Banker Leaves 1% Tip On $133 Lunch Bill In Defiance of 'The 99%'

[Hugh Mughnus]

For the people having some interest in the bankers point of view, the following blog might be interesting:

http://www.guardian....ices-of-finance

and this

http://www.guardian....jk-banking-blog

 

A good example of how journalism should be done, imo: well researched articles instead of the opinionated garbage which is sold so often nowadays. (and consumed by the ignorant...)

 

I'm going to take a look, thank you.

 

That's what I meant by saying the "sheeple". People believe everything they hear/see these days.

[goDel]

Couple of must reads:

Someone explaining how he thinks change can only be made with knowledge "from the inside". (Given the current points on ignorance and occupiers and all):

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/joris-luyendijk-banking-blog/2011/nov/14/karl-marx-hedge-fund-manager

 

And on the fun side of things, Goldman Sachs elevator gossip:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/joris-luyendijk-banking-blog/2011/nov/09/goldman-sachs-elevator-gossip-tweets

 

If anything it's a good laugh. The profile says: "Things heard in the Goldman Sachs elevators do not stay in the Goldman Sachs elevators. Email what you hear to elevatorgoldman@gmail.com." Most tweets take the form of exchanges between #1 and #2, unless they're women, then it's Skirt #1 and Skirt #2.

LOL

[azatoth]

Anyways I don't believe it takes a particular genius to foresee that if you don't want to work at mcdonalds or deliver pizzas when you're 37 years old, you have to work hard early in life. Isn't it a complex iteration of natural selection that resolves some to work these jobs at these ages and complain about it on their twitter pages where they have 6 followers?

 

Don't take any of that post seriously. I just like to troll.

 

you're actually completely right

 

no, you are completely fucking wrong. you think the person that works 80 hour weeks but makes less money than a stock broker didn't work hard enough? im so fucking angry at the first statement and your agreement with the statement that im about to fucking cum pure seething rage...i can't answer this right now...ill be back later after i cool down.

 

How is that wrong? A person works these jobs as a result of the choices they make throughout life. If your environment does not permit opportunities you must change your environment. If you don't have the foresight to educate yourself and utilize what your environment has to offer or change your environment, you end up in the job you deserve.

 

I'm not saying what was written on the receipt was right, to the contrary it's BS and I would not do that myself.

 

But yeah, the person working 80hrs a week in the service industry didn't work hard enough or lacked some intrinsic intelligence or ability to get an adequate job that pays well. They're doing what they need to to get by, I understand that. But it's completely ridiculous to think oh, these people should be paid extremely well since they had to take a serving job by default because they either didn't make it through university or didn't study in high school and inherently have no real skills to offer the world.

 

Truth hurts. If the system is corrupt and everyone knows it, leave the fucking system behind and move somewhere else.

 

Cool story, bro.

I guess the malnourished African child has only themselves to blame for not pulling themselves up from their bootstraps and getting out of their poverty and becoming a rich captain of industry.

[Hugh Mughnus]

Anyways I don't believe it takes a particular genius to foresee that if you don't want to work at mcdonalds or deliver pizzas when you're 37 years old, you have to work hard early in life. Isn't it a complex iteration of natural selection that resolves some to work these jobs at these ages and complain about it on their twitter pages where they have 6 followers?

 

Don't take any of that post seriously. I just like to troll.

 

you're actually completely right

 

no, you are completely fucking wrong. you think the person that works 80 hour weeks but makes less money than a stock broker didn't work hard enough? im so fucking angry at the first statement and your agreement with the statement that im about to fucking cum pure seething rage...i can't answer this right now...ill be back later after i cool down.

 

How is that wrong? A person works these jobs as a result of the choices they make throughout life. If your environment does not permit opportunities you must change your environment. If you don't have the foresight to educate yourself and utilize what your environment has to offer or change your environment, you end up in the job you deserve.

 

I'm not saying what was written on the receipt was right, to the contrary it's BS and I would not do that myself.

 

But yeah, the person working 80hrs a week in the service industry didn't work hard enough or lacked some intrinsic intelligence or ability to get an adequate job that pays well. They're doing what they need to to get by, I understand that. But it's completely ridiculous to think oh, these people should be paid extremely well since they had to take a serving job by default because they either didn't make it through university or didn't study in high school and inherently have no real skills to offer the world.

 

Truth hurts. If the system is corrupt and everyone knows it, leave the fucking system behind and move somewhere else.

 

Cool story, bro.

I guess the malnourished African child has only themselves to blame for not pulling themselves up from their bootstraps and getting out of their poverty and becoming a rich captain of industry.

 

You're taking what I'm saying out of context.

