Lessons in English

[LOTW]

Thanks Ballvalve.

There was, and perhaps still is, a problem in England where instead of carrying one's shopping home, people would just take their shopping home in the trolley and then never return it. Consequently, shopping trolleys were often found dumped. More often than not in rivers. To stop this, many supermarkets now require people to put cash in a coin slot in the trolley in order to use it, which is refunded when the trolley is returned to the supermarket (much like the system you have for luggage carts at US airports).

This is not needed in American supermarkets. It is not needed in American supermarkets because unlike in England it is not physically possible to walk to the shop. Sidewalks simply disappear. Consequently there are no coin slots but there is lots of American-made global warming from all those Americans having to drive to get their groceries.

You only really get why the world is warming up when you come to America. All those cars. All those people unwilling to walk or take the bus. All those people thinking they are entitled to drive.

Except Jimbo.

Here the best (and cheapest) local grocery stores employ clean cut, articulate high school students to reload one's trolley after the groceries are paid for, push the trolley to the customer's vehicle, unload the groceries into the car, and then return the cart to the store. They will also carry groceries to the local bus stop for people who arrive by bus. All very civilized, and it is a pleasure to see young kids (14+) develop good communication skills and a work ethic. These stores are closed on Sundays, so Ian may have an issue with that. But this practice is certainly one of the reasons I shop there.

[BobL43]

They leave the coin in the slot for the next person?

Canadians are nice. Whatever way you cut the cake.

And I do like it here Bob. But there's no harm in wanting a couple of bridges fixed is there?

You don't have to like everything about something to still like it.

It's like steak. Sometimes it's a cooked a little bit over done but I still eat it.

America's like that.

But you're clearly in heaven here. And that's great to hear.

Look Ian, the US as far as I am concerned, although not perfect, is the best place in the world to live except for Hawaii. Oh wait, that is the US. All you want to do is have MORE taxes collected from the working people and give it away to the lazy. I already have 1/3 of my wages taken by taxes and pay 8.62% sales tax on most everything I buy, plus pay $8K/year real estate tax. There is only so much to give before its just not worth working anymore and become 'one of them". I'm not ready or willing for that to happen. I think you actually would prefer the entire world to go back to the Medieval days and have us all be serfs and peons, letting the royalty give us what we might or might not need (their choice). Kind of like a bee colony. What would you be; oh! the beloved tax collector for the royalty

[LLigetfa]

Our local grocery still offers a carry-out service albeit one then has to wait for the bag boy to be paged. We generally decline the offer but the wife sometimes takes advantage of it if heavy items are involved and I'm not with her. I don't care to pay ransom to get a cart as I never carry coins in my pocket so if I can find an abandoned cart, I'm happy and I repay the favor by leaving the unshacked cart for the next person even if I had to make change to ransom a cart.

I have the same attitude toward self-serve gas, going out of my way to find full service. Unfortunately, full service gas bars are getting fewer and farther in between and I find myself pumping my own more often. It's not that pumping my own gas is beneath me, but rather that I'm taking food out of someone's mouth so that gas stations can make more profit.

It seems that many people no longer give tips as we often get a surprised reaction when we tip someone. Has tips become a form of charity that is insulting? When we eat out at a restaurant, we don't tip the owner if/when given personal service because that could be insulting but we do tip the staff.

[BobL43]

Our local grocery still offers a carry-out service albeit one then has to wait for the bag boy to be paged. We generally decline the offer but the wife sometimes takes advantage of it if heavy items are involved and I'm not with her. I don't care to pay ransom to get a cart as I never carry coins in my pocket so if I can find an abandoned cart, I'm happy and I repay the favor by leaving the unshacked cart for the next person even if I had to make change to ransom a cart.

I have the same attitude toward self-serve gas, going out of my way to find full service. Unfortunately, full service gas bars are getting fewer and farther in between and I find myself pumping my own more often. It's not that pumping my own gas is beneath me, but rather that I'm taking food out of someone's mouth so that gas stations can make more profit.

It seems that many people no longer give tips as we often get a surprised reaction when we tip someone. Has tips become a form of charity that is insulting? When we eat out at a restaurant, we don't tip the owner if/when given personal service because that could be insulting but we do tip the staff.

Here in the NY metro area and most places I've been to around the US, food service employees (waiters/waitresses) get paid a very small wage below minimum wage. In NY metro, it is about $4 and change an hour, and their real income is trom tips, so they depend on it. when I go to family owned restaurants and I get served by an owner, I leave the same tip for him/her as I would for an employee because here, the tips are pooled and shared with the bus boys, cooks etc. I generally leave about 18 to 20% tip, always rounding it up to the next dollar. I like it that way. bad service: reflected in the tip unless I get an acceptable apology. In Europe, the gratuity is built in. European wait staff can tend to be more professional, maybe, but if the service is not to your liking, too bad, they still get their built in gratuity. If it is exceptional, I give extra, even though it is unexpected by them. I never felt I insulted anybody by rewarding them for good service.

