depriving them of my tip also sucks.

Also, Starbucks sucks and I never go there. But if I did, I would tip.

you are right to shudder. I pride myself on not being a snob, but salad dressing is one thing I can get very upset about. The whole ritual of getting a list of horrible dressings from the server is wasted on me. I always just ask for oil and vinegar unless I really know the restaurant and know that they can make a good vinaigrette. I am totally freaked out by what my fellow americans think is acceptable to put on a salad.

Some of it can be attributed to people not knowing what a really good simple salad is supposed to taste like. Sad for them.

I think he wants to be seen as a scumbag, but he's really just a poser. He's so fake with that phoney hip-hop speak. Yeughhhh. I hope he burns his risotto cake or whatever BS he makes this week and gets the ax.

I really wish someone would start a new network.

MTV is to music as FN is to food. It just seems like there's no food, and also too much yelling and pandering and cuteness. Blech.

Right, we're ready for Asian food, but only if Rachael Ray makes it.

I wouldn't have been shocked at 8, since my parents swore all the time and it was no big deal. Not everybody is offended by the F-word. I kind of couldn't care less, myself.

It's soooooo goood, y'all.

I guess I am just constantly lamenting the sorry state of the FN. It seems like such a waste.

okay, I stand corrected about your number (looked it up.) Non-hispanic whites, though, can include a lot of people that white people don't consider white, like middle eastern folks. Also, the census is notoriously skewed.

Anyway, my I guess my point is that the food network does have a choice. They got rid of the fabulous old Japanese Iron Chef and made their own version of it. Pretty much all the hosts are white. Is the implication that white people don't want to watch a mexican cooking on TV? Really, it makes me sad, because the FN used to be kind of tolerable and now Alton Brown is the only host I can tolerate for 5 minutes.

I admit there is one guy who I already want to kill and I think he may the the main culprit...he also uses a lot of appropriated ghetto-speak which drives me nuts. But it's not the swearing that bothers me.

no, I think you miss my point. I can see I am not going to get anywhere here.Who says it has to be tokenism? And of course it's not arbitrary, but they do have choices and they are aiming for a certain audience on purpose. The idea that minorities don't watch cooking shows is ridiculous. They seem to think that if Rachel Ray makes chile rellenos that constitutes ethnic cooking.

Also, your 73% number is definitely wrong.

I think they're probably wrong. It's the other way around. They're aiming at a white, middle-class audience. But again, what about middle class asians and latinos?

yes, but again, this isn't a restaurant we're talking about. It's reality TV (and it's so not real.) Who knows how they behave at work?

okay, I take back what I said about florists.