Service Charges or Commissions?

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As a colleague and I finished sipping our whiskey (mine was an Islay Scotch and hers was an Irish), we ended up discussing the service charge that was added to the bill and what to do with the “additional tip”. I have long had a policy of not adding additional tip when a service charge is already added; my general take is that if the establishment is going to distribute the service charge to the servers and other staff, they’ve removed my obligation to tip based on the quality of service.

Honestly, I think servers (and their restaurant overlords) don’t really understand that replacing a gratuity with a service charge is the equivalent of putting the servers on commission, just like sales people. Since the service charge is a percentage of the bill of sale, servers should work hard at upselling their customers to increase the amount of money they earn. Instead of just asking if the table wants drinks, the server should be pitching the best cocktails on the menu and the restaurants ought to collaborate by offering on-the-spot incentives like discounts (perhaps a discounted appetizer if drinks are ordered?). In suggesting dining selections, the servers ought to lean towards the pricier items on the menu. And, of course, dessert, after-dinner drinks, etc. could further pad the total.

This all probably sounds unappetizing but I have no doubt that some smart servers and restaurants are going to figure this out soon. In some ways, this is a positive move. While servers are no longer being directly rewarded for the quality of service, they now become partners with the restaurant in driving revenue.

If you want to learn more about services charges (at least in Washington state), the Washington Hospitality Association has a page discussing them.

First Day Back

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Well, I think I’m going to get started blogging again. Why? I’m not sure. Is blogging still in fashion? Does anyone actually read these things? I’m not sure of the answer to either of these questions but I have a few things on my mind which I ought to write down. I’m not sure how happy I am being back in WordPress. I might be happier with a blog like I used at Microsoft (while I was employed there — another story for another post) — a repo with pages done in markdown. But I’ve been on this site forever so I thought I’d give it a try again. We’ll see how it goes. In the meantime, I at least enabled HTTPS and changed the theme to something readable on a mobile device. After all, when I was doing this before (last post in 2013) smart phones were not everyone’s primary computing device like they are today. So here goes nothing …

Poverty in Manila

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At a recent trip to Manila, I was able to tour a Gawad Kalinga (www.gk1world.org) community built on a landfill. This is one of my favorite photos from the trip.
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Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books

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NPR BooksSeems like we’ve been here before.  NPR has published a list of their top 100 SF and Fantasy books, reprinted here with the one’s I’ve read marked with a “+” (46 total, although I suspect I read a couple of others and just can’t remember).  How many have you read?

+  1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
+  2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
+  3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
+  4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert
   5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin
+  6. 1984, by George Orwell
+  7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
+  8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
+  9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
+  10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
   11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
   12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan
+  13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
+  14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
+  15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore
+  16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
+  17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
   18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
+  19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
   20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
+  21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
   22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
   23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King
+  24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
+  25. The Stand, by Stephen King
+  26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
+  27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
+  28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
   29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
   30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
+  31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
   32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams
+  33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey
+  34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
   35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
   36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
+  37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne
+  38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys
+  39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells
   40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
   41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings
   42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley
   43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
+  44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven
+  45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin
+  46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
+  47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White
   48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
+  49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke
+  50. Contact, by Carl Sagan
   51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons
   52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
+  53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
   54. World War Z, by Max Brooks
   55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
+  56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
   57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett
+  58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson
   59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
   60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
+  61. The Mote In God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
   62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind
   63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
   64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
   65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
   66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist
+  67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks
   68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard
   69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
   70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
   71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
   72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne
   73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore
   74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi
+  75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson
+  76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
   77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey
+  78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
+  79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
   80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
   81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
   82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
   83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks
+  84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart
   85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
   86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher
   87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
   88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
   89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan
   90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock
+  91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury
   92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
   93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge
+  94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
   95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson
+  96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
   97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
   98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville
   99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony
   100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis