Hazel

Why does a puzzle website have a class action waiver and a binding arbitration provision?

Sounds like involuntary hierarchy to me! Maybe not on the level of ‘official’ organization, but certainly on the level of gatekeeping and bullying.

If there are “consequences” for drawing an anarchy symbol in one way or another, I’m not sure that the person advocating these “consequences” believes that involuntary hierarchy is a bad thing.

Sandals only unless there is literally snow on the ground.

I like it. With the current rise of popularized fascist politics and extreme polarization, I feel like anything that leans toward nuance rather than essentialism is probably a good thing. The change to species also makes it a lot less awkward listening to D&D players talk about the game without saying things that come off as incredibly racist to anyone who doesn’t know the context.

That ICQ icon though.

This is me. Literally any time a day I could be just getting up or just going to sleep or in the middle of my day or in the middle of my sleep.

Thanks! I’ll give it a shot!

Lemmy definitely feels like it’s declined a lot over the past year across the board. Every thread is a fight. I see a lot of Reddit style combative comments all over the place and I’m just less and less enthusiastic to be using it. I’ve tried a handful of instances, including places like Beehaw, and even there the level of hostility I see is absolutely unhinged.

There’s a massive difference between people saying they wouldn’t mind paying more if it meant not tipping and people actually being willing to pay more. The difference between a 20% markup on prices and being asked to voluntarily tip an amount that isn’t specified is pretty minimal. Having worked in a job that relied on tips for over a decade, I can’t tell you how many times someone who didn’t tip complained about the price without a tip. Would they pay it anyway? Maybe. Is it probably a good idea? Maybe. But I don’t know many situations in which a 20% hike on prices translates into a 20% increase in wages.

There are definitely a lot of people who would benefit from just making a living wage rather than being paid below minimum and having to supplement that with tips. Often that person just ends up not making minimum wage at the end of the day, and there are definitely companies that exploit that pay arrangement to get people to do work that shouldn’t have to rely on tips regardless. There’s a small burger place around here that literally hires counter help for tipped wages, but then also makes them do dishes, clean bathrooms, and even help make some of the food. They’re basically being paid less than minimum to do two to three jobs, only one of which even legally qualifies for the reduced pay rate.

But would the patrons of that restaurant really not complain if they had to pay an extra $3-4 for a burger? I’m not so sure.

One thing I’ve learned about people is that many of us find complaining to be cathartic. If it wasn’t tipping, it’d be the prices or the service or something else. A lot of the time it’s already all of those things.

In the mean time, though, it’s probably better to push back against unfair labor practices by trying to pass local laws rather than by just stiffing your server.