When Gravity Gets Up...

tattr: JULIAN OH Malaysia // Traveling: Austria, Australia,The...

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 00:05:22 -0400

JULIAN OH

Malaysia // Traveling: Austria, Australia,The Philippines, The Netherlands

julianoh.tumblr.com

Julian Oh Facebook

Email: zero.julian@gmail.com

goodpoets: 2012 NYC-Urbana Slam Team (Jared Singer, Joanna...

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:27:24 -0400

Jared Singer

Joanna Hoffman

Jeanann Verlee

Ingamar Dion Ramirez

goodpoets:

2012 NYC-Urbana Slam Team (Jared Singer, Joanna Hoffman, Jeanann Verlee & Ingamar Dion Ramirez) competing at the annual NYC/NJ Regional Poetry Slam. Urbana Poetry Slam at Culture Project. New York City. July 24, 2012. Photographs by Jonathan Weiskopf.

The champs of my heart.

Organizing soap would be the best thing to do in that Sith Hood.

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:21:14 -0500

Or fistbumping to Katy Perry
Or Holding the door at an old folks home
Or handing out thank you cards at a baby shower
Or selling medicine at a Wallgreens
Or making deli sandwiches at Convenient
Or planting petunias
Or making cotton candy at little league baseball games.

I want to eat ambiguous foods sitting in the corner of bars...

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:14:41 -0500

I want to eat ambiguous foods sitting in the corner of bars wearing this.
Or drink milkshakes.
Or pet puppies
Or crochet.
Or play table tennis.
Or play quarters.
Or make paper angel links.
Or work a deep fryer at mcdonalds
Or go to jury duty
Or organize soaps in a bed bath and beyond.

1notewonder: [loiter.co]

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 16:49:02 -0500

1notewonder:

[loiter.co]

yourejustalineinasong: dailydot: First rule of American...

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:02:01 -0500

yourejustalineinasong:

dailydot:

First rule of American restaurant etiquette: If you can’t afford to tip the wait staff, you can’t afford to eat there. Second rule: If you ignore the first rule and stiff your waiter anyway, admitting you’re a selfish cheapskate is better than pretending it’s somehow a higher calling.

guardiancomment:

Chelsea Welch, the US waitress who was fired after she posted a picture of a tip receipt on Reddit, wrote for us:

I was a waitress at Applebee’s restaurant in Saint Louis. I was fired Wednesday for posting a picture on Reddit.com of a note a customer left on a bill. I posted it on the web as a light-hearted joke.

This didn’t even happen at my table. The note was left for another server, who allowed me to take a picture of it at the end of the night.

Someone had scribbled on the receipt, “I give God 10%. Why do you get 18?”

I assumed the customer’s signature was illegible, but I quickly started receiving messages containing Facebook profile links and websites, asking me to confirm the identity of the customer. I refused to confirm any of them, and all were incorrect.

I worked with the Reddit moderators to remove any personal information. I wanted to protect the identity of both my fellow server and the customer. I had no intention of starting a witch-hunt or hurting anyone.

Now I’ve been fired.

The person who wrote the note came across an article about it, called the Applebee’s location, and demanded everyone be fired — me, the server who allowed me to take the picture, the manager on duty at the time, the manager not on duty at the time, everyone. It seems I was fired not because Applebee’s was represented poorly, not because I did anything illegal or against company policy, but because I embarrassed this person.

In light of the situation, I would like to make a statement on behalf of wait staff everywhere: We make $3.50 an hour. Most of my paychecks are less than pocket change because I have to pay taxes on the tips I make.

After sharing my tips with hosts, bussers, and bartenders, I make less than $9 an hour on average, before taxes. I am expected to skip bathroom breaks if we are busy. I go hungry all day if I have several busy tables to work. I am expected to work until 1:30am and then come in again at 10:30am to open the restaurant.

I have worked 12-hour double shifts without a chance to even sit down. I am expected to portray a canned personality that has been found to be least offensive to the greatest amount of people. And I am expected to do all of this, every day, and receive change, or even nothing, in return. After all that, I can be fired for “embarrassing” someone, who directly insults his or her server on religious grounds.

In this economy, $3.50 an hour doesn’t cut it. I can’t pay half my bills. Like many, I would love to see a reasonable, non-tip-dependent wage system for service workers like they have in other countries. But the system being flawed is not an excuse for not paying for services rendered.