 

Those are two separate issues entirely.

 

No military or crippling circumstances are preventing the average North American from leaving the country.

 

 

You're comparing apples to wooden furniture. Two completely different entities.

[azatoth]

No. You are using the just-world fallacy, where everyone gets what they deserve, and completely ignoring how luck factors in on how someone succeeds. You can't seriously believe that a black female born to a substance abusing single mother in the inner-city has exactly the same chance to succeed as a white male born to a doctor father and lawyer mother living in well-off suburbia. I am not saying the black girl can't make it out of poverty and become a successful business women. And nothing is stopping the white boy from becoming a drug-addled loser who kills himself before he's 30. But the odds are stacked in his favour to get a well-paying job. People are simply not dealt the same hand in the lottery of life and some hands are far more advantageous than others. To say that it's all about bootstrapping yourself to a better life is simply just BS that you mostly hear from white privileged males.

[Hugh Mughnus]

No. You are using the just-world fallacy, where everyone gets what they deserve, and completely ignoring how luck factors in on how someone succeeds. You can't seriously believe that a black female born to a substance abusing single mother in the inner-city has exactly the same chance to succeed as a white male born to a doctor father and lawyer mother living in well-off suburbia.

 

You are correct. I don't believe that.

[Hugh Mughnus]

But what makes a black female born to a substance abusing single mother in the inner-city automatically entitled to lawyer/doctor/stock broker salary?

 

Yes, it's sad. That doesn't change the fact that people that make high salaries more often than not (despite what the popular media would have you think) worked extremely hard for what they've got.

 

It's unfair to project the corruption etc from the select sample of assholes we hear about on all of the population that is hard working and high earning.

 

It is also unfair to say that because "black female born to substance abusing mother in the inner-city" can't ever, regardless of how hard they work, make over 200k/year, that noone else should.

[goDel]

GS Elevator Gossip ‏ @GSElevator

#1: It's amazing that this whole thing started with Barney Frank giving poor people houses they cant afford.

 

GS Elevator Gossip ‏ @GSElevator

MD #1: I would vote for Obama... just to watch him age for another 4 years.

 

GS Elevator Gossip ‏ @GSElevator

#1: Banks paid back all the bailout money with interest. Remind me again when the unions paid back the auto bailout?

 

GS Elevator Gossip ‏ @GSElevator

#1: I never thought about shorting this market here. But now that I'm hearing 'Four more years", I just might.

[Guest theSun]

this may derail... what do bankers contribute to society? how are they helping society progress?

[TechDiff]

woah, what a thread.

 

gonna scan back through in a minute and re read, coz there is a lot! Just gonna throw in a couple thoughts too.

 

Can't get my head around the tipping thing in the states. as someone already said, it seems nothing more than an excuse to pay low wages to someone, with an incentment for them to have to be nice to people in order to earn a decent wage.

 

I worked in restaurants for about 5 years. before, during and after the time I was going to collage. To be fair I was kitchen rather than waiting, but got a good insight into how it all works out.

 

what I found funny was that, the whole hiring process went along the lines of:

 

attractive and/or female = fos waiting staff

Ugly, male and/or foreign = bos kitchen staff

 

For the waiting staff then, their ability to earn and generate tips rested on how nice their customers are, how polite and confident they are, how attractive they are. The whole thing IMO rests on genetics and upbringing. Quality of service, doesn't enter in to it. If a server is shit, rude and whatever, they should be fired, not tipped poorly. some people are just not very comfortable in that kind of position. I've seen plenty of examples of hardworking, customer driven individuals who have been accused of providing mediocre or poor service, simply because they are not the most socially adept people.

 

my feeling is, a wage is what you earn for doing your job to the level that is expected of you. in the case of waiting staff, that means polite friendly efficient service. tipping of bonuses should be for going beyond that.

 

What I would consider the best service I've experienced, the waiting staff are practically invisible and unobtrusive. a polite welcome, and friendly help with any questions, but aside from that, they leave you to your meal. not mindless flirtation and banal conversation in effort to extract a higher tip from you.

 

pretty much everyone working in the restaurants I worked in was in the same situation as I was. studying full time, and working all the hours in between in order to pay rent and course fees etc. No one considered it a real job, just a means to an end, a way to get themselves through uni. So in that regard, of course it is a class devide issue. I know plenty of people who's family was rich enough that they didn't have to work their way through uni, it was all paid for them.

 

I also think that extends far further. I can't imagine the strains that someone could find themselves in, in a country like the states where healthcare costs a fortune, educations costs a fortune. The simple fact is that life can throw all manner of obstacles in your path, a sick relative, or a personal injury could very easily derail all sorts of personal aims as the financial burden would be too great to overcome. a wealthy family would be able to ride that out far far easier than a poor one. Money opens all sorts of options, more expensive schools means a more reputable degree on your CV. Immediately puts you in a better position for a higher paid job.

