You are currently browsing the monthly archive for April, 2007.
No opinions on tip jars, hard times, etc? OK. Well, you know mine at least, and you can take them for what they’re worth. Onward!!!
It’s tax time here in the US, and I think I fared well, owing only $113 in federal tax. IMHO, a perfect year is the one where income tax is repealed; short of that, I try to get as close to owing $0 as I can without getting a refund. As I see it, if you withhold enough to get a refund on your income tax, you’re pretty much loaning the Gub’ment your money interest free. When was the last time THEY did that for YOU?!? I aim to owe $100 or less each year, so I did OK this time.
And speaking of things taxing, I’m recovering from a nasty cold/flu thing that’s been going around. At one point I couldn’t swallow without great pain, in fact I was living on meal replacement drinks for a few days because solid food hurt too much going down. Take this advice: if you feel it coming on (the little sniffle, the throat that aches for no apparent reason), load up on the vitamin C and Zinc right away, and keep them at a high level throughout the cold. I did so, and even with all I went through, the cold lasted several days fewer than the previous one.
Well, that’s it for now at Sora’s Scrolls…where two’s company and three’s an audience. I have an ICQ# now, for anyone who feels like a chat (HINT HINT!! 
). It’s:494-246-533. I can’t promise to be the most artful conversationalist, but I will at least listen, and sometimes that’s all anyone wants.
It’s becoming an all too familiar sight: the cleaned-out tin can with the top removed, the clear plastic jug with a hole cut into the lid, one restaurant chain has gone so far as to purchase an actual plastic gas can, cut a hole out of the side, and place it on the counter with the attached sign, ‘Gas Money For The Crew’. I speak of the tip jar, and the hopes of those businesses that one will feel obligated to drop their spare change..or more..into said receptacle, simply because it’s there. But before I get into that, let’s understand what we’re discussing here.
Miriam-Webster (m-w.com) defines ‘tip’ as:
Main Entry: (10)tip
Function: noun
: a gift or a sum of money tendered for a service performed or anticipated : GRATUITY
It’s my belief that those tip jars on the counters of places like Starbucks, Moe’s et al don’t belong. In fact, I think it shows some real gall to put one out. These businesses hire staff and should pay them well for rendering their services; that jar tells me that these businesses don’t pay their staff a decent wage to begin with, and they must rely on whatever they can divvy up from the can at the end of the day to bolster their income. Gas money for the crew, indeed; the paltry sum you collect from that can will buy barely enough gasoline to START your car, much less get you from A to B. The wages in your check should be plenty, and if it’s not, then perhaps it’s time to seek employment elsewhere or speak with the boss about promotion and raises. Sorry kids, but my spare change is going into a can marked ‘Gas Money For ME’. And since I’ve brought up gasoline, consider perusing:
www.boycottgasoline.com