[BobL43]

If you guys ever go to England, I guess you had better learn some English.

So here goes.



A SHOPPING TROLLEY

US trolley: http://www.google.com/search?q=troll...e=utf8&oe=utf8

US lift: http://www.google.com/search?q=face+...e=utf8&oe=utf8

If I go back to England, I'll be sure to take some Imodium with me too. And TUMS, and anti nausea medication. Uurp!

[LLigetfa]

If I go back to England, I'll be sure to take some Imodium with me too. And TUMS, and anti nausea medication. Uurp!

If you go for health care for your GERD, it's GORD over there.

[ballvalve]

America in ten years will be a very different place. I hope it will still be here.

We don't charge for our trolleys because the ACLU would take up a suit for depriving the homeless of living spaces. Someone designed a fold out top and tent for carts just for the guys living near the overpass.

He may be doing quite a business in the coming years.

Choose your overpass carefully, when the next Madrid quake hits the East coast, your overpass will likely be a rubble heap.

[LOTW]

[

QUOTE=ballvalve;314698]We don't charge for our trolleys because the ACLU would take up a suit for depriving the homeless of living spaces. Someone designed a fold out top and tent for carts just for the guys living near the overpass.

I believe that if many of these homeless would have had the initiative to get a job pushing a grocery trolley to a customer's car when they were 14 (or if their parent/parents made them do so) that they would not be living out of one when they were 40. I greatly admire the grocery stores which apparently feel the same way and offer these jobs.

[Cookie]

and, I am tired of having to hear, push one for Spanish, two for English...
Then, I push it, then, I hear it repeated in Spanish.

The same with the ATM's. I got a selection of 5 languages. Once, I pushed the wrong button just to see the results, I think it was Mandarin Chinese, and, I couldn't get out of it. Try it!

The cars were beeping behind me, one man yelling out his window at me, in none the less, SPANISH! I am looking at Chinese, getting yelled in Spanish, but, I was swearing to myself in English.

I would had made my dad proud, for I can swear in at least 11 languages.

but, I have a relative who asks, " do you have to swear?"
Yehss, si, oui, ja, sim, ken, sea, jes, hai, ndyio, gee, Oo, shi, areh, yaw, and lastly, aye!

[BobL43]

and, I am tired of having to hear, push one for Spanish, two for English...
Then, I push it, then, I hear it repeated in Spanish.

The same with the ATM's. I got a selection of 5 languages. Once, I pushed the wrong button just to see the results, I think it was Mandarin Chinese, and, I couldn't get out of it. Try it!

The cars were beeping behind me, one man yelling out his window at me, in none the less, SPANISH! I am looking at Chinese, getting yelled in Spanish, but, I was swearing to myself in English.

I would had made my dad proud, for I can swear in at least 11 languages.

but, I have a relative who asks, " do you have to swear?"
Yehss, si, oui, ja, sim, ken, sea, jes, hai, ndyio, gee, Oo, shi, areh, yaw, and lastly, aye!

C'est tres heureaux mon ami

pardon, drole

[Cookie]

Je me considere chanceux et heureux dans la plupart des cas, mais pas tout. La ou je me trouve pour etre malheureux, je juste fais la plupart et l'appelle bonne. Rien n'est jamais parfait, excepte le mon jurez les mots en francais.

[Cookie]

See, this site explains the "need" for swearing.
http://psychcentral.com/blog/archive...y-do-we-swear/

[ballvalve]

gasoline taxes per state plus Federal tax of 18 cents per gallon as shown: www.gaspricewatch.com/usgastaxes.asp

It shows California at 18 cents and Nevada at 27 cents. Yet when I go to Nevada for desert camping and ghost towning, gas is automatically 10 cents per gallon cheaper in Nevada [much farther from any refinery]

So that must not be all of the story.

[ballvalve]

See, this site explains the "need" for swearing.
http://psychcentral.com/blog/archive...y-do-we-swear/

Bloody good reading, all that from a man with bollocks for a brainstem. We swear because those trolleys sometimes dont return your Crown or Zloty or euro, and they booted your car for parking on the white line. Or because we were tut-tutted by some moron in lederhosen at the airport.

[BobL43]

Je me considere chanceux et heureux dans la plupart des cas, mais pas tout. La ou je me trouve pour etre malheureux, je juste fais la plupart et l'appelle bonne. Rien n'est jamais parfait, excepte le mon jurez les mots en francais.

It is what it is. All we can do is make the best of what we are dealt. Votre français est bien meilleure que la mienne j'il étudie en Junior High, a obtenu un 93 sur le test de NY État régents, mais n'a jamais vraiment eu la chance de l'utiliser. Your French is much better than mine I studied it in Junior High, got a 93 on the NY State Regents test, but never really got a chance to use it.