Most of Our Customers are Great. And Then, There's These Folks...

[sms001]

It's not optional. It's part of the bill.

Exactly. And it's done differently elsewhere ---the entire price is all people see. Listing the taxes separately is a courtesy, really. Those are the patrons taxes, not the restaurant's to pay, the establishment is just a middleman.

So should swearing and abuse be acceptable (or even de rigeur) at sporting events or not?

I was actually thinking of this while reading J's post. A group of friends and I used to attend Mizzou baseball religiously. And we'd sit behind the opponents dugout and heckle them. (And Blue, occasionally.) Only thing is, we worked completely clean. Maybe a little because there were occasionally children at the games, but mostly because of the challenge, and because the of the gratification of getting under some guy's skin WITHOUT using a single cuss word. But to answer your question, yes. Anything where people get caught up in the moment is probably going to evoke swearing - it's probably a good opportunity to learn that "Words don't hurt" (in that context, at least) and "Different people express themselves differently."

[Ironclad Alibi]

Listing the taxes separately is a courtesy, really.

In most if not all of the US, the sales tax is required by law to be listed as a separate item on the receipt. Places that have state and local sales taxes list each one separately on the receipt.

[WIphone_lady]

I get arguments over the phone as well when people order from my company. Our parent company has their stores in malls, etc.....some of them sell our items and all of them (at least the full line versions) accept our returns. So if our parent company has a store in your state that means we are required by your state to collect sales tax if clothing items are taxed. We can't get around that.

But what can chap their hides even more, is that the sales tax is based on the state where the items are being shipped to. For example, my home state of Minnesota does not have sales tax on shoes or clothing. So if a person from Minnesota is having us send the gift directly to their grandchild in Illinois, there will be sales tax charged. I just love explaining that one.

[EricKei]

Jester - F that guy.

WIphone lady -- I know many SC's will never accept this logic ~_~ But all that you should NEED to say is "The government requires us to do this"....What we'd all LOVE to say is "...so take it up with THEM."

As for adult language -- Yeah. If I'm in a bar ("sports" or otherwise), at a pro sporting event, I expect to be barraged with ****, ****, and even the occasional ****, from time to time, as utterly horrifying as that may be :gasp:. I'm no saint in that regard, myself. If it's a kiddie league game, that's different.

[XCashier]

A group of friends and I used to attend Mizzou baseball religiously. And we'd sit behind the opponents dugout and heckle them. (And Blue, occasionally.) Only thing is, we worked completely clean. Maybe a little because there were occasionally children at the games, but mostly because of the challenge, and because the of the gratification of getting under some guy's skin WITHOUT using a single cuss word.

That can be quite the challenge, and the results very amusing. Hubby and I used to do similar at Diamondbacks games (back when they were first starting, and not very good). Sometimes we even got other fans laughing.

One particularly bad game had us making up new lyrics to Take Me Out To The Ball Game:

Take me out to the slaughter,
Take me out to the rout.
Buy them a coffin and nail it shut,
The other team is just kicking their butt.
For it's mourn, mourn, mourn for the D-Backs
If they don't win, no surprise
'Cause they're three, six, nine runs behind
The other guys!

[WIphone_lady]

I like utter trash talk failures.

During the 2002-03 NHL season, my husband and I made the three hour drive to Chicago to watch our Wild play the Blackhawks. We had these 20-somethings sitting behind us. I was wearing my Wild jersey and my husband chose to live on the dangerous side and wear his North Stars jersey. The comments were all over the place, and the 'Hawks sucked then. This one guy's favorite line was "white jersey supremacy" as this wasin the time that the home team wore the whites at home. One guy said "I'm going to drive to Fargo and burn a Wild jersey." My husband, the social studies teacher, had to remind the kid that Fargo is in North Dakota and not Minnesota. The best happened when one said, "Yeah, how did the Twins do?" One of buddies hit him and told him to shutup saying that the Twins won the division. They didn't stick around much longer, as they lost...and the Wild went to the Western Conference Finals that year.

I'm sure that group now claim they're the Blackhawks biggest fans ever....I just hope their trash talk has improved over the years.

[Jester]

Take me out to the slaughter,
Take me out to the rout.
Buy them a coffin and nail it shut,
The other team is just kicking their butt.
For it's mourn, mourn, mourn for the D-Backs
If they don't win, no surprise
'Cause they're three, six, nine runs behind
The other guys!

In my head, I am thinking I am so stealing that.

In reality, I'll probably continue to curse up a blue streak. But I may well try to use that at some point.

I like utter trash talk failures.

A few years ago, my friends and I went to a Cubs-Diamondbacks game in Phoenix. Behind us were a bunch of trash-talking Cubs fans with their buddy, a St. Louis Cardinals fan, who was just along for the ride. I should note that there are a lot of Chicago transplants living in Phoenix, so naturally there are always a lot of Cubs fans at the games when the Cubs are in town. The Cubs fans tried to get under my skin.

