some light questions

[cellio]

I learned today that there is a full-service gas station on my way to/from work. I didn't know we had any of those locally. It's been years (probably decades); what is the conventional tip?

As I pulled up to an intersction (all-way stop), someone from the cross street was backing through the intersection. After backing into the space in front of my car, he immediately popped into drive and went through the intersection. Whose turn was that, the cross-street or mine? :-)

I have occasionally noticed (because of tracking/RSS feeds or because I viewed the journals directly) posts to LJ that did not show up on my friends page. Is this happening to anyone else? I haven't detected a pattern yet.

Why does Hebrew have two words for "open" that differ only (apparently) in what objects they take? It's peh-kuf-chet when talking about eyes and ears, and peh-taf-chet for anything else.

Comments

the tipping point

[brokengoose.livejournal.com]

I often fill up at a they-pump-for-you station. I usually don't tip. In talking with the employees, only a small minority of people tip. Apparently, the station is full service because insurance rates are lower if they don't let the users pump their own gas and the station is small enough that the single attendant can keep up with the flow of customers.

When I was younger, my parents would tip if the station was really "full service". If they checked the tires, oil, wipers, etc., my parents would tip. If such places existed any more, so would I. Basically, if they go above and beyond "just doing their job", I'd call it tip-worthy.

(An aside: why do the people who serve coffee to go think that they deserve tips? That'd be like tipping at McDonald's or the deli counter of the grocery store.)

Re: the tipping point

[cellio]

The attendant at this station washed my windows and offered to check the oil, for what that's worth.

An aside: why do the people who serve coffee to go think that they deserve tips?

I suspect that most of them don't think they deserve tips but rather figure they might get lucky. I don't get that one either. Maybe they're modelling on bartenders, who do sometimes get tips? But the bartenders put on more of a show, or at least the good ones do, in my miniscule experience.