Holiday Dining Etiquette

For the other waitresses and bartenders out there, I hope this sends a message.

It's odd to me that the tips seem to dwindle in the holiday season. Generally speaking, unless your waitress takes your order incorrectly, brings you the wrong food or just neglects your table- there is no excuse to tip less than 20%. For those of you that need a little help that means for every 5 bucks you spend, 1 dollar of tip is earned. $50= $10 tip.

If you are Jewish (and I say that figuratively) and you think that 20% is too high, there is a simple solution for you: Don't go out to eat, order take out, or cook your own food. We bring you your drinks, we bring you your food and most importantly we clean up your mess. If that doesn't deserve an adequate tip then STAY HOME.

It seems that during the last few weeks, a less than 20% tip is more than common...it's commonplace. I am just not sure I get the thought process behind tipping less during the holidays. If you can afford to go out to eat then clearly you are not financially troubled. Believe it or not, if we are waitressing or bartending...chances are we ARE FINANCIALLY TROUBLED.

We scrub walls on weekend mornings, clean up floors embedded with cheerios, cover ourselves in your used marinara sauce and most importantly we serve you. We make $2.13 an hour and work till 2 am on weekends- while your children are tucked into bed. Giving us 42 dollars on a 38.25 bill won't cut it. We have to buy the presents you luxuriously already have as you read our menus.

We are not dumb people, many of us have college degrees but waitress on weekends because we need money not only for the holidays but to pay bills.

So stop being a tightwad and do your job, because if the check is on your table- we already did ours.

The Real World of Tila Tequila

Reality MTV, what great minds.

The Real World is really ridiculous this year. As much as Trisha and her "Only God can judge me" attitude were on my last nerve, Parisa proved to be as pathetic. If Parisa felt "physically threatened" by Trisha then she clearly needed to hit the gym more, as Trisha was like 120 lbs of pure bitch. Parisa felt alienated by Trisha's mean girl persona. Granted, no one likes to feel like the odd man out, but kicking her out of the house was purely done with ulterior motives.

With no Trisha and clingons, Parisa could be the head honcho. The annoying, overly judgemental head honcho. I was in Parisa's camp until I realized that Parisa stayed mad and punished her room mates for their behavior as though she was God; not the God Trisha had in mind I suppose. This is the Real World. People are cast to create drama. Everyone sleeps with each other and most importantly, girls FIGHT. I guess Parisa was a casting director's friend because clearly she does not belong on Reality TV.

Oh and Ashli, the fake addition to the cast, get a life. You didn't care that Dunbar had a girlfriend, your actions and their aftermath had no correlation. Congrats you are a national slut now.

Oh, Tila Tequila. Why are you famous again? Bi-sexual myspace music? The best part is that I highly doubt she is bi-sexual. She didn't ever seem that into the making out with any of the females. Ironic that she ends up with the one girl that looks just like a boy?

I think not. She got her own reality tv show purely because she is slutty enough to make out with any member of the opposite sex in hopes of becoming famous. Forget self respect or being famous for doing something that requires talent- just get drunk enough to make out with girls, boys and girls that look like boys. It won't win you an Emmy but it will get you on MTV.

Dani- Danny. Clear identity crisis. If you have feminine parts, you are a girl. Having a dikey haircut won't make you a man. A sex change and boob amputation WILL but otherwise you are just a girl dressed up like a guy who is fighting for the affection of a drunken myspace whore.

Can't stomach that show.

The Addict and The Hypocrit

I have a love-hate relationship with quite a few reality tv shows. Some I am not ashamed to admit to, and some that might serve a greater purpose.

I love Project Runway, and I truly feel that although it may be overdramatized for the sake of ratings, it is a creative-unique show. In other words, I do not become dumber from watching it.

Then there are the in between shows, like ANTM. America's Next Top Model wasn't always Tyra's outlet for self-promotion. At one point in time it actually was about the girls. Her over the top stunts or "acting" are really obnoxious- I don't watch it anymore. But again, ANTM is a competition...