 

honestly I think people who argue that money has nothing to do with it, and all it takes is hard work are completely ignorant, have very little understanding of how hard life can be, and have probably had a very easy ride so far. there are people who have come from absolutely nothing to make a great life for themselves, those people are very exceptional, and very lucky.

 

anyway, what I find most funny is how money is still an accepted gauge of success. For some people it is, driven purely by the desire to get bigger and bigger dollar values next to their name. Fair enough, that's your thing. To many many others life is considerably more rich, and experience far more rewarding. To be poor but living the life you love. It's so closed minded to judge someone's life by how much they earn, or how much they tip, or in fact any of your own criteria.

 

Umm.. Tangent, soz bye!

[goDel]

this may derail... what do bankers contribute to society? how are they helping society progress?

Contributions:

- facilitating money transactions

- guarding your money on your bank account

- investing money

- making more money out of money (so you have some for of interest on your savings)

 

Progression is more in the investment department of course.

 

I'm afraid the answer is pretty trivial. O_o

[joseph]

Anyways I don't believe it takes a particular genius to foresee that if you don't want to work at mcdonalds or deliver pizzas when you're 37 years old, you have to work hard early in life. Isn't it a complex iteration of natural selection that resolves some to work these jobs at these ages and complain about it on their twitter pages where they have 6 followers?

 

Don't take any of that post seriously. I just like to troll.

 

you're actually completely right

 

no, you are completely fucking wrong. you think the person that works 80 hour weeks but makes less money than a stock broker didn't work hard enough? im so fucking angry at the first statement and your agreement with the statement that im about to fucking cum pure seething rage...i can't answer this right now...ill be back later after i cool down.

 

How is that wrong? A person works these jobs as a result of the choices they make throughout life. If your environment does not permit opportunities you must change your environment. If you don't have the foresight to educate yourself and utilize what your environment has to offer or change your environment, you end up in the job you deserve.

 

I'm not saying what was written on the receipt was right, to the contrary it's BS and I would not do that myself.

 

But yeah, the person working 80hrs a week in the service industry didn't work hard enough or lacked some intrinsic intelligence or ability to get an adequate job that pays well. They're doing what they need to to get by, I understand that. But it's completely ridiculous to think oh, these people should be paid extremely well since they had to take a serving job by default because they either didn't make it through university or didn't study in high school and inherently have no real skills to offer the world.

 

Truth hurts. If the system is corrupt and everyone knows it, leave the fucking system behind and move somewhere else.

 

Cool story, bro.

I guess the malnourished African child has only themselves to blame for not pulling themselves up from their bootstraps and getting out of their poverty and becoming a rich captain of industry.

 

The way you just completely shoved these words in his mouth is stupefying. Most creationists can argue better than this, by now.

 

[azatoth]

What I am trying to say is that it's not all about just bootstrapping oneself out of their misery. It's an unfair world, that's true, but to basically call someone lazy because they are a waiter is just asinine. And the idea that if the environment isn't working out for you, then you just should just get out and leave to someplace else like it's just as easy as that is just absurd.

[goDel]

Would it blow your mind if that banker actually might have been a waiter during his own years in college? And that the waiter getting the 1% tip was serving like a jerk? And that the banker honestly thought the waiter should have "a real job" (meaning: a job which requires getting a degree). And that him saying so, implied the banker thought the waiter could be in the league of people with the potential of getting a degree. And that in Western society just about anyone can make a degree?

 

Well, it blows my mind the people in Africa and their life expectancies are being brought up in this discussion.

[Hugh Mughnus]

Would it blow your mind if that banker actually might have been a waiter during his own years in college? And that the waiter getting the 1% tip was serving like a jerk? And that the banker honestly thought the waiter should have "a real job" (meaning: a job which requires getting a degree). And that him saying so, implied the banker thought the waiter could be in the league of people with the potential of getting a degree. And that in Western society just about anyone can make a degree?

 

Well, it blows my mind the people in Africa and their life expectancies are being brought up in this discussion.

 

I agree... I tried to say the same thing earlier.

 

It is refreshing to see someone share some of my points...

[Guest disparaissant]

nah that was submitted to reddit or w/e by an employee of said banker, who said he is a right prick

 

you two have some weird ideas on how the world works, thats for sure

but it seems like its working for you

and it seems like when the world works for someone, they tend to forget how it doesn't work for some other people

[goDel]

You two?

