Flap Your Lips Friday
Posted by Michelle Moquin on April 5th, 2013
Good morning!
I am not a big coffee drinker. But when I do feel like a good cup, I’ll opt for a local non chain place. When I’m in Marin, Rustic Bakery is the best organic bakery around, and they serve coffee that I like, not to mention their scones, quiche, bread pudding…I could go on and on.
However sometimes when I am in the mood for something hot, and Starbucks is the only place around, I’ll go in and get tea ( I’m not a lover of their coffee or really anything from Starbucks in general). However, when my choices are limited, I’ve strolled into a downtown Starbucks when I am working and quite a few times ordered tea.
The last time I went into a Starbucks it was just to use their bathroom. And I got to experience the “You can’t use our bathroom unless you buy something” rule. Ugh. And I’ve come here how may times “buying something” only to be told on a time that I don’t want anything, that I must buy something in order to use the bathroom. No thank you. I no longer give any of my business to Starbucks anymore.
I found this on the Huff Po. This restaurant just took it a bit too far, don’t ya think?
Paying To Pee? Restaurant Tracks Down Customer Who Failed To Pay Restroom Bill
The management at a Tennessee restaurant have gone to great lengths — even enlisting the help of the local sheriff — to track down a woman who allegedly failed to pay a $5 fee charged to non-patrons who use the business’ restroom.
“I don’t feel it was a crime,” Patricia Barnes, the woman accused of not paying before peeing, told Today.com.
Barnes told the news outlet that an employee of The Flood Zone in Erin, Tenn., gave her permission to use the bathroom but that she later received a handwritten note in the mail demanding that she pay up.
The restaurant’s owner reportedly obtained Barnes’ license plate number and went on to get her mailing address from the local sheriff.
Click over to Today for the full story.
While some establishments view non-patrons using their restrooms as an inevitable annoyance, others don’t take the issue so lightly. Patrons have also been known to react with frustration at being charged for facilities they feel should be free.
As the New York Times reported in 2011, when a Brooklyn barber shop started charging a $1 fee for use of its restrooms, one woman was so outraged that she hurled insults at the barber and later returned to the shop with a large group, apparently meant as backup. The police ended up having to break up the fist fight that broke out.
After European airline Ryanair announced in 2010 that it intended to charge the equivalent of $1.30 for use of its bathrooms on flights, customers were outraged. One professor was so miffed by the idea that he told ABC News he would protest the proposed policy by locking himself in a bathroom at the beginning of a flight and remain there until landing.
A second-grade teacher’s rewards system for good behavior also backfired when it involved paying for bathroom breaks. The fake money students earned was to be put toward restroom trips that didn’t fall within designated break times. One child ended up wetting his pants because he hadn’t accumulated enough “Boyd Bucks.” The school district later acknowledged to NBCDFW.com that the program was a “bad decision.”
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Readers: These are the same kind of people that will sit in their car taking their good ‘ol time doing whatever they’re doing to make you wait forever to get their parking space. You know the kind of people I ‘m talking about. Blog me.
Peace out.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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April 5th, 2013 at 10:33 am
I hope Michelle will not begin charging $1 to post a comment on her blog in the future. I am very cheap and would refuse to pay. It id “Flap Your Lips Friday . . . so here I go.
Israel Begins Pumping Natural Gas From Offshore Stations — The Beginning of a “New Era”:
I posted a comment a while back about Israel finding a huge oil and Natural Gas field just off their coast and that it would bring them prosperity one day in the near future. This has come to pass, and I am proud to relay this information to MM blog readers.
The Tamar offshore natural gas field, after four years of drilling some 80 miles off the coast of Haifa , has recently begun pumping natural gas into the port of Ashdod. This marks a historic step towards Israel achieving energy independence. The natural gas from Tamar combined with the Leviathan, a nearby, off shore drilling station, is expected to fulfill fifty to eighty percent of Israel’s domestic energy needs over the next ten years, in addition to possibly providing Israel with export opportunities. About 40 percent of Israel’s gas needs are presently met via natural gas and by 2015, that number is expected to rise to about 50 percent.
Having Tamar’s gas on tap is expected to save Israel about 13 billion New Israeli Shekels annually (about 6.5 billion dollars) on energy costs, due to the energy independence and environmental sustainability that it provides. Furthermore, from an environmental point of view, the use of natural gas from the Tamar reservoir will reduce carbon dioxide emissions within Israel by about 195 million tons, which is a sum so great that it is like removing all cars from all roads within Israel for 14 years.
