USN drinking Portsmouth dry

[Sea Skimmer]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 24,00.html

The storage capacities of British establishments does not impress me.

[Admiral Valdemar]

They should drink proper beer and not American stuff that no one here likes then.

I'm surprised they didn't expect us to not be too hot on American beverages like bourbons and other beers that aren't as popular here, while I don't mind Coors and Budweiser (dad loves the stuff) I think Carlsburg, Heineken and even the French Kronenberg 1664 to be superior.

Sucks if they don't want their beer warm.

[Gil Hamilton]

Yes! Go boys, drink England dry! Heh, this article is on the same lines of the one a few months ago that was talking about how the USN had exhausted the woman working in Australian brothels completely and shut them down for a week.

[Sea Skimmer]

Yes! Go boys, drink England dry! Heh, this article is on the same lines of the one a few months ago that was talking about how the USN had exhausted the woman working in Australian brothels completely and shut them down for a week.

See, Americas carriers can do everything from bombing shit holes to supporting the illicit industries of allies.

[Glocksman]

Admiral Valdemar wrote:

I'm surprised they didn't expect us to not be too hot on American beverages like bourbons and other beers that aren't as popular here, while I don't mind Coors and Budweiser (dad loves the stuff) I think Carlsburg, Heineken and even the French Kronenberg 1664 to be superior.

You're in the country that's home to the Ram Brewery and your dad likes Budweiser???


The Canadians have a saying:
Why is American beer like sex in a canoe?
Because they're both fucking close to water.

[HemlockGrey]

5,000 people is enough to empty the city of Portsmouth?

Like Skimmer said. I'm not impressed.

[Glocksman]

From the times article:

Leanne Romano, a barmaid at the Hog’s Head, said: “They have been really polite and not caused any problems.

“They tip a lot more than British punters. It’s not unusual for one to buy a round of drinks with a £20 note and say ‘Keep the change’.”

I wonder if the large tips are out of generosity, inebriation, a good looking waitress, or a lack of realization on the part of the sailors that £1 is worth about $1.60?

Or are Brit 'punters' really that cheap and don't tip well?

[Stuart Mackey]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 24,00.html

The storage capacities of British establishments does not impress me.

There are two possible reasons for this.

1} Due to the rundown of the RN since ww1, there has not been a need for large reserves of beer.

2} USN sailors were desperate for real beer and made the most of there chance to get some.

[RadiO]

I was there today - I wondered why there was a shitload of Shore Patrol wandering around.

[El Moose Monstero]

Bah, lets get them along to the Beer Festivals then, let them get a taste of some Old Badger and Stoat Gobbler...

And I dont know about the rest of us UK people, but when ordering drinks, I do not tip, hell, £20 gets you about 8-10 pints in most pubs, whatever change you get is either bandit fodder, bus money, pub quiz cash or the next round...

Meals are another matter, 10% of the bill or more if the service has been good, usually more on holiday for putting up with the English as tourists...

[Stuart Mackey]

Bah, lets get them along to the Beer Festivals then, let them get a taste of some Old Badger and Stoat Gobbler...

And I dont know about the rest of us UK people, but when ordering drinks, I do not tip, hell, £20 gets you about 8-10 pints in most pubs, whatever change you get is either bandit fodder, bus money, pub quiz cash or the next round...

Meals are another matter, 10% of the bill or more if the service has been good, usually more on holiday for putting up with the English as tourists...

I have found tipping an interesting thing. It is not customary to tip in NZ..allthough it can happen. Why people tip for someone doing their job I dont know..are the wages so poor that you have to?

[Admiral Valdemar]

5,000 people is enough to empty the city of Portsmouth?

Like Skimmer said. I'm not impressed.

Of American booze, something Brits don't take to very well. That's like saying it's pretty poor that Tokyo ran out of English cheddar if a Brit convoy was there.

[El Moose Monstero]

Well, I used to wash dishes in the local pub back home, and everyone who wasnt involved in management of shift or pub got minimum wage exactly, no more, no less... so any tip is more than welcome, even if it's just a few quid, it's a bonus.

Although, you are right, a smile and some courtesy costs nothing to give but makes everything a lot more pleasant for those being served.

I was always glad of a tip, as I was slogging my guts out for minimum wage, doing things that werent specifically in my job description and generally helping out a bit, and was having to while away my friday nights, and saturday day times washing dishes etc for 7 hours, whilst my mates were stacking shelves in a shoe shop and were getting double time for weekends and treble for bank holidays, whilst pubs class bank holidays as working days, so I didnt get the benefit.

I believe that tips are taken as read by most customers, but in actual fact (IIRC), if you give a tip directly to the manager, he is under no obligation to distribute it to the staff, and I think it is entirely the manager's discretion whether he operates a tipping policy or simply put change in with the night's takings.

[Ted]

5,000 people is enough to empty the city of Portsmouth?

