SubJeff on 7/5/2013 at 21:52
Quote Posted by Brethren
Even the most god awful waiter will get 10% from me. 20% means they rocked the house. Are the standards different in the U.K. or something?
Standards are indeed different in the UK, but regardless - why on Earth would you give the most god awful waiter a tip? That isn't being nice, its being... nonsensical.
"Hey guy, you do did an awful job, my food arrived cold, you got the drinks orders wrong and you forgot the starter altogether so... have some extra money? HUUUURRR"
This is what is wrong with the world. Really.
And I'm the paying customer, not your "mate".
Renault on 7/5/2013 at 22:52
When I say a "god awful job" I mean that service was slow and maybe they were inattentive or uncaring. I don't mean they punched me in the face and grabbed my wife's ass on the way out. These people are still human and trying to make a living, and since they're only making 2 bucks an hour, yeah, I'll give them at least something, even if it is a paltry 10%. That's kind of the way things are set up over here. Anyone can have a bad day, and who knows? Maybe the restaurant is understaffed for the day and it's not even the waitperson's fault. If my food arrives cold, I'm complaining to the manager, not stiffing the waiter.
Now, if any of the above listed extreme stuff happened, or even something less harsh like the guy insults me or is abusive, well then not only am I not tipping, but I'm talking to the manager about getting my meal for free too (and maybe some future ones also).
Pyrian on 7/5/2013 at 23:05
Quote Posted by Subjective Effect
...why on Earth would you give the most god awful waiter a tip?
I wouldn't. No way am I giving a tip,
assuming we're talking about THE most god AWFUL waiter.
But are we?
Quote Posted by Subjective Effect
And I'm the paying customer, not your "mate".
sounds more like "cheap-o who was going to find
some excuse to not tip no matter
what happened". :cheeky:
SubJeff on 7/5/2013 at 23:24
Quote Posted by Brethren
Maybe the restaurant is understaffed for the day and it's not even the waitperson's fault. If my food arrives cold, I'm complaining to the manager, not stiffing the waiter.
So rather than not tip £10 you tell the manager? In an industry that pays a low wage and has a high turnaround because its easy to hire new people? Where the manager might fire that person or at least blackmark him til next time?
And I'M the bad guy?
pffffftt
Renault on 7/5/2013 at 23:28
I didn't see anyone calling you the bad guy. Maybe you're just feeling that way because you realize what a cheapass you are? :laff:
Kolya on 8/5/2013 at 00:04
Can we get back to talking about our jobs? It was pretty boring, but at least no one tried to be funny and failed, you know?
Scots Taffer on 8/5/2013 at 00:20
Word.
Chade on 8/5/2013 at 01:17
Programmer, worked for a variety of industries in the past (mining, radio, simulation, banking). Currently working for a small company doing algo-trading.
All the positions have been lots of fun (except the simulation company, which was a bit of a nightmare, but only because I didn't get along with my boss).
heywood on 9/5/2013 at 05:50
Chade, did you ever take that job in Singapore?
To answer the original question, I'm an engineer by profession, specializing in large scale and/or high performance systems software with experience in aerospace, aviation, defense, simulation, and automated weather forecasting. My education was in electrical engineering with grad research in computational electromagnetics. But professionally, I've done mostly software & systems engineering and project management.
I like my profession but not my present job. The company has kept me traveling frequently to problem suppliers. Since the start of this year, I've been to the US once, Norway once, UK four times, plus some domestic trips. All the time away makes it a struggle to lead a team at the local office which is supposed to be my day job. I'm embarrassed to even think about my carbon footprint. But it ends soon. My contract is up in a month and I won't be extending it. My employer has been pushing me to relocate to SW England but my wife is newly pregnant and not keen. I can also transfer to the US. My wife would be happy with that (closer to family) but if I have an option, I'd rather change employers and stay in Australia.
Chade on 9/5/2013 at 12:32
Heywood: yeah, I took the job in Singapore, and we (myself and family) all moved over for a year.
It was a great job, and I would have been happy to stay for a bit longer. But we decided that we didn't want to stay there forever, and with a new baby coming in August, it was best to move back sooner rather then later. (There were a few other factors: e.g., my wife's study, which she couldn't do as much of overseas as we thought, coming back at the start of the school year rather then half-way through, etc ...)
But it was a very interesting year, and I'm glad we went. I liked lots of things over there: how friendly everyone is to children, great food, etc. The work-life balance was different: I worked a lot harder then my previous roles (60-80 hours per week compared to 40-60), but we had a maid as well, so in practice I had very little time with the family during the working week, but much more quality time over the weekend.
Good luck looking for a new position!
