In my hotel, it costs $16 to use the internet for 24 hours (mad), $14 for coffee and orange juice if you buy it in the restaurant (shocking), and $30 if you send for it through room service (outrageous!)
The last time I was in New York City, I had a whale of a time. Everything was so new and so fresh and so exciting. The noise, the stench, the mad folk... it all went down pretty well with me. I was a happy bunny.
Now I find myself easily sparked off and ready to bash a cab driver over the head with my handbag whenever he has the audacity to attempt to keep my change. I have also taken to tipping less than 10% if a waiter's service has been satisfactory, and 10% if it has been good (apparently this is an abomination, it should only ever be 15 and above). I have also refused to tip the many doormen and luggage boys I have encountered, and no there ain't been no $2 on my pillow for the turn down maid either.
You may think I am doing this because I am a cheapscate, but that is only half the truth. I am doing this because I am pissed off. Why does every "service provider" or "facilitator" in this place think it my duty to contribute to his financial wellbeing?
Last time I was here, my friends gave me some long shpeel about waiters etc receiving only the minimum wage and being expected to make it up through tips. Now my question was, and still is, is that my business? Did I sign up (when I queued for 30 mins for one bloody stamp at stinky Newark airport) to any agreement that somehow made me responsible for the shafting of all workers in the "Tri-State Area"?
Yesterday, I had lunch. The bill came --> $55. I put down --> $60.
Waiter (who took bloody ages to do anything, talk less of proffer a smile) goes "You're leaving a $5 tip?" in the frostiest tone ever.
I looked him square in the eye and said "Yes" and then I left, to the backing track of his mumbling and muttering.
I ask you... since when did gratuity become compulsory? If they're going to act like you're breaking the law every single time you decide not to tip, or tip less than what they expect, then WHY call it gratuity at all?
Bitchy is angry.
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Etcetera... Etceteroo...
About Me
- Bitchy
- When I grow up I'm going to be George Michael's backing singer or dancer or random black girl bobbing about on stage!
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etceteroo@gmail.com
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- belle france (6)
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Peeeople
Bitchy's Been Reading
- Ka - Roberto Calasso
- J'étais Derrière Toi - Nicolas Fargues
- Bug Jargal - Victor Hugo
- Ida - Irene Nemirovsky
- Aya de Youpougon
- Divisadero - Michael Ondaajte
- Seed - Lola Shoneyin
- On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan
- In the Light of the Truth - Abd-Ru-Shin
- The State of Africa - Martin Meredith
- A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
- Swallow - Sefi Atta
- Reading the Ceiling - Dayo Forster
- Not With Silver - Simi Bedford
- The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
- Waiting for an Angel - Helon Habila
- Mao - Jonathan Clements
- The Great Dynasties of China - Bamber Gasgoine
- Riding the Iron Rooster - Paul Theroux
- Ain't I A Woman - Bell Hooks
- The Opposite House - Helen Oyeyemi
- Kemi's Journal - Abidemi Sanusi
- A Practical Handbook for the Boyfriend - Felicity Huffmann
- The Social Contract Theory - Rousseau
- Measuring Time - Helon Habila
Bitchy's Bookshelf (still untouched)
- Fitzgerald's Wood - David Nwokedi
- The Kennedys: An American Drama - Horrowitz Collier
- Distant Places - Abilio Estevez
- Unburnable - Marie Elena John
- Love Falls - Esther Freud
- The Lion and the Jewel - Wole Soyinka
- Last Curtsey - Fiona MacCarthy
- Aunt Julia and The Scriptwriter - Mario Vargas Llosa
- The Inheritance of Loss - Kiran Desai
- Suite Francaise - Irene Nemirovsky
- The Pickup - Nadine Gordimer
- The Dewbreaker - Edwige Danticat
18 comments:
from now on you are mandated to leave a comment/message on my blog/email every single time you update.
i've been stalking your postless blog for months and this is my reward? TWO POSTS IN MY ABSENCE?
never again bitchy!
lol! Tipping is not mandatory of course, but I like to think it is a nice thing to do especially as many of these service industry people depend on tips (waiters/waitresses, etc). Anyway, as for the waiter that asked you if you were only leaving $5, that was very cheeky of him. You are a nice person, though. I would have simply said no, picked up my change and bounced. hahaha!
