Question for Americans

[aenlighten]

Tipping

A friend of mine recently quit his job as an engineer and went into waiting. It paid better! You do need to work in a nice place to do well. It doesn't have a lot of growth potential but you get to leave the job behind after hours.

 

[saluki9]

Colt 45 So old fashioned.

Individual freedom from the nanny state

Even more old fashioned.

 

[FinanceDude]

? ...and there I was thinking that some of you guys could be offended by my use of the term, "yanks"

"Yanks" isn't offensive, you are called a "yank" if you wander south of the Mason-Dixon line...........

When I moved to Florida in 1987, I was pulling a U-Haul with Wisconsin plates when I stopped at a truck stop in Tennessee. A bunch of truck drivers were there eating breakfast, and asked me if I was the "Yankee with the U-Haul".

Hoping I was not going to die, I replied that I was. Then a man no smaller than Paul Bunyan asked why I was driving south in the U-Haul.

My answer? "I wanted to get out of the North, folks are much nicer down here". I got a smile, and got to live..............

 

[FinanceDude]

One other thing, Americans don't use the term "au fait" very much. I don't think I've ever heard it, and I had to look it up.

Isn't it a sundae or something??

 

[FinanceDude]

Individual freedom from the nanny state

Even more old fashioned.

I prefer a 9MM myself...........

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

I travel a fair amount in the US and Canada.

I tend to tip generously, ~ 15%. I also leave $1 every night with a thanks note in hotel rooms. This has paid off a couple of times when I have left something behind by accident.

Canadians do not tip well, even in Canada. I find that people remember me here (positively). In Mexico, it is said that the locals prefer to serve Americans because they tip better than Canadians.

I seldom use redcaps, but I gather that it is customary to tip $1 per bag. Bring lots of 'ones'.

It also helps to be polite.

 

[Sweetlip]

It also helps to be polite.

Americans are legendary for their politeness - certainly so in Australia dating back to the experiences of my parents in WW2 when Australia was full of GIs.

Also, on my one and only business trip to the USA a few years ago, it was interesting how everyone called me "sir" including executives from US companies who I would be visiting or having lunch with. It was like watching an Elvis movie.

 

[Meadbh]

One other thing, Americans don't use the term "au fait" very much. I don't think I've ever heard it, and I had to look it up.

Really?

 

[Meadbh]

Nobody mentioned getting offended about "poms"...

 

[haha]

Nobody mentioned getting offended about "poms"...

They can't; the term pom has officially been declared inoffensive.

"In December 2006, the Advertising Standards Board of Australia unanimously ruled that the word "pom" was a part of the Australian vernacular, and was largely used in a "playful or affectionate" sense. As a consequence, the board ruled that the word did not constitute a racial slur, and could be freely used in advertising. The Board was responding to a complaint filed by a community group called British People Against Racial Discrimination.[2]"

Alternative words for British - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ha

 

[Sweetlip]

They can't; the term pom has officially been declared inoffensive.

It always used to used as part of a set phrase, "whinging Pom" but you don't hear so much whinging now and so the phrase is all but extinct.

Australia had a big migration of Poms in the 50's and sixties on a plan that brought them to Australia for ten pounds sterling. Notwithstanding that great deal, a lot of them were disappointed with so much of Australian lifestyle and/or the temporary ex-WW2 "Nissan" Hut accommodation that they lived in at the migrant hostels until they made other arrangements. So many of them whinged about everything and earned that title "whinging Pom."

Interestingly enough, many of them did return back to England but half of those returned back to Australia. For all of its isolated, outdated lifestyle in those days, Australia was (and is) a wonderful place of opportunity with clear air, great beaches, egalitarian lifestyle etc and lots of Poms really prospered here.

England remains the arch enemy of Aussies in the sporting arena though and it is such a shame when Australia wipes out the Poms in test match cricket 5 - 0.

We also like beating the yanks in swimming at the Olympics and other meets.


...and oh, BTW, our crocodiles make your alligators look like pussycats.... Hahaha! (Steve Irwin used to say that so it must be true. )

 

[dex]

Joke:
How do you know a jet plane of Brits has landed?








The engins are off but the whinning continues.

 

[Sweetlip]

Joke:
How do you know a jet plane of Brits has landed?








The engins are off but the whinning continues.

Why did you feel the need to pre-warn us that that was a joke?

 

[dex]

Many Americans do not know about the Brits' pension for whinning.

 

[Sweetlip]

Oh.


Thanks.

 

[bssc]

"Yanks" isn't offensive, you are called a "yank" if you wander south of the Mason-Dixon line...........

One of my ex-gfs would be offended by that since she was from Louisiana and one of her great ancestors signed the Louisiana articles of succession. Calling a Southerner a Yank is considered an insult.

 

[bssc]

Individual freedom from the nanny state

Even more old fashioned.

Nanny state is a term that conservative americans use to refer to laws that they do not like, for example laws that restrict guns, cars and sharp objects. Liberals use terms like reactionary or backwards to describe laws they do not like, such as those that restrict non-heterosexual relationships and allow for the unlimited exploitation of the environment.

Interestingly enough, there are times where liberal and conservative interests converge. Right now, at least in the state of Arizona, there is a huge crackdown on smoking. The nanny state liberals don't like it since it is unhealthy while the reactionary conservatives don't like it since it is immoral and unGodly. The same attitude seems to existing towards DUIs (driving under the influence).

 

[bssc]

...and oh, BTW, our crocodiles make your alligators look like pussycats.... Hahaha! (Steve Irwin used to say that so it must be true. )

One of the ladies in my MegaCorp's office in Sydney, NSW, would teach me Australia. She used Steve Irwin to define the phrase wanker. She also taught me that arvo is the afternoon, tomato sauce is ketchup and Mexicans are people from Melbourne.