Where as, my guilty pleasure "The Hills" is just fake television. I almost forgot that it was fake until E! shows like "The Soup" and "Chelsea Lately" point out errors in consistency on the show. I would love to hate that show out of spite. These girls are rich and famous without ever having any true talent or skill level. I always wanted to be an actor as a child but felt that it wasn't reliable enough to take up as a career. Nowadays people like Heidi are famous for doing nothing.

Hell, not only is Heidi famous but she has no college degree and a good job. LC has a job at Teen Vogue. It's a shame that people work their whole lives and pay for expensive degrees and can't land jobs at top PR firms but Heidi, who formerly whined that she didn't get to work events, does.

I get it, I know, these girls are "attractive" but they aren't supermodels nor are they the sharpest knives in the drawer. So why do they get this luxe lifestyle while most of us struggle to pay student loan bills for a college degree that didn't land us our dream jobs?

Obama and Oprah

What an effing joke. Oprah has lost serious credibility since her backing of that "Million Little Peices" book and then a school she paid for, neglected and went down the crapper.

Hey Oprah, before you go spending your "hard earned" millions to endorse a presidential candidate why don't you do something that matters. What grounds are you supporting Obama on? He is part African American? I am just curious, because he truly has nothing substantial on his side. His debate skills are terrible, I think I could come up with better responses/rebuttles.

If anything, the fact that he is being endorsed by a daytime talk-show host, just adds to the fluffiness of his campaign.

And O, if you really wanted to do something good why don't you donate all your dough to a real cause, or just be honest about your intentions.

Obama is a joke.

Youtube Republican Debate

Okay so I have been pro-Hillary for like 3 years now, probably before she was even decided on running for president. But, I can't help but wonder if there's a better "low-key" option.

I absolutely HATE the campaign tactic of attacking the opposition. I suppose I was a front-runner; being behind either Clinton or Giuliani. I liked the whole centrist thing, you know no hard-core left winger and no Dick Cheney. Giuliani was the guy who cleaned up NYC; a republican that was pro-choice. Hillary and her national healthcare plan, not to mention she is married to Bill who proved to keep most Americans happy.

But now I am kind of annoyed. With Rudy's whole "when I was mayor of NYC...." and Hill's attacks on Obama et company. TELL ME WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO. I don't care what you have done in the past or what your competitors lied about. Do something for us. We already have a selfish president who is more concerned about getting his name in a history book than about OUR wellbeing, I want a president NOW that is going to help us NOW.

Anyone with any sense of character can tell that Mit (Mitt-sp?- don't care enough to look it up) Romney is full of shit. I know nothing of him or his ways besides watching this Youtube debate and if you can't tell that he's a liar from listening to him talk in 30 second and 90 second intervals, than you have no right to vote for a president.

McCain is Bush Jr. His monotone dialogue and right wing attitude would have fit in better in last election, he is old news.

Huckabee...although I won't be voting for him, I like his demeanor. He is a good speaker, something we haven't had for close to 8 years now, and he seems to be comfortable in his plans. He doesn't do the flip flop thing.

I think my vote is going to Ron Paul. I am not here to advocate anyone, and maybe my naivity to the Republican candidates is annoying rather than endearing but I believe he is a people's president. I loved his answers. Especially the ones that involved worrying about OUR country. Because the president that is elected now will have the most influence on the twixters' future, I think it's important we pick the guy that is for fixing our country NOW.

Let's face it. Our student loans aren't getting any cheaper, we run out of parental-provided healthcare at 23, we don't want to be working at 80- we need some flexibility about retiring at a decent age. We need to live.

I want a president who will worry about: healthcare, bringing home troops, cracking down on illegal immigrants and replenishing social security.

Sure it's great to help others- let's rebuild Iraq, spend billions on another country. But what about us? And specifically, what about our generation?

We are so lazy. If this were 30 years ago we woulda revolted against Bush. Instead we live like robots; accepting a government (which exists for the people) that makes us prisoners to taxes and its system. No one has to live and breathe politics here but we need to figure out what we want from our president and pick the guy (or gal) that will give us those things.