And you do get a pound of coffee a week, but starbucks coffee is bitter and shitty.

Jess – no offense taken. I’m always glad to learn new things. Starbucks is forever saying employees get health insurance, stock options, good wages and free coffee beans – a pound a week. I don’t assume that everyone makes a great wage – having worked for Disney, which has a reputation for paying great wages, I can tell you they pay SHIT too, and when I worked there, only management got any benis, tho everyone could buy stock.

Then here’s my last question, so I Can finish making an informed tipping choice – how do the tips get split? You may be able to change my mind here.

Isn’t their also some loop hole about being a waiter or waitress and you can be payed less than minimum wage because your tips are suppose to make up the difference? Maybe it is just in New York. The whole system is FUBAR

I used to work for Starbucks. All of those “benis” you mentioned. What would those be? All I can think of is health insurance, which is very hard to get them to do since they make sure to keep your hours below the required minimum for eligibility. And I never got offered gas money.

Also they pay SHIT!!! The tips can make the difference. Just because someone works for a corporate company and not some mom and pop store, doesn’t mean they are part of the corp. they are working stiffs and could use the left-over change you have from your coffee that you aren’t going to need anyway.

Here’s the thing, Iris: If I ordered specialty drinks, I would tip. Those drinks require a cerrtain amount of skill. But I don’t. I order coffee poured from the coffee vat.

That said, I’m more likely to tip at a mom-n-pop coffee place (probable, in fact) than at a corp like Starbucks. Those bastards get all sorts of benis I can’t get at my office gig. Plus gas money!!

But I didn’t tip the guy at Burger King and he gave me a whole meal…plus a TOY!!! I dunno the logic of the whole tipping thing is very illusive.

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Hey Andy,

First and foremost, I am a fan. I was very happy that I stumbled across your podcast so much so that I forced my wife to listen and she actually loved it. Score one for the TAN, or whatever. So anyway I want to nerd out a minute and ask your opinion. I’m thinking of taking the Linux plunge and forcing it on my wife just as a test to see if she likes it. I remember you talking about it on one of the shows and wanted to see if there was any follow up to the story. As in how have you adapted, has your wife been able to work with it? Does she like it? What flavor did you use? I’m downloading OpenSuse 11.1 right now, but I’ve also heard great things about Ubuntu (can’t remember if that was what you used). I’m pretty technical, and can understand most stuff, but looking at it from the beginning looks like I’m at the bottom of Everest. Any stories or comments would be appreciated, or any niche websites that you found helpful would be much appreciated. If you are too busy, or simply don’t give a fuck that is fine. I just wanted to see if you had anything to say if someone happened to ask you the question.

http://morph.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Transformer/index.html

I wouldn’t mind an ad or two and maybe the Paypal donation button.

I do cut my husband’s hair with the clippers, but I refuse his tips.

Happy VD EVERYONE!

As for bartenders, hubby and I tend to tip them well. We don’t tend to order beers, just mixed drinks (martinis for hubby, something gay for me), so they do put forther effort. When I used to go to gigs with hubby and hit a bar while he was playing, I’d always sit at the bar, and tip really well, so the bartender would watch out for me if there were “mashers” around. Hubby would tip well for faster service, since his only chance to get drinks was on breaks, and his time was limited.

God I miss hitting bars.