Woman attacks bus driver for refusing to take fare on a free bus

Americans have a behavour problem

 

The fare was free why freak out if driver refuses a tip which she likely isn’t allowed.. I wanted to leave a tip on a BC ferry because this trip service was way above normal. I was informed that can’t receive Tips .

 

Ha ha, Americans have ruined the world with their tipping. I never tip, there is a rate for the job and that should be it. The arguement for tipping waiters etc is that they are paid so poorly. If that is the case then by tipping you are undermining their case to be paid correctly and, in fact, encouraging businesses to to take advantage of their poorly paid staff. Also in some places all tips go into a common jar and shared equally, so in fact wanting to reward extra service is frustrated, part of your thank you goes to the lousy workers too.

That said, I wouldn't push back as this woman did or as the driver did, in my many different jobs I have had my spells as a taxi driver, both in Nottingham and in Sydney, Aurstralia. In both places, especially Oz, it is often the case where you round up the fare, but in neither would a driver cause a ruckus if he/she wasn't paid extra, as I have heard that drivers in big international cities like London do.

 

T.I.P.S. To Insure Proper Service.

That was the original intent, anyhow.


We Americans might be over doing it, but tipping is really a show of gratitude towards those who perform some level of personal service.

How easy or difficult is it for an Englishman to work in Australia? What is the process like?

Would you say it's easier for an Englishman or an American to relocate to Australia?

 

You are what we Americans call a "cheapskate". Or "pinche".

 

That is only OK if the service given was above and beyond what is expected for the job done. To tip someone who has done the job correctly and received the correct rate for the job is demeaning to the recipient, in a way saying that that person is a lesser person deserving charity because they are of lower rank or class. What I really meant is that Americans have a reputation the world over for turning a reward for extra service into an obligation, and an over inflated one at that.

I wonder how many of you have received a tip as lorry drivers for delivering the goods on time, I certainly haven't in my career, but as a taxi driver, if after receiving my fare I then carried an old lady's heavy suitcases up 2 floors to her apartment, it would be quite normal to receive a little more than a thank you for that, it might just be a cup of tea though.

[QUOTE="How easy or difficult is it for an Englishman to work in Australia? What is the process like?

Would you say it's easier for an Englishman or an American to relocate to Australia?[/QUOTE]

Nowadays quite difficult I would say, a bit like an Englishman trying to work in the USA perhaps, they are keen for immigrants but only if they have skills in a profession where they are lacking in Australia. I don't think that applies to truck drivers. But, when I went to work there, in the 1960s the world was a different place. British passport holders arriving in Australia had exactly the same rights as Australians. Officially they, and we, were considered to be all British citizens. I was held up at Darwin while they tested a leather belt securing my bedroll because I had bought it in a Baghdad market. They were worried about infection for cattle, of which there were far more than people in the Northern Territory. I told them not to bother, destroy it, but was told quite firmly 'you are a British citizen and as such have the right to enter Australia if you want'. Australians themselves had a similar attitude. I had only been there a week or so when, without thinking, in conversation, I said 'back home', meaning England, and was told again quite firmly 'this is your home now'.

@snicrep There we have a language problem, a cheapskate in English English is someone who tries to pay less than the rate, not one who is happy to pay what has been agreed.

BTW back to tipping, I was a taxi driver in Sydney during the Vietnam war and as such had many American boys as customers on R and R and got on very well with them, particularly those who had a heightened homesickess for San Francisco because of the similarities of the steep streets to their hometown. But I did find it embarrassing the way they wanted to pay me way too much. Sadly a stark contrast to some of the Australian soldiers who were given a very hard time by their countrymen and sometimes tried to take their frustration out on me. Tipping was the least of my worries on some occasions.

 

Was the bus driver a ‘public employee’? Civil servants ie; public employee paid by government, are generally forbidden to accept ‘tips’, ‘gifts’, ‘bonuses’ etc.

 

In that case the solution is simple, have a charity donation tin conveniently placed, then accept the tip with thanks and drop it in the tin. Might not have assuaged this woman's anger though, maybe she wasn't the full quid.

If that slang needs interpretation, just ask.

 

They were in south central. Arn’t they always looking for a reason to riot? Lol