[Hugh Mughnus]

What I am trying to say is that it's not all about just bootstrapping oneself out of their misery. It's an unfair world, that's true, but to basically call someone lazy because they are a waiter is just asinine. And the idea that if the environment isn't working out for you, then you just should just get out and leave to someplace else like it's just as easy as that is just absurd.

 

In the western world, it's not absurd. An American can easily move to Canada or vice-versa. Any idiot can walk off the street here and make 80-100k working the oil fields as a righand.

 

Why don't you pose some of the difficulties in picking up and moving somewhere, or explain to me how it's not laziness or a result of poor choices that resolves one into permanently working low paying jobs. I would love to explain how the most basic free market economic theories explain whatever you come up with.

 

I'm not attacking you, I'm simply saying you maybe aren't seeing things realistically. It boils down to incentives. At some point, mr/mrs waiter/waitress chose a path based on some complex filtering of what drives them, IE what they value as incentives, that has led them down the path they are on.

 

Perhaps at it's most basic it is in fact a genetic lottery, and these peoples "filters" which are a result of genetics (concept of incentives, cause/effect) are not best suited for this modern environment. However this interpretation leads us down an elitism/eugenics conversation that most people become emotional instead of logical over. If in fact people are born at a disadvantage genetically to not be able to respond to the environmental stimuli which include politics, education, the job market et-al, then they are as a matter of fact inferior to those that are able to respond to the environment. This is no different than the type of plant or bug etc that becomes extinct because it is not able to adapt to it's environment. Humans tend to add an emotional instead of logical aspect to the process.

 

Please do not consider that ^^^ paragraph as an exposition of my particular opinion. It is just an explication of a commonly held theory in social sciences.

 

I just wanted to pose an alternate school of thought for your consideration...

 

nah that was submitted to reddit or w/e by an employee of said banker, who said he is a right prick

 

you two have some weird ideas on how the world works, thats for sure

but it seems like its working for you

and it seems like when the world works for someone, they tend to forget how it doesn't work for some other people

 

well if its working for me, why don't you adopt my way of doing things so that it works for you?

 

haha

 

You two?

 

I think she means me and you....

[goDel]

Well, I think it's easy to show up in a thread. Take a shit on some people. And leave again.

 

Funny how the world is supposed to work for people.

 

I guess we all have to leave a tip at the worlds footsteps when we leave.

 

Bankers would say: get a real job.

[Hugh Mughnus]

Well, I think it's easy to show up in a thread. Take a shit on some people. And leave again.

 

Funny how the world is supposed to work for people.

 

I guess we all have to leave a tip at the worlds footsteps when we leave.

 

Bankers would say: get a real job.

 

Do you think, if we downright refused to give tips, waiters/waitresses would leave the industry since it no longer pays as much? The shortage of waiters/waitresses would drive the salary up to attract the necessary staff?

 

I'm not sure. Probably though. I've seen it happen first hand in warehousing.

[goDel]

It worked outside the US. But I'm having a hard time with "how the world works" as I'm not living in the US. The world works differently in there. And apparently the world ends at its borders.

 

edit: and it works in a weird way, I must admit.

And I'll leave it up to you where the weird part lies wrt the US borders.

[Guest disparaissant]

well, for one thing, this incident happened in the us and most people are talking about it in that context

and for another, when people started bringing up how the world words outside of the us, you were flabbergasted.

i'm not really sure where you're coming from at all in this except "capitalism is great!"

[skotosa]

I worked as a waiter once for like 8 months. I saw it all.

 

I'd only get paid $2.30 per hour (Minimum is 7.50) with the notion that I'd earn the rest of my money based on tips.

 

And man on those days where you just didn't have business or had assholes that didn't tip... Had to pay off College tuition with that job.

[goDel]

Yes, that's what the point was. Clearly. Capitalism is great. Sure.

 

I'll agree I'm coming from a different context and that it's hard from someone coming from the US context figuring out what that would be like. But guess what: that crisis you're dealing with is actually global.

 

You're putting words in peoples mouths which weren't there to begin with.

 

edit: @disp

[skotosa]

Just to add more to my experience as a waiter.

 

I Had to deal with pesky complaints like this bread has seeds on it, more dressing please x8, burger doesn't have mayo on it can I have a new one (he ate it anyways), this burger is medium rare I asked for a rare (ate it anyways), to much salt, why is my soda not carbonated can you get me one from a can, mam it was from the can (it really was) then why don't I see bubbles? Perhaps the ice is diluting the water?

 

Jeeze... I hated it. I have sympathy for all waiters out their both shitty and good. Shit ain't easy, takes nerves of steel to deal with all the BS pesky needs people have to fulfill a basic need to survive.