I need tips to pay my bills. All waiters do. We spend an hour or more of our time befriending you, making you laugh, getting to know you, and making your dining experience the best it can be. We work hard. We care. We deserve to be paid for that.

I am trying to stand up for all of us who work for just a few dollars an hour at places like Applebee’s. Whether a chain steakhouse or a black-tie establishment, tipping is not optional. It is how we get paid.

I posted a picture to make people laugh, but now I want to make a serious point: Things like this happen to servers all the time. People seem to think that the easiest way to save money on a night out is to skip the tip.

I can’t understand why I was fired over this. I was well liked and respected at Applebee’s. My sales were high, my managers had no problems with me, and I was even hoping to move up to management soon. When I posted this, I didn’t represent Applebee’s in a bad light. In fact, I didn’t represent them at all.

I did my best to protect the identity of all parties involved. I didn’t break any specific guidelines in the company handbook – I checked. But because this person got embarrassed that their selfishness was made public, Applebee’s has made it clear that they would rather lose a dedicated employee than an angry customer. That’s a policy I can’t understand.

I am equally baffled about how a religious tithe is in any way related to paying for services at a restaurant. I can understand why someone could be upset with an automatic gratuity. However, it’s a plainly stated Applebee’s policy that a tip is added automatically for parties over eight like the one this customer was part of. I cannot control that kind of tip; it’s done by the computer that the orders are put into. I’ve been stiffed on tips before, but this is the first time I’ve seen the “Big Man” used as reasoning.

Obviously the person who wrote this note wanted it seen by someone. It’s strange that now that the audience is wider than just the server, the person is ashamed.

I have no agenda here. I seek no revenge against the note writer. I have no interest in exposing their identity, and, at this point, I’m not even sure I want my job back. I was just trying to make a joke, but I came home unemployed.

I’ve been waiting tables to save up some money so I could finally go to college, so I could get an education that would qualify me for a job that doesn’t force me to sell my personality for pocket change.

Call me petty but I would seek revenge just because of the fact that I lost my job due to this selfish, greedy, religious wack-job that apparently doesn’t understand that generosity and kindness are virtues to be valued. This woman doesn’t deserve her heaven. I think she’s shown many people, and her God that is watching over her, who she truly is.

theclassyissue: Fuck! sense is spelled with an ‘s’

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 23:41:09 -0500

theclassyissue:

Fuck!

sense is spelled with an ‘s’

defunctis: q I need this tank top.

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 12:02:11 -0500

defunctis:

q

I need this tank top.

myampgoesto11: Metal sculptures by Darius Hulea

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 11:11:24 -0500

myampgoesto11:

Metal sculptures by Darius Hulea

Photo

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 23:53:10 -0500

Ummm, Hi, My Name is James, Coffee sometime please?

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 22:45:10 -0500

Ummm, Hi, My Name is James, Coffee sometime please?

allcreatures: Huskies pant during a training session at...

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 22:36:36 -0500

allcreatures:

Huskies pant during a training session at Feshiebridge, in Aviemore, Scotland. The Siberian Husky Club of Great Britain will hold its annual sled dog rally this weekend.

Picture: REUTERS/David Moir (via Pictures of the day: 24 January 2013 - Telegraph)

Photo

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 22:36:20 -0500

yoshisnortscoke: prefer this

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 22:36:04 -0500

yoshisnortscoke:

prefer this

Photo

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 22:35:35 -0500

Photo

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 22:35:23 -0500

Photo

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 22:35:04 -0500

Photo

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 22:34:31 -0500

likeafieldmouse: Chris Jordan - Midway: Message from the Gyre...

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 21:28:26 -0500

likeafieldmouse:

Chris Jordan - Midway: Message from the Gyre (2009-current)

I understand that these are horrific, disturbing images and not remotely beautiful.

At first I was under the impression that the albatross remains had been arranged by the photographer around piles of plastic trash; then I read this article and learned that “nesting chicks fill their bellies with plastic as their parents collect and feed them bits that look to them like food. As a result, tens of thousands of albatross chicks die from starvation, choking, internal bleeding and poisoning each year.”

I feel the set deserves posting.

jackrad: pulmonaire: Photography Illusions by Erik...

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 09:55:19 -0500

jackrad:

pulmonaire:

Photography Illusions by Erik Johansson

the last one’s my favourite