a life totally ordinary

Happy International Women’s Day! And because it’s the perfect time for this, let me remind all the young men out there, that no woman, no girl, especially no 13 year old girl who happens to be my daughter, EVER deserves a man, or a teenaged boy, especially one who is friends with my teenaged son, to yell sexually explicit things at them when when they walk home with their friends, or at any other time EVER.  Period.

guardiancomment:

Chelsea Welch, the US waitress who was fired after she posted a picture of a tip receipt on Reddit, wrote for us:

I was a waitress at Applebee’s restaurant in Saint Louis. I was fired Wednesday for posting a picture on Reddit.com of a note a customer left on a bill. I posted it on the web as a light-hearted joke.

This didn’t even happen at my table. The note was left for another server, who allowed me to take a picture of it at the end of the night.

Someone had scribbled on the receipt, “I give God 10%. Why do you get 18?”

I assumed the customer’s signature was illegible, but I quickly started receiving messages containing Facebook profile links and websites, asking me to confirm the identity of the customer. I refused to confirm any of them, and all were incorrect.

I worked with the Reddit moderators to remove any personal information. I wanted to protect the identity of both my fellow server and the customer. I had no intention of starting a witch-hunt or hurting anyone.

Now I’ve been fired.

The person who wrote the note came across an article about it, called the Applebee’s location, and demanded everyone be fired — me, the server who allowed me to take the picture, the manager on duty at the time, the manager not on duty at the time, everyone. It seems I was fired not because Applebee’s was represented poorly, not because I did anything illegal or against company policy, but because I embarrassed this person.

In light of the situation, I would like to make a statement on behalf of wait staff everywhere: We make $3.50 an hour. Most of my paychecks are less than pocket change because I have to pay taxes on the tips I make.

After sharing my tips with hosts, bussers, and bartenders, I make less than $9 an hour on average, before taxes. I am expected to skip bathroom breaks if we are busy. I go hungry all day if I have several busy tables to work. I am expected to work until 1:30am and then come in again at 10:30am to open the restaurant.

I have worked 12-hour double shifts without a chance to even sit down. I am expected to portray a canned personality that has been found to be least offensive to the greatest amount of people. And I am expected to do all of this, every day, and receive change, or even nothing, in return. After all that, I can be fired for “embarrassing” someone, who directly insults his or her server on religious grounds.

In this economy, $3.50 an hour doesn’t cut it. I can’t pay half my bills. Like many, I would love to see a reasonable, non-tip-dependent wage system for service workers like they have in other countries. But the system being flawed is not an excuse for not paying for services rendered.

I need tips to pay my bills. All waiters do. We spend an hour or more of our time befriending you, making you laugh, getting to know you, and making your dining experience the best it can be. We work hard. We care. We deserve to be paid for that.

I am trying to stand up for all of us who work for just a few dollars an hour at places like Applebee’s. Whether a chain steakhouse or a black-tie establishment, tipping is not optional. It is how we get paid.

I posted a picture to make people laugh, but now I want to make a serious point: Things like this happen to servers all the time. People seem to think that the easiest way to save money on a night out is to skip the tip.

I can’t understand why I was fired over this. I was well liked and respected at Applebee’s. My sales were high, my managers had no problems with me, and I was even hoping to move up to management soon. When I posted this, I didn’t represent Applebee’s in a bad light. In fact, I didn’t represent them at all.

I did my best to protect the identity of all parties involved. I didn’t break any specific guidelines in the company handbook – I checked. But because this person got embarrassed that their selfishness was made public, Applebee’s has made it clear that they would rather lose a dedicated employee than an angry customer. That’s a policy I can’t understand.

I am equally baffled about how a religious tithe is in any way related to paying for services at a restaurant. I can understand why someone could be upset with an automatic gratuity. However, it’s a plainly stated Applebee’s policy that a tip is added automatically for parties over eight like the one this customer was part of. I cannot control that kind of tip; it’s done by the computer that the orders are put into. I’ve been stiffed on tips before, but this is the first time I’ve seen the “Big Man” used as reasoning.

Obviously the person who wrote this note wanted it seen by someone. It’s strange that now that the audience is wider than just the server, the person is ashamed.

I have no agenda here. I seek no revenge against the note writer. I have no interest in exposing their identity, and, at this point, I’m not even sure I want my job back. I was just trying to make a joke, but I came home unemployed.

I’ve been waiting tables to save up some money so I could finally go to college, so I could get an education that would qualify me for a job that doesn’t force me to sell my personality for pocket change.

What Angels Promise - 2008

4x6 inch collage on recycled flyer

When faced with having to come up with a title for a piece, it’s either really easy or pretty much impossible.  I created three new pieces with horses in them (group show theme was animals), and realized that naming any of them “horse” would be lame.  And it is unless you had a stepfather who was a Potawatomie/Kickapoo Indian, and you know some words from each of those tribes.* 

“Ksheptowak” - horse running fast.

Nope, not lame at all.

*i didn’t know this one and had to look it up. but you know how it works - I know basics like water, bear, drum, poop. 

ruckawriter:

missrep:

http://eraeducationproject.com/

I like this for all the reasons.

(via kellysue)

6x6 inch collage on wood panel.  just making things to keep my brain in that way of thinking.

One of those “had to drop daughter off at school but have another hour until work, hey, why don’t I go shoot near the train tracks” kind of mornings. 

Not an issue tomorrow morning.  Nope.  Instead, both Jared Konopitski and I will be on Good Day Sacramento (channel 31) at 7 a.m., showing the art we created exclusively for the Artists for the Cure event, here in Sacramento on October 20th (click on the photo for more info).

Yep. 

6x6 inch collage on wood panel.  Japanese newsprint, reverse photocopy transfer, found paper

I’m making miniature wearable collages now.  yep! double-sided, hand-cut, original collages in pendants.  It’s a lot of fun to work this small, it’s extremely challenging.  And as most 40 year olds know, it gets harder and harder to see things this small up-close.  These will be for sale at APE on Oct. 13th and 14th, SF.  Look for Stafford-Konopitski Worldwide Adventures.  Click on photo for more details.