Sometimes I feel like JD on scrubs (ironically those are my initials). I have a tendency to be over imaginative and my brain sometimes thinks of strange things. Today I was standing at the nurses station whistling the tune "Pop goes the weasel" and I thought, man kids songs are kind of violent. Think about it.
POP! Goes the weasel - Are we shooting him? did he step on an IED? did he spontaneously combust? And why does the monkey hate him so much?
London bridges falling down - I am surprised more kids are afraid to go on bridges.
Ring around the Rosie - Let's just sing a song about the Bubonic plague and the cremation of the bodies (Ashes, Ashes) we all fall down.
Who came up with these songs anyway?
Showing posts with label Jeff's Rants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeff's Rants. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Saturday, April 30, 2011
My Personal Boycott of Applebees
Crystyne and I are usually fans of Applebees, because it is easy to eat there and will usually do the half-price appetizers. Well we decided to go yesterday because we had a gift card to use. We went with Crystyne's brother Jared, his wife and two kids, because our boys were at a birthday party.
Well anyway on with the story. (For context 1/2 price appetizers is between 3-6pm)
We arrived at Applebees between 5:10 and 5:15, promptly told them we needed a table for 4 adults and three children, and they told us it would be a 10 or 15 minute wait. At 5:45 the hostess apologized to us and told us that the table they were going to sit us (the largest booth) in was still occupied and the people were finished eating and were just chatting. A few minutes later they sat us in a smaller booth. Now I need to point out here that there was not a long line waiting to be seated in the lobby, several people with smaller groups were seated before us.
So we sit down and order a quick appetizer to get us started. We ordered a new dish called potato twisters. As we were eating the twisters I noticed a chicken strip on the plate. I thought, hey this is weird, maybe this got on the plate by accident. I offered it to Ethan (our nephew) because he was hungry, but he declined, so I decided what the heck, don't pass up a free chicken strip and bit into it. Well it was still raw inside and I had to spit it back out. We politely asked our waitress the next time that we saw her about the raw piece of chicken in our appetizers. She chuckled nervously, slightly embarrassed and said that she will take it away.
So we order our meal (Our half-price appetizers) and wait (30-40 minutes for our food). In the mean time the waitress fills our nice ice cold water cups with luke-warm water, melting all our ice. By this time I think everyone is slightly irritated.
After eating our dinner (which was good), the waitress brings the checks. We notice that our meals were not half-price and we ask the waitress about it. She tells us we didn't order our meals before 6. We say yes this is true, but you made us sit in the lobby for 30-40 minutes, while others were seated ahead of us. She then tells us she will get her manager.
The manager comes (and I don't want to be mean) but he didn't have the best appearance (nasty teeth), he walks up with a pompous air about him (which I understand, I have been accused of that on occasion), but very rudely he says to us, "Folks our policy is that you have to order your meal before six, so I am going to do this but it will be the last time!" (He was acting like we do this all the time.) So Crystyne says, "But we had to wait in the lobby, we were here at 5:15, and there wasn't anyone in the lobby when we came in, AND the hostess came and apologized to us for our long wait". He decides its best to argue and says, "Well its Friday night and its a busy night.", I finally say "Fine", and we get our new receipt. We both paid for our meals with gift cards and I must point out that he did write off the small portion left over on Jared and Michelle's bill after the gift card, but it was too late to win me over.
I walked outside, before I got too mad and said something I would regret. You know how they say, it takes 20 positives to make up for 1 negative. I have looked past bad experiences in the past and turned the proverbial other cheek, because we liked the food. Well unfortunately Applebees will not have the opportunity to make those positive strides anymore, because I am going to boycott them.
Well anyway on with the story. (For context 1/2 price appetizers is between 3-6pm)
We arrived at Applebees between 5:10 and 5:15, promptly told them we needed a table for 4 adults and three children, and they told us it would be a 10 or 15 minute wait. At 5:45 the hostess apologized to us and told us that the table they were going to sit us (the largest booth) in was still occupied and the people were finished eating and were just chatting. A few minutes later they sat us in a smaller booth. Now I need to point out here that there was not a long line waiting to be seated in the lobby, several people with smaller groups were seated before us.
So we sit down and order a quick appetizer to get us started. We ordered a new dish called potato twisters. As we were eating the twisters I noticed a chicken strip on the plate. I thought, hey this is weird, maybe this got on the plate by accident. I offered it to Ethan (our nephew) because he was hungry, but he declined, so I decided what the heck, don't pass up a free chicken strip and bit into it. Well it was still raw inside and I had to spit it back out. We politely asked our waitress the next time that we saw her about the raw piece of chicken in our appetizers. She chuckled nervously, slightly embarrassed and said that she will take it away.
