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Show Signpost Viewpoint Eating etiquette: £TANP UP ANP BE GOUMTEP \Mted States W Politics 2010 ffark&cm .L Socialist GRaevst Thank youforpartidp Many readers out there might be full-time students as well as part-time restaurant servers. And lately, many restaurant patrons aren't following proper restaurant etiquette. Because of that, here's a short list of some of the more important things that people may not realize before going out to eat, on behalf of servers everywhere. 1) When you are first seated, it's best to put whatever conversation you're having on hold to decide what you want to eat, especially if your server is busy. Taking a fiveminute break in conversation won't slow you down, but it can slow your server down if they keep making unnecessary stops at your table. 2) When you get your food, if something happens to be wrong with it, understand that the majority of the time it has nothing to do with the server. Miscomrnunications can occur between the server and the kitchen staff for a number of reasons. Usually it's relatively easy tofixor remake something in the kitchen, but understand that you're not the only customer in the restaurant, so patience is key. 3) Once you have finished your meal, it's best to move your conversation elsewhere. Occupying a table after you're done can hurt the server's sales and tips because they can't seat new customers with you in their table. That's not to say you should be out the door once you've swallowed the last bite of your food, but sitting at a table with nothing but water for anything exceeding half an hour after you've paid your check will begin to wear on the server. 4) It's a well-known fact that servers make their wages through tips, not hourly. Minimum wage for servers varies from state to state, ' i^. i r I 1 SOURCE: GUTENBURG.ORG with Utah's being just over $2 per hour. That, coupled with taxes, makes bi-monthly paychecks less than a tank of gas for most cars. Depending on the restaurant, some servers are also required to "pay out" their bartenders, bussers and hosts by giving them a percentage of their tips. 5) Tipping can be a bit of a slippery slope. Standard practice says that for service with minimal to no problems, 15-20 percent is an appropriate amount. If the server went above and beyond, made special accommodations or was particularly friendly, 20-25 percent is appropriate. If the server got the order wrong, ignored the table, didn't refill drinks or was otherwise negligent, no more than 10 percent is appropriate. Unless your server screwed up practically everything that was under their control, or you only saw them when they took your order and then again when they dropped it off, it's never appropriate to not tip them anything. That would be akin to working at your job for an hour and not being paid for it At the very least, leaving a dollar for everyone at the table is courteous. So on behalf of servers everywhere, thank you for taking this list under consideration. The majority of the time, this list is unnecessary, but it doesn't hurt to have a refresher course before you order your main course. 501X01 [Sports Editor Features Editor ShayLynne Clark 626-7621 Adviser Allison Hess Office Manager Georgia Edwards 626-7974 i Work to ban Obamacare now! Michael Farr • Signpost columnist Democrats flew in the face of overwhelming public opinion, and despite the huge amount of controversy, they forced Obamacare into law with a blatantly partisan vote. They couldn't even follow normal legislative channels. They used the reconciliation process, which was never intended to pass laws of this nature. What is so surprising is how they managed to secure federal funding for elective abortions. This was one of the major hangups that a few of the pro-life Democrats in the House had with the bill. Obama managed to get around this by issuing an executive order that removed the provision funding abortion from the senate version of the bill, but Obama doesn't have the authority to do that. The Executive Order only has the power of the Executive Branch behind it, except in some cases where Congress specifically delegates greater power to the By Jonah Napoli president. The president can't simply issue an executive order Comment on this column at that changes or modifies laws or wsusignpost. com. bills that Congress has passed - he doesn't have that power. However, despite the extremely / i WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY questionable way in which Obamacare was passed, it did pass. Now we have to deal with the immense amount of fallout that this legislation will cause. Already we can see signs of what Gina Barker 626-7614 is to come. Caterpillar announced that Obamacare will cost them at least $100 million this year alone. Eric Jensen 626-7983 Medtronic, a company that makes ^ 1 HE SIGNPOST Managing Editor Right Again 626-8526 -The Signpost is published Monday, Wednesday and Friday during fall and spring semesters. Subscription is $13 a semester. First newspaper copy free, each additional copy $0.50. -The Signpost is a student publication, written, edited, and drafted by Weber State University students. Student fees fund the printing of this publication. Opinions or positions voiced are riot necessarily endorsed by the university. The Signpost welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must include name, address, telephone number, relationship to staff, and the writer's signature. -The Signpost reserves the right to edit for reasons of space and libel and also reserves the right to refuse to print any letter. Letters should not exceed 350 words. Bring letters to the editorial office in the Student Union 401, or mail to: The Signpost, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah 84408-2110. Attn: Frances Kelsey. E-mail thesignpost@weber.edu medical equipment, expects to this bill. Apparently the FirstFamily be forced to lay off thousands of and some other select members workers because of the new taxes of Congress are completely in Obamacare. Verizon sent out. a exempt from everything to do mass e-mail to all their employees with Obamacare. Ironically, it's because of Obamacaxe. These these people that pushed so very e-mails were about how costs hard to cram Obamacare down would rise drastically, and how our throats. Funny, because one much of their employees^ health of those things about command plans would soon /11 is never asking be subject to an your men to do additional 40 Obamacare may anything that you wouldn't do. percent excise tax, be here now, If Obamacare is drastically raising such a landmark costs. That does not and it may be reform and is bode well for the going to be so nearly one million wreaking havoc beneficial to people that Verizon the American employs, or for ... but that's no people, why their shareholders. guarantee about wouldn't they Obama can say want to be that costs won't go how long it will subject to it? It's up, but he is wrong. because they Costs will go up. be here. This know that it's not The deficit will increase even more. fight is not over. going to work. They know costs The Congressional v jare going to go Budget Office ^ ^ u p and quality of has said that care is going to go down. Obamacare will cause the average family's premiums to go up by Obamacare may be here now, as much as 13 percent by 2016. and it may be wreaking havoc In fact, the Obamacare budget (what little part I mentioned), but was described by Senate Budget that's no guarantee about how Committee chairman Kent long it will be here. This fight is Conrad (D-ND) as a Ponzi scheme not over. The most horrendous of of the first order, the kind of thing Obamacare's effects do not go into that Bernie Madoff would have place for several years. Hopefully been proud of. The Lewin Group, before those provisions go -into a non-partisan organization, effect we will have a Republican estimates that around 600,000 president and Republican control people will lose their jobs as a of the House and Senate. Then we result of the burden Obamacare will be able to repeal this travesty. places on employees. This is Then we can institute some all completely aside from how health care changes based on Tort detrimental Obamacare will be to Reform. If we are lucky we can our economic growth. get rid of Obamacare before the One of the major questions damage is permanent. I have is how Obama and some Comment on this column at select others manage to weasel wsusignpost. com. their way out of being subject to Comments: In response to 'Cutting out AC: Rocky Mountain Power cuts back on Utahns' cool summer': As usual, The Signpost continues to present an ill-informed Viewpoint. The price GOUGING (not "gauging") you speak of has nothing to do with Cool Keeper, and is at best a red herring meant to incite readers against RMP for simply doing business. If it is supposed to have connection to Cool Keeper, it was not explained well at all. The connection to this price gouging implies that somehow RMP is benefiting by keeping customers from using more energy. I guess I am supposed to take from that that RMP is using the "extra" energy being kept from usage through Cool Keeper and is %elling it wholesale. But if that is what happening, I would not know. The writer seemed more intent on using the word "gouging" than explaining what is actually happening. • .: Otherwise, RMP actually loses potential profit by limiting customers' energy usage. It also may \~ have been at least somewhat important to men- "^ tion/consider that the motive for Cool Keeper " could be to keep quality of service high for RMP customers. If energy usage keeps increasing and . increasing, soon tjie grid won't be able to handle V it, and we'll have brown-outs like they do in California. So 15 minutes every 30 for 6 hours a day, or prolonged periods of black- and brown-outs where I can't get any energy at all? Seems like a good solution to me, unless citizens are ready to exercise the rights you speak of to control their own energy usage. - Brett Hein posted on 3/26/10 @ 5:08 p.m. Leflen to the editor are edited for formatting libel and language only. |