THEM: "Wow, where are all the Diamondbacks fans? Why are there so many Cubs fans here?"
ME: "Because Chicago sucks."

Cue laughter from my friends, the Cardinals fan, and most of the trash talkers. One guy wouldn't let up, and kept trying to get my goat. Finally I turned around, looked directly at him, and said, "Gee, when was our last championship? Oh, yeah, 2001. And when was the Cubs' last championship. (pause) 1908?"

Lead trash talker:
Other Cubs fans:
Cardinals fan:

Later the Cardinals fan leaned over to me and said, "Any time you want to shut a Cubs fan up, that's all you have to say: 1908."

[sms001]

Take me out to the slaughter,
Take me out to the rout....

Gold. (And stolen, ty.)

Later the Cardinals fan leaned over to me and said, "Any time you want to shut a Cubs fan up, that's all you have to say: 1908."

Making the rounds lately, poor shoop, but good sentiment, the reason Cards - Cubs fans get along so well.

And as a side note, although the Cards lost the only game I've seen at Chase, it was extra memorable as I got to see one of the Holy Trinity of fandom: someone hitting for the cycle.

[Sapphire Silk]

There are people who don't pay sales taxes. They're called diplomats and have cards exempting them from paying sales tax.

I don't think that guy was one of them.

No, he's probably one of the "sovereign citizen" nuts. These guys use the (incredibly and constantly debunked) claim that they are sovereign unto themselves and not subject to federal, state or local laws. A lot of people try to dodge taxes with this claim.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

THEM: "Wow, where are all the Diamondbacks fans? Why are there so many Cubs fans here?"

Because they can't all fit in the playground for cocksuckers.

LINK VERY NSFW FOLKS

[Smallfry]

The IRS Would Like a Word with You...

My coworker had an interesting experience last week. She waited on a table, and when she went to pick up the check to cash them out, she realized there wasn't enough money in the check presenter to cover the bill (let alone leaving her any tip). She returned to the table and very politely explained to them that they had not left enough money to cover the bill. The guy's response to this?

"I don't pay taxes."

You don't look like a theif our company policy to prosecute all offenders....

[Argabarga]

The more I've had a chance to digest the inanity of the "I don't pay taxes" thinking, the more absurd it gets.

I mean, I understand why some people choose to "protest" taxes in this way, but, from the way you present it to the business, it makes NO sense whatsoever.

I mean, it's like ordering a cheeseburger, and refusing to pay for 30 cents of the purchase price because "I don't pay for cheese"

[Deserted]

There apparently are (or perhaps were) a very few people here in AZ who don't have to pay sales tax for whatever reason -- but they get some sort of card from the govt (which I've only heard about, never seen) that specifically says something like "tax free" or "no taxes" or something.

Hell, even when I was active duty in the Navy, I paid sales tax if I was off the base. (On the base, no sales tax, of course. One of the little perks.)

[EricKei]

I have heard of people trying to get out of paying income tax by saying "I don't have to/there's no law", but sales tax? o_O New one on me

(PS, please, no debates on how or why someone would do this...that's why we have Fratching dot com )

[Jester]

And as a side note, although the Cards lost the only game I've seen at Chase, it was extra memorable as I got to see one of the Holy Trinity of fandom: someone hitting for the cycle.

Was it a Bird, or a Snake? Either way, who?

A lot of people try to dodge taxes with this claim.

Do not. Try. Or try not. There is no do.

(My apologies to Master Yoda.)

Because they can't all fit in the playground for cocksuckers.

One of the best meltdowns of all time, and yet not surprising that I don't ever see or hear it mentioned as such, since such lists are compiled by ESPN and their ilk, and that one is just too hardcore for them.

Not surprisingly, he didn't manage in the big leagues for all that long....

The more I've had a chance to digest the inanity of the "I don't pay taxes" thinking, the more absurd it gets.

I mean, I understand why some people choose to "protest" taxes in this way, but, from the way you present it to the business, it makes NO sense whatsoever.

I mean, it's like ordering a cheeseburger, and refusing to pay for 30 cents of the purchase price because "I don't pay for cheese"

Hell, even when I was active duty in the Navy, I paid sales tax if I was off the base. (On the base, no sales tax, of course. One of the little perks.)

Yes, but that was probably for everyone with a military ID. Not like you were doing anything that was out of the norm.

By the way, an update on the "No Taxes" guy. My most recent conversation with the waitress who handled him involved her telling me that he said, "Where I'm from, I don't pay taxes." Which of course leads to the obvious rejoinder: "See those palm trees out there? Now, does that look like where you're from, OR LIKE FUCKING KEY WEST?"