So we order our meal (Our half-price appetizers) and wait (30-40 minutes for our food). In the mean time the waitress fills our nice ice cold water cups with luke-warm water, melting all our ice. By this time I think everyone is slightly irritated.
After eating our dinner (which was good), the waitress brings the checks. We notice that our meals were not half-price and we ask the waitress about it. She tells us we didn't order our meals before 6. We say yes this is true, but you made us sit in the lobby for 30-40 minutes, while others were seated ahead of us. She then tells us she will get her manager.
The manager comes (and I don't want to be mean) but he didn't have the best appearance (nasty teeth), he walks up with a pompous air about him (which I understand, I have been accused of that on occasion), but very rudely he says to us, "Folks our policy is that you have to order your meal before six, so I am going to do this but it will be the last time!" (He was acting like we do this all the time.) So Crystyne says, "But we had to wait in the lobby, we were here at 5:15, and there wasn't anyone in the lobby when we came in, AND the hostess came and apologized to us for our long wait". He decides its best to argue and says, "Well its Friday night and its a busy night.", I finally say "Fine", and we get our new receipt. We both paid for our meals with gift cards and I must point out that he did write off the small portion left over on Jared and Michelle's bill after the gift card, but it was too late to win me over.
I walked outside, before I got too mad and said something I would regret. You know how they say, it takes 20 positives to make up for 1 negative. I have looked past bad experiences in the past and turned the proverbial other cheek, because we liked the food. Well unfortunately Applebees will not have the opportunity to make those positive strides anymore, because I am going to boycott them.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Taxes
My rant for the day, comes from my drive to work this morning. While listening to the radio they were talking about a poll, that said a majority of Americans support a tax increase on people making over $250,000. I was more than a little disturbed by that. I love that we can can political discourse in this country but I want to say this about raising taxes on the so-called "wealthy." There is the great lie of socialism, "The wealthy need to pay their fair share." and "We can pay off the nations debt by taxing the rich."
Did you know that the top 5% of wage earners pay 50% of the federal income taxes and that nearly 40% of American pay no federal income taxes?
Did you know that even if we taxed everyone in the country at 100% of their wages, it still wouldn't be enough to pay off the national debt?
What really irks me is, since when did America seek to award mediocrity and punish success? How come you get punished for going to school, working hard and getting a good job by having to pay more taxes? And you have everything paid for you if you are a lazy schleb who bilks the state. (Don't get me wrong, there are many people who legitimately need help, and I have no problem with those people.)
I had a coworker tell me one time I deserved to pay more taxes because I make more than her and I went to school.
Riddle me this Batman. Who creates and maintains a majority of jobs in this country? Those making $40,000 a year or those making $250,000 a year? By taxing those who make over $250,000 a year you are killing job growth and potentially causing people to lose their jobs. It is just preposterous that people think the rich need to pay their "fair share". What is their fair share?
That is why I am becoming more of a proponent for a consumption tax. It is the only way to have a "fair tax". Everyone consumes and thus everyone pays (Not just the "rich"). Plus you could generate far more revenue if you get rid of the federal income tax and just have a flat 10-12% consumption tax.
I am just sayin'.
Did you know that the top 5% of wage earners pay 50% of the federal income taxes and that nearly 40% of American pay no federal income taxes?
Did you know that even if we taxed everyone in the country at 100% of their wages, it still wouldn't be enough to pay off the national debt?
What really irks me is, since when did America seek to award mediocrity and punish success? How come you get punished for going to school, working hard and getting a good job by having to pay more taxes? And you have everything paid for you if you are a lazy schleb who bilks the state. (Don't get me wrong, there are many people who legitimately need help, and I have no problem with those people.)
I had a coworker tell me one time I deserved to pay more taxes because I make more than her and I went to school.
Riddle me this Batman. Who creates and maintains a majority of jobs in this country? Those making $40,000 a year or those making $250,000 a year? By taxing those who make over $250,000 a year you are killing job growth and potentially causing people to lose their jobs. It is just preposterous that people think the rich need to pay their "fair share". What is their fair share?
That is why I am becoming more of a proponent for a consumption tax. It is the only way to have a "fair tax". Everyone consumes and thus everyone pays (Not just the "rich"). Plus you could generate far more revenue if you get rid of the federal income tax and just have a flat 10-12% consumption tax.
I am just sayin'.
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