American things

I don’t like getting dehydrated so I rarely drink on flights. This last trip (12+ hour flight) I was bumped up a class on air france and the stewardess, relieved to find a French speaker, talked me into wine.

Yes, I wouldn't normally drink on flights either, but on a long flight I'm not going to drink ginger beer tbh

I am a savage it is true

the thing is.. drinking ginger ale on a plane fuckin rules

I bought a 2-liter of ginger ale lemonade, and I'll tell you something, it ain't the same.

Last time I was on a plane, I asked for either a Sprite or a 7-UP. They said they only had Sierra Mist.

So I drank ginger ale.

ginger ale isn't ginger beer btw

ale's ok as a mixer, beer is good any time

ginger ale is an abomination tbh

About as much of an ale as root beer is a beer.

i'm old enough to remember people ordering tomato juice because they thought it was healthier/would keep them hydrated

i usually just drink water, but will sometimes opt for orange juice

well tbf https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/weird/WHYY-Why-do-we-Drink-Tomato-Juice-on-Planes--278032761.html

i've also noticed the tomato juice on a flight thing!

actually i never thought of ginger ale on a flight but there's something about the marketing of ginger ale that i find very appealing at large. it's an ale! it's healthy! no caffeine! still tastes great! etc
def my favorite soda even though crush is my close #2 haha

i would love to know how ginger ale worked its way so firmly into the american psyche as something you drink on the plane. surely this must constitute the bulk of the ginger ale business. whenever else do you even see it??

literally the last thing i ever want to happen on a flight is some gastrointestinal emergency and ginger ale helps mitigate that risk

tomato juice on the other hand i have no fucking clue

it's an ale!

it's not

it's healthy

...

i was on flights in the early 80s and distinctly remember my dad ordering ginger ale. it's just what you do.

Ginger is an anti-emetic so it’s meant to stop you vomiting over everything though idk how much actual ginger is involved in ginger ale.

ginger ale and tomato juice are what i remember adults drinking when taking a break from being actively, aggressively alcoholic. (c. late 1970s)

ginger ale works well as a mixer but that's about it

was recently advised that in certain south east asian countries, ginger intake is less about the stomach and more about giving zing to the, uh, gentleman and lady parts

prices on store shelves or menus not including the sales tax

^ this is almost as insane as tipping but doesn't get the same press

always get caught out on the sales tax, every freaking time

“Resort fees” at hotels, too.

When I was in Manhattan a couple of years ago I said to the guy in a store where I'd just bought a map, "I keep forgetting about the sales tax". His reply: "How do you think we pay for all these wars buddy?"

most places in Miami had a 'service fee' and expected a tip!!!

outrageous!!!

When I was in Manhattan a couple of years ago I said to the guy in a store where I'd just bought a map, "I keep forgetting about the sales tax". His reply: "How do you think we pay for all these wars buddy?"

― Ward Fowler, Wednesday, March 28, 2018 4:00 AM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that's...not how it works in america but ok

It was said w/ some humour, yr honour.

humor, yr honor ... remember what thread you're in.

:-)

I like having the sales tax factored into the price already, but here's why I don't think it works in the U.S.:

- Different tax rates for different types of food.

- Different tax rates for different municipalities, counties and states.

It's much easier for a company to set a price and let the government add what they want to it rather than trying to work backwards by figuring out what the local tax is and figuring up what your base price will be. Imagine designing a grocery flyer for a six-county metro, saying GROUND CHUCK $3.80/lb and having to have each county try to work out what their real price is going to be.

Here's where I totally expect non-USAers to say WELL WE MANAGE TO SEND OUT OUR FLYERS WITH THE SAME PRICE, but I expect that your taxes are a bit more generalized than our little Balkanized nation of 2000 counties.

just use income tax for state revenues ffs

Believe me I wish we would

Know where in the U.S. you can usually find sales tax included in the price of off-the-shelf goods? Liquor stores.

I bought a bottle of booze the other month and it was ~$15 more than the sign said.

Who's looking at or receiving flyers for chains of groceries? If you're selling something in a shop, you can put the price of that item within that shop on the sign in the shop that tells you the price of the item! Instead of a different price that does not actually relate to the price you will pay!!!

Who's looking at or receiving flyers for chains of groceries?

Those of us who aren't vagabound adventurers!

https://i.imgur.com/kTcsuVU.jpg

I think the big reason is just the time it takes to figure out the retail cost of an item. Just figure out what the tax is at check out, like everyone else. That way, you won't waste time figuring up the price of items that don't sell.

($15 is a lot more than what anyone should expect though... unless the bottle cost $150.)

PolySci (university course)

I only realized yesterday it is short for Political Science and doesn’t mean “Lots of Science”

well, it's "poli sci"

heaps of people write it as polysci

heaps of people spell laptop 'labtop'

I think the big reason is just the time it takes to figure out the retail cost of an item. Just figure out what the tax is at check out, like everyone else. That way, you won't waste time figuring up the price of items that don't sell.

this makes absolutely no sense*. if you stock 500 of a successful item, then you're taking the time to figure out the retail cost 500 times at the check out, as opposed to once, at shelving.

one of the most infuriating things about it is the inability to get money ready to pay for your items before reaching the checkout; the amount of time this adds to everyone's transaction, if someone wishes to pay in cash, is enormous. in other countries, if I am buying a small item or three, I can count the money out before reaching an employee, hand it over, and leave. here, so as to not hold up everyone else in the shop, I now have about three kilos of coins that I have to find the time to take to a machine somewhere which will, for a TWELVE PERCENT handling fee, give me a VOUCHER that I can then take elsewhere to exchange for money.

*ie not sure if srs

Do u still not exist enough in America to have a bank acct

https://www.thewrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/simpsons-memes-money-can-be-exchanged-for-goods-and-services.jpg

the amount of time this adds to everyone's transaction, if someone wishes to pay in cash, is enormous.

ime waiting for people to use their debit card takes longer than paying with cash.

micromanaging fellow patrons time, just fuck off

lifehackers must die

if you stock 500 of a successful item, then you're taking the time to figure out the retail cost 500 times at the check out, as opposed to once, at shelving.

Think about where ever the price is printed though. On the shelf. In advertising. On the board in the window. Oh, and the city held a special election last month to expand the marina and now every single one of those items has to be ticked up half a percent.

Good news though. The sales tax is only temporary which means you'll have to reverse the process in 18 months.

pp you are not effectively arguing for the sensible convenience of the current system

I didn't say it made any sense!

A few years ago, our governor wanted to drop the sales tax on food. The ruckus that was raised from concerned retailers about how they would manage to charge one tax for one item and another tax for another item during the same transaction was bonkers. Especially when you showed them how items like beer and wine were already being taxed at different rates than everything else.

But it was like a commerce group filled with George HW Bushes: How will the computer know if someone's buying a plum or plum-flavored candy?

https://i.imgur.com/Ozi8L3I.jpg

The law passed. Food is charged a 2% tax while everything else is more like 9%. Except for beer and wine which are more like 10.5% - Depending on what side of the county you're shopping in.

So again, I'm not saying it can't be done, just listing the "finished" price on the shelf in the first place. But retailers have their reasons.

https://i.imgur.com/PXfKfuN.png

I'm sure you've seen these. Sometimes, retailers just want to let you know how much you're getting screwed.

LOL 'recovery fee'

I am 100% pro the sweetened beverage tax except that the other day I was hit with it on a bottle of kombucha with 3g of non-added sugar

tax the poor, yeah great idea