 

[Texas Proud]

One of my ex-gfs would be offended by that since she was from Louisiana and one of her great ancestors signed the Louisiana articles of succession. Calling a Southerner a Yank is considered an insult.

But overseas we are all 'yanks'... even from the south.. they don't know the 'local problem'...

 

[haha]

"Yanks" isn't offensive, you are called a "yank" if you wander south of the Mason-Dixon line...........

I never heard this in years down South- only yankee, never yank. I think Yank is from foreign wars, not from regional rivalries/hatreds.

Before the South become polluted by them, yankees were not very popular down there, and IMO it was a well deserved unpopularity.


Ha

 

[Sweetlip]

One of the ladies in my MegaCorp's office in Sydney, NSW, would teach me Australia. She used Steve Irwin to define the phrase wanker. She also taught me that arvo is the afternoon, tomato sauce is ketchup and Mexicans are people from Melbourne.

Well, being a Queenslander , even further north, we would call anyone south of Queensland a Mexican, including your friend in Sydney.

All of the rest of what you say is true. Steve Irwin was over the top in terms of affecting the extreme of Aussie "ockerism" and would be regarded as a "wanker" by most Aussies - until the extent on his fame in teh USA made our collective jaws drop. His zoo is about an hour's drive north of my home. Many of us, including me, worry a bit for how much the Irwin legacy depends on exploiting his kids. Sometimes, if I see Bindi's face on TV one more time, I'll ...

It just seems to me that the poor kid will end up like a Judy Garland, always living in a unreal existence, and maybe having some serious adult problems later in life. I saw that his widow said that they watch a video of Steve every morning. Gosh! Is that brainwashing the kids or what?

 

[Sweetlip]

I never heard this in years down South- only yankee, never yank. I think Yank is from foreign wars, not from regional rivalries/hatreds.

We understand the North - South sensitivities. Although, we have never had a civil war in Australia (we are all too busy having a bloody good time!) so we cannot begin to understand the intensity of feeling that there must have been, say in the early 20th century when memories of the 1860's conflict would still be in people's minds.

"Yank" is what we call all Americans. We had a close relationship with thousands of yanks in WW2. General Douglas Macarthur took up residence in my city at that time and yanks were stationed widely across Queensland.

As they used to say, "Over paid, over sexed and over here!"

 

[Sweetlip]

Nanny state is a term that conservative americans use to refer to laws that they do not like, for example laws that restrict guns, cars and sharp objects.

Thanks for explaining that term. I was wondering what it meant.

They can restrict guns all they like, in my view. Aussies don't really have the same passion for keeping guns that many Americans do. We bear arms when we have to - mostly to fight someone else's wars.

Whilst we have some of the most venomous and dangerous animals on the planet, carrying a side arm in the bush is not likely to protect us from any natural perils. We have no bears, tigers, lions, hippopotami, wild elephants etc. Just the world's most poisonous spiders, snakes and that sort of thing. A snake will only attack if surprised or trodden on and will usually slither away from a confrontation if it can. We do have lots of water hazards such as sharks and crocs in northern areas but you cannot swim well with a sidearm and in any case, crocs and snakes are protected species so you cannot kill them anyway.

As kids at school, we learn how to avoid angering snakes and how to handle other natural perils. none of which involves needing a gun.

Australia has a huge mix of nationalities now making up our demographic, many of whom are refugees from war-torn countries. Some of those people bring some bad habits into Australia such as knife carrying and in recent years when some of the young guys get full of beer and bad manners, knives have been produced with tragic consequences but that is a very un-Australian phenomenon.

One of the real shames of modern Aussie life is seeing our cops all wear weapons. That was not the case 20 years ago. Most danger to the cops' safety remains attending domestic disputes when emotions, grog, and maybe other substances take the rationality away from the situation that they are trying to defuse.

Because 90% of Australia's population lives on the coast and we love watersports, we do have a healthy respect for sharks ad they feature regularly in our news coverage, such as this article from today's newspapers ...

 

[Gotadimple]

All of the rest of what you say is true. Steve Irwin was over the top in terms of affecting the extreme of Aussie "ockerism" and would be regarded as a "wanker" by most Aussies - until the extent on his fame in teh USA made our collective jaws drop. His zoo is about an hour's drive north of my home. Many of us, including me, worry a bit for how much the Irwin legacy depends on exploiting his kids. Sometimes, if I see Bindi's face on TV one more time, I'll ...

You know, this is an interesting comment about Steve Irwin. I have a mate in South Australia who was absolutely distraught at his death. I always thought he overplayed the chances he had by putting himself in danger for the camera. So, I guess, I'm one yank who didn't see 'his magic.'

--Rita

 

[Sweetlip]

I always thought he overplayed the chances he had by putting himself in danger for the camera.

Hi Rita - that is probably a fair comment - although there are plenty of Aussies who would do the same sort of thing and have done so for the cameras.

Don't get Steve mixed up with your average Aussie. The overwhelming majority of us these days are city dwellers and not adventurers, notwithstanding that our national ethos is wrapped around the vast. dangerous, emptiness of our country.

So many of our early explorers who found the paths through the mountains to the fertile plains beyond or who walked across the finding routes for overland telegraph lines and the like were stark raving lunatics who went off into the bush with little preparation, and the wrong supplies - like taking office equipment and sugar which they dumped along the way but also taking insufficient ammunition with which to hunt food. To some extent, we identify well with these hopefuls who had a go at doing something impossible in 100+ degree heat in the driest continent on earth.