David Yitzchak Teshuva, CEO of Delek, (Israel’s version of Standard Oil) asserted, “This project will change the face of the Israeli economy and will guarantee energy independence for the state. This is a new age, filled with opportunities for the Israeli economy, which can take advantage of the benefits of natural gas on the environmental, geopolitical, social and economic fronts and turn the State of Israel into an important international player.” He continued, “The vision has turned into a reality. Today, we are again emerging from slaver to freedom; from dependence upon foreign energy sources to independence with natural Israeli gas. This is a huge accomplishment for the Israeli market and the beginning of a new era.”
Teshuva added, “The Tamar project is also a technological and commercial milestone for Noble Energy and our partners. First production and the commencement of sales have been achieved in just over four years from discovery. Building on this success, we will work with our partners and the government to sanction the next phase of development at Tamar and the domestic phase of Leviathan.” He claimed that his vision was in accordance with Israel’s goal to remove her reliance on foreign energy sources.
“I congratulate the people of Israel on this transformational achievement, which significantly moves them toward energy independence and away from reliance on imports,” said Charles D. Davidson, chairman and CEO of Noble Energy. “Utilizing natural gas from Tamar will provide cleaner air, save the state billions of shekels in energy costs and be an engine for economic growth.” Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu continued, “This is an important day for the economy of Israel. On the holiday of freedom, we are taking an important step toward independence in the field of energy. We have advanced the natural gas sector in Israel over the last decade, which will be good for the Israeli economy and for all Israelis.”
HOWIE
April 5th, 2013 at 12:13 pm
Howie, welcome back and funny opening line, along w/info of interest.
Mischa, yeah I hate that bit and I always have been able to appeal to the barista so no worries, though I do reserve the right to sit in my car and return calls or whatever I want to do, bc I found the spot and I’m in it until I vacate it, often I’m not near home and I don’t text and drive, and don’t like camping out at tables in coffee places making calls on my sell (too rude). So I usually wave people on and if they want to take issue with that, they have that right to get annoyed if they’d like to ruin their day over it, I’m never coming from a mean place about it, just choosing to sit in my car and take care of whatever I need to take care of, nothing personal there…( or – in other words: tough titties go find another spot, bwahahaha : )
Luv, Zen Lill
April 5th, 2013 at 12:14 pm
as far as sending a letter, that’s waaaayyyyy over the top, tempting to just go pee on their front doorstep…lol….ZL
April 6th, 2013 at 7:32 am
Howie, it was so nice to see that you are back. I tried to get on all day yesterday but I couldn’t. I hope this short note gets in.
April 6th, 2013 at 7:42 am
I agree with you Michelle. I hate those places that make you have to buy something to use their bathrooms. I, can tell a similar story. The place I and my kids used to go to on a regular basis for sandwiches is Laura’s here in Placerville. A while back my daughter(11) went in to use the bathroom and was told she couldn’t unless she made a purchase. She told them that she and her family eat there regularly for lunch on the weekends.
They told her to come back on the weekends and called her by name so she knew they knew she was telling the truth. I organized a boycott of the business. It took almost a year but the business was sold to a really nice couple from upper state Ohio.
April 6th, 2013 at 9:11 pm
going to the bathroom is something you have to do it don’t matter if you have money tro pay the fee or not
April 6th, 2013 at 9:18 pm
This is a bad business manager. Surely the manager’s time would have been better invested in something other than tracking down $5 just to ensure one potential customer would NEVER want to eat in this restaurant, and would tell several other people why they should never want to eat in this restaurant, either.
April 6th, 2013 at 9:20 pm
Can Tennessee secede from the Union? Honestly, what is Wrong with some people? That restaurant owner should be embarrassed.
April 6th, 2013 at 9:50 pm
Michelle, I, too like Zen Lill, have never had to experience a denial( I guess because I’m a fine tall glass of water too), but, Look at that note! Whoever wrote it needs a psych eval…Seriously, who DOES stuff like this? 5 dollars to pee, then they hunt the woman down and pursue this?
I’d be worried about eating in that place…there are some truly messed-up minds working there. You don’t want folks like that handling your food, caused they’re not right in the head.
April 6th, 2013 at 10:09 pm
I don’t think it’s fair for a business to charge to use their bathroom. Bodily functions should not be charged to get rid of them because they can cause more of a dilemma if we allow them to naturally release on the spot, at a table, in a chair, anywhere else in the business other than the bathroom itself.
Bathrooms are a necessity, not an extra added attraction. Just like garbage cans are a necessity inside a business as well. Would you want people to throw away their napkins and leftover foods on your floor instead?
It’s so unbelievable to see how capitalism has taken complete control of this country to the point of almost no return to natural common sense. If we’re not charging for every damn thing imaginable, then we’re doing something wrong. I’m just waiting on a bill to hit my mailbox for the air I’m breathing today.