For the most part...Tipping is needed.

The very first job that I got in high school was one where all I worked for was tips. I was considered a "volunteer" and I did not have to pay any type of taxes. Today in many jobs it seems mandatory that a customer tip the employee, even though it is not. Some of these jobs include waiting tables, being a pizza delivery person, or working at a casino or hotel.

According to Business Today, tips should only be rewarded for good or superb service a customer receives. According to the American Society of Travel Agents in a Business Today article, 15 to 20 percent gratuity from the bill price is normal for restaurants. In big parties, 15 percent gratuity is already added for you. According to the same article, most waitresses think that 15 percent is a decent amount for waiting a table. According to Restaurant Gage.com, tips are the main income of the waiter or waitress. For some restaurant waiters and waitresses, the hourly wage is somewhere between $2-4. For anyone this is not enough, which is why tipping is such an important part of the job. Without tips, people probably would not have enough to pay for anything.

On the Pizza Driver Homepage, it states that the minimum tip for a pizza delivery driver is $2. Although the common gratuity is 15%, if it is less than $2 than the minimum should be $2. It also states that a great service person should receive 20% while a poor service person should receive only 10%.

From personal experience, many things determine the amount of gratuity a person is going to receive. The friendliness of the person, the amount of time the person takes to do the service asked, the amount of the bill itself, and the sometimes the quality of the food or items bought. Yes, I always try to pay 15%, but sometimes people do not deserve it. Because I know how it feels to do someone a service and receive a quarter, I know how a person should act to receive a good tip. From personal experience, some of the servers I have had do not deserve the 15% gratuity they want. But on the other hand, I understand that most people who get tipped don't make much money in the first place and need the tips. But I still believe that if they want more money, they need to do more work to get it.

Only 35 MPG?!

The United States Government just passed a bill into law that states that all new motor vehicles produced after 2019 are required to have at least a 35 mile-per-gallon fuel consumption. While this law is good, in that car manufacturers will be required to make slightly more fuel efficient vehicles, it is horrible that it is only 35MPG. With China and Japan producing 100MPG cars now, and requiring vehicles be at least in the 70s, American car companies cannot even sell most of their cars over seas. Europe is the not as high as Asia, but most of their vehicles are at least in the 50 to 60 MPG range. While the bill was supported by many "tree-huggers" it is said to be the only compromise between the legislators and the car companies. COMPROMISE?! Why is our government compromising with businesses?! Our government should be looking out for the people, not the companies.

It's My Money, Spend it on Me!

In America, over a million people die every year from starvation and homelessness. Every year America spends billions of dollars on foreign aide. Why is America spending so much money on other countries when our own country already has its own problems to deal with. America spends all of this money on its invested capitalist interests.
The wars in the Middle East for instance, were started to maintain our positive relations and support with the many nations. America wants to keep this relationship to keep the same relationship with the oil companies in the area.
President Bush has talked many times about freeing the nations of their oppressions and promoting democracy. This is absurd. If America wanted to stop oppressions, why are we not spending as much on countries that are worse off like Darfur and Uganda?
It would not be right to just take all of the funding away from those countries that America is currently providing “aid” to. Instead the funding should be slowly cut so the countries can learn to be independent of America. Once funding is cut, the money should go toward fixing the problems here in America. Keep the money where it belongs. We do not have to go as far as socializing medicine or establishing a communist workforce, but something needs to be done.
Just think, a few billion dollars to be spent to help the million starving Americans equals a few hundred dollars per person. That money could mean life or death for those people.

I'm Free!

Another step toward complete freedom is possible depending on the rule of a Supreme Court case. The Supreme Court is deciding on whether police officers can be held liable for injuries or fatalities caused from high-speed chases. This sounds like a bad idea: are the police not helping by chasing after these criminals? If they are working toward deterring crime, then why should we penalize them for accidents? With just over 350 people killed a year, it should be obvious that something needs to be done about the situation.
If the Supreme Court rules that police are liable for these deaths and injuries, police will be less likely to participate in high-speed chases as to avoid the risk of being held responsible. This would give Americans a new freedom: the freedom to not be chased by the cops. This decision would be the first time the Supreme Court has ever given us freedom, rather than take it away.
I think that I would rather enjoy this new freedom. I would be able to go rob a bank, say Community Bank and Trust, then as long as I drive badly and unsafely, which I do anyways, and the police will not chase me. This would help me when I return next semester to help to pay the 10% increase in tuition. I definitely think that the Supreme Court should pass this law.