Like Skimmer said. I'm not impressed.

Of American booze, something Brits don't take to very well. That's like saying it's pretty poor that Tokyo ran out of English cheddar if a Brit convoy was there.

Yeah.

Take it in perspective. They are drinker Budweiser and other yankee beers, and JD.

Stuff that is not popular there. Thats like someone having a European beer in Newcastle, home of Newcastle Brown Ale.

[RedImperator]

Restaurants and bars are exempt from paying the full minimum wage for bartenders and waiters in the U.S. Tips are considered part of the regular salary--some restaurants even include a 15% gratuity in the bill. In America, if the service is good and you don't tip, you're a cheap sack of shit (and you can probably expect some extra special sauce in your meal next time you eat there, because tips are also shared with busboys, hostesses, and, IIRC, the kitchen staff). If the service blows, though, you can stiff them with a clear conscience. I usually tip around 20%, sometimes up to 25% or 30% if my tab is small (if it's less than a dollar, I just leave a dollar for the waitress or bartender and don't worry about the percentages).

Tipping is also customary for hotel staff, paperboys, tow truck drivers, gardeners, and anyone who clearly performs above the call of duty. In any place that the staff helps load your car (lumberyards, hardware stores, lawn and garden centers) tipping is optional but much appreciated (when I worked at one garden center, they put up a sign up in the mulch yard that said "No Tipping", which was promptly destroyed in a "truck accident" that strangely left the fence undamaged).

In America, we let dead presidents do our thanking for us.

[Admiral Valdemar]

I never understood the tip thing, you'd think the world's largest economy would have well paid staff in jobs that are required like that.

I see a price on a menu, I see it has VAT and maybe a service charge of anything from 5-15%, I get the bill at the end of the meal, I pay it. If it was a very good meal with good service, I tip them, maybe a fiver or tenner if generous. If the meal stank and the service stank, they get jack shit.

Meh, different cultures, but I pay for good service, if you don't deliver then they can go and grovel to the manager for extra cash, not me.

[HemlockGrey]

I tipped in Japan once. This resulted in the staff chasing after me trying to give me my money back.

[Gil Hamilton]

When I was working tables at Eat'n Park, I tried not to hold a grudge against non-tippers, but combined with the lack of a decent wage because the resturant expects you to get tipped even if you don't and the fact that half the customers there seem to think that you are a lower form of life than them, it occasionally irritated me when customers didn't tip. Now I wouldn't mind not getting tipped if they didn't pay us as cheaply as they possibly could because they knew that if any of us quit, there were four more busmonkeys waiting to be hired.

[Sea Skimmer]

I have found tipping an interesting thing. It is not customary to tip in NZ..allthough it can happen. Why people tip for someone doing their job I dont know..are the wages so poor that you have to?

I don't know how it is else where, but in America services personal like waiters can be legally paid less the minimal wage because its assumed that they will be tipped heavily.

[Sea Skimmer]

Yeah.

Take it in perspective. They are drinker Budweiser and other yankee beers, and JD.

Stuff that is not popular there. Thats like someone having a European beer in Newcastle, home of Newcastle Brown Ale.

Even if it only makes up .5% of stocks I still am disappointed in the total capacity.

[Ted]

Even if it only makes up .5% of stocks I still am disappointed in the total capacity.

The article said that they'd consumed about a half million pounds worth of beer and JD, so that does seem like a lot.

And remember, Portsmouth isn't that big, and the crew of the USN ships would probably be confined to the docks and old part of the city.

[Frank Hipper]

I have found tipping an interesting thing. It is not customary to tip in NZ..allthough it can happen. Why people tip for someone doing their job I dont know..are the wages so poor that you have to?

I don't know how it is else where, but in America services personal like waiters can be legally paid less the minimal wage because its assumed that they will be tipped heavily.

Starting pay for wait staff in restaraunts in the U.S. is normally about one half minimum wage.

And don't start in on me, I know how oxy-moronic that sounded.

[Drewcifer]

5000 sailors walk into a bar? Isn't that the start of some joke?

re: tips
I was a server recently, and my pay was $2.13 an hour + tips, which worked out to be 10 to 15 bucks an hour, sometimes more on a good night.

[Crazy_Vasey]

They should have docked at Hartlepool, then if they managed to drink us dry (not very fucking likely, the town's nicknamed hartlepub for a reason) then Newcastle, Sunderland, and Middlesbrough are all within striking distance and they have PLENTY of booze to go around.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Yeah.

Take it in perspective. They are drinker Budweiser and other yankee beers, and JD.

Stuff that is not popular there. Thats like someone having a European beer in Newcastle, home of Newcastle Brown Ale.

Even if it only makes up .5% of stocks I still am disappointed in the total capacity.

I'd be amazed if it even took that much up to be honest. At every bar in Lancaster there is at least a 10:1 ratio of other to American beverages, the only ones I can think of are JD and Budweiser.