NIGERIAN CURIOSITY
IT WAS SO MUCH EASIER WHEN I ONLY HAD ONE...
Eh ? Is is how its done over there??
Somemany things to learn and prepare for...
As for you , My Bitchy, Cool your temperature. those Americans are always that audacious...
It's the american way honey (this applies in a particular way to new yorkans) to treat you like something unpleasent they found stuck to the sole of their shoes, and then expect a gushing thank you and a HUGE tip. The land of the free, how wonderful, NOT.......
P.S post more often, don't be stingy with your wonderful use of words.
Atutu is angrier.
I am in Toronto and in my hotel, it costs $15.75 to use the internet for 24 hours (extortionate), $26 for breakfast(ludicrous), and $9 to use the gym(outrageous!) Bearing in mind that the Canadian dollar is even stronger than it's US cousin at the moment, Atutu is very pissed.
I could never tire of New York though. IN fact I will be travelling down on Friday via Boston. If you are in the upper west side and I pass you in a crowd, be sure to smile.
loooooooool we went to new york one time and thi ppl had the audacity to seat us next to the toilets. we asked to be moved and were given a wet table. service was alright, but my friend left one dollar tip on a thirty dollars bill. when the woman complained, my friend took her dollar back. you should have taken your five dollars back.
So many issues to talk about.
1. Tipping; It took a while to get used to the custom moving here from London, but you do. It is as customary to tip 15% as it is to say "Good Morning" in Naija. I have just learnt to add 20% to whatever the bill comes to. Mediocre service gets close to 15, exceptional service gets closer to 25%.
2. The expectation that comes with tipping: I do not tip for bad service. I clearly write 0.00 on the portion of the bill that says tip and explain why.
3. Outrageous bills: The fancier the hotel, the more likely you will pay jaw-dropping sums for what would be complementary in less fancy ones. The best value hotels are the midsize, slightly upper scale chains. They throw everything in for free.
4. Horrible employees: the more upscale/fashionable a place the more likely the staff are to be rude especially if you are not accompanied by your own flock of paparazzi. They see it as a duty to look down on you and insult you for not being famous enough for them to know you.
Hey, u know that servers in america get paid like 2 dollars an hr right. After sharing a apartment with 2 servers in college, I learned that they use those tips to pay rent. It is not extra money to spend on whatever.
Who cares what servers get paid in america??? what do servers get paid in africa ? I beg, let them look for tip from President Bush!
America, what a country... why not pay the employees a fair wage. I only tip someone if they give me a goood service. I find in ireland the staff who smile and are helpfull , if you can afford it leave them a tip. Why would anyone leave a tip for someone who gives them a bad service. Next they will want to charge you for the salt and pepper and the plate you food comes out on. FIAR PAY for a FAIR DAYS WORK, thats the answer
if i were you, id have taken my five dollars back. how rude of the waiter.
Bitchy Angry........Bitchy very angry!!!!!
OMG...I LIVE IN NEWARK.About the tip thing,words cant express how it gets on my last nerve.
Lol...that's quite funny, sounds like NY though, most times I just leave a tip anyway. My sister had a similar experience in her case she left $2...lol, and told the woman she had bad service when she complained..lol.. How've you been?
Do you ever stand still? You are always flying somewhere! Glad to see you are well.
x
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Baba n'la nonsense.. why should I have to tip? what if the service sucked?
You are soooo right. Was in NYC about 3weeks ago and the whole "tipping" culture is madness...I refused to tip for substandard or outright shoddy service-which i got plenty of! As for the cab drivers, they are soooo surly i don't get why they think they deserve a tip! However, some service-people went so far out of their way that not to tip those would be a shame...but they had earned it by going beyond the job spec!
Lol I would've done what Aunty Solo said. Lol
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