American things

yeah i really can't get my head around how little time off americans get

my public sector job here in the uk gives me 31 holiday days plus public holidays time off between xmas and new year ffs

― War, Famine, Pestilence, Death, Umami (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, March 7, 2018 6:06 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

probably fair to compare to similar us jobs

i don't know the exact details, but just from her casually mentioning it, i know someone who works for the city (of los angeles) and she can rack up 3-4 weeks of vacation time in just a few months plus she gets a week of sick days, but possibly even more, and she basically works 4 days a week

the private sector is where things get bad for US workers

on another note, i know union jobs don't have paid time off or employer-covered healthcare, but they get paid decently as a trade off (like $60-$80/hour, but i'm sure it depends on the trade)

"Liquour", "gasoline"

often thought that the US approach to acceptable amounts of paid leave points to the real sickness at the heart of the country

― Under the influence of the Ranters (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, March 7, 2018 8:24 AM (six hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

mix this in with the fear of being fired 'at will' with zero safety net to catch you if that happens, then sprinkle in an unhealthy dose of youre a shit employee for taking any time off at all and youre probably spot on.

i worked for ibm in australia where i recieved 4 weeks of vacation (usable from my first day) with the option of buying another 4 weeks. I also got 365 sick days every two years (at 100% pay) in case i got cancer or something long termish.

Its been a rough transition to put it mildly.

365 sick days every two years (at 100% pay)

w...w...whaaaa???

yeah ibm is famous for that, the rest of us get 8 or maybe 12 per year

Is this if you get certified sick you get 50% pay, essentially

This is all because you people allowed communists to hold jobs and vote

Darragh if I was sick for 18 months I wouldnt get paid for 6 of those months but the other 12 would be paid at 100%. Weirdly the system never seemed to get abused but the odd thought of a fakey dr certificate and a second job to double my income may have crossed my mind. It almost seems like treating employees with respect results in those employees being respectful. Crazy.

Weirdly the system never seemed to get abused

i've wondered if it's like when we had tiny internet caps (10gb/mth) we'd squeeze out every last gig, but when internet plans grew to >1tb/limitless we stopped worrying

115. pallid, yellow eggs with extra-fragile shells

get you some good farm eggs

milk duds which i love much more than is warranted

Cataloging all the different state license plates you see on road trips

80% of people on a domestic US flight ordering dry ginger ale

i would love to know how ginger ale worked its way so firmly into the american psyche as something you drink on the plane. surely this must constitute the bulk of the ginger ale business. whenever else do you even see it??

I know rite!!!

does it even go with free pretzels???

it was the only soft drink except coke on a recent Europe-Japan flight I took, so maybe it’s a flight thing now?

really noticed this on a flight between Noo Yawk and Miami, and it was one of many soft drink options

never really seen it ordered on non-US flights

I don’t take caffeine so I asked for it and the stewardess had to go search for it lol

You guys have some problem with drinking booze on a flight?

I don’t like getting dehydrated so I rarely drink on flights. This last trip (12+ hour flight) I was bumped up a class on air france and the stewardess, relieved to find a French speaker, talked me into wine.

Yes, I wouldn't normally drink on flights either, but on a long flight I'm not going to drink ginger beer tbh

I am a savage it is true

the thing is.. drinking ginger ale on a plane fuckin rules

I bought a 2-liter of ginger ale lemonade, and I'll tell you something, it ain't the same.

Last time I was on a plane, I asked for either a Sprite or a 7-UP. They said they only had Sierra Mist.

So I drank ginger ale.

ginger ale isn't ginger beer btw

ale's ok as a mixer, beer is good any time

ginger ale is an abomination tbh

About as much of an ale as root beer is a beer.

i'm old enough to remember people ordering tomato juice because they thought it was healthier/would keep them hydrated

i usually just drink water, but will sometimes opt for orange juice

well tbf https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/weird/WHYY-Why-do-we-Drink-Tomato-Juice-on-Planes--278032761.html

i've also noticed the tomato juice on a flight thing!

actually i never thought of ginger ale on a flight but there's something about the marketing of ginger ale that i find very appealing at large. it's an ale! it's healthy! no caffeine! still tastes great! etc
def my favorite soda even though crush is my close #2 haha

i would love to know how ginger ale worked its way so firmly into the american psyche as something you drink on the plane. surely this must constitute the bulk of the ginger ale business. whenever else do you even see it??

literally the last thing i ever want to happen on a flight is some gastrointestinal emergency and ginger ale helps mitigate that risk

tomato juice on the other hand i have no fucking clue

it's an ale!

it's not

it's healthy

...

i was on flights in the early 80s and distinctly remember my dad ordering ginger ale. it's just what you do.

Ginger is an anti-emetic so it’s meant to stop you vomiting over everything though idk how much actual ginger is involved in ginger ale.

ginger ale and tomato juice are what i remember adults drinking when taking a break from being actively, aggressively alcoholic. (c. late 1970s)

ginger ale works well as a mixer but that's about it

was recently advised that in certain south east asian countries, ginger intake is less about the stomach and more about giving zing to the, uh, gentleman and lady parts

prices on store shelves or menus not including the sales tax

^ this is almost as insane as tipping but doesn't get the same press

always get caught out on the sales tax, every freaking time

“Resort fees” at hotels, too.

When I was in Manhattan a couple of years ago I said to the guy in a store where I'd just bought a map, "I keep forgetting about the sales tax". His reply: "How do you think we pay for all these wars buddy?"

most places in Miami had a 'service fee' and expected a tip!!!

outrageous!!!

When I was in Manhattan a couple of years ago I said to the guy in a store where I'd just bought a map, "I keep forgetting about the sales tax". His reply: "How do you think we pay for all these wars buddy?"

― Ward Fowler, Wednesday, March 28, 2018 4:00 AM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that's...not how it works in america but ok

It was said w/ some humour, yr honour.

humor, yr honor ... remember what thread you're in.

:-)

I like having the sales tax factored into the price already, but here's why I don't think it works in the U.S.:

- Different tax rates for different types of food.

- Different tax rates for different municipalities, counties and states.

It's much easier for a company to set a price and let the government add what they want to it rather than trying to work backwards by figuring out what the local tax is and figuring up what your base price will be. Imagine designing a grocery flyer for a six-county metro, saying GROUND CHUCK $3.80/lb and having to have each county try to work out what their real price is going to be.

Here's where I totally expect non-USAers to say WELL WE MANAGE TO SEND OUT OUR FLYERS WITH THE SAME PRICE, but I expect that your taxes are a bit more generalized than our little Balkanized nation of 2000 counties.