Pizzaguy's log: On the job horror stories

**B-Wing** · 06-28-2011, 01:31

ATPG, you have my sincerest sympathy. I don't envy anyone who works in the food service industry. But could you clear up something for me? I've been under the impression that in jobs where employees work for less than minimum wage, the employer has to make up the difference if their daily total doesn't come out to what it would be if they were making minimum wage. So basically, one would still make minimum wage even with no tips, but they can only make above minimum wage with great tips. Am I mistaken? Not trying to take anything away from what you're saying here, just wondering.

**Askthepizzaguy** · 06-28-2011, 01:45

Originally Posted by B_Ray

ATPG, you have my sincerest sympathy. I don't envy anyone who works in the food service industry. But could you clear up something for me? I've been under the impression that in jobs where employees work for less than minimum wage, the employer has to make up the difference if their daily total doesn't come out to what it would be if they were making minimum wage. So basically, one would still make minimum wage even with no tips, but they can only make above minimum wage with great tips. Am I mistaken? Not trying to take anything away from your situation, just wondering.

Technically, the dollar I make per delivery which goes directly to gas and doesn't benefit me at all counts as income.

If you add that in, I will make above minimum wage, even though in real terms I am not making above minimum wage due to the costs of delivery. And that's just gasoline alone. Repairs, maintenance, theft and vandalism are costs which are not covered and further offset my income. I can technically make 10 dollars an hour (a frequently advertised figure which is completely misleading, as is the "delivery charge"), and if I took 4 deliveries that hour, that's a gallon of gasoline I'm spending. I feel really bad for the people who deliver in vans, big trucks, and SUV-type vehicles, who spend 60 dollars every 2 days on gasoline. I am lucky to only be spending 40 every other shift.

**Greyblades** · 06-28-2011, 10:44

Yikes. The worst I've had in life is a sprained ankle delivering newspapers around the corner from my own home. Repeatedly.
I think I already asked this afew months ago but Pizza have you tried to write for a newspaper or magazine? You seem to be perfect for it going by your mafia games and AAR's.

**Askthepizzaguy** · 06-28-2011, 11:12

Originally Posted by Greyblades

Yikes. The worst I've had in life is a sprained ankle delivering newspapers around the corner from my own home. Repeatedly.
I think I already asked this afew months ago but Pizza have you tried to write for a newspaper or magazine? You seem to be perfect for it going by your mafia games and AAR's.

Really? I'm doubtful about it. I don't do things like rough drafts, or much editing... and I just sort of rant. I feel there are far cleverer and wittier writers out there.

Folks like GeneralHankerchief write much more beautifully than I do, and can make a scene with three dudes sitting around a campfire magical. I can throw the kitchen sink at a writeup involving a gathering of some of the most evil villains of all time and it just doesn't have the same spark to me.

But thanks for the compliment.

**Greyblades** · 06-28-2011, 11:28

Well I was just thinking that seeing as you have talent at it and you seem to enjoy writing, I think you have a legitamate shot at getting paid for doing something you enjoy, which is the sort of thing I'd jump at the chance to get myself.

**Tellos Athenaios** · 06-28-2011, 12:06

Originally Posted by Askthepizzaguy

Really? I'm doubtful about it. I don't do things like rough drafts, or much editing... and I just sort of rant. I feel there are far cleverer and wittier writers out there.

Well how's that different from your average blogger journo type?

**Askthepizzaguy** · 06-28-2011, 12:10

Originally Posted by Tellos Athenaios

Well how's that different from your average blogger journo type?

Yes, there are commercial hack writers out there. Just read some of the articles on yahoo.... and bloggers, ugh. Some of the worst thought processes ever devised by the human brain laid bare for all to see.

My mind is constantly in flux. I once thought of writing a book and putting my thoughts about philosophy and politics and metaphysics in there, but then I waited a year, and my mind had changed so much I thought everything I would have written would have been terrible.

Every time I think I've got a good view of the world and a good handle on things, something comes along which changes my mind. I can certainly be passionate about what I write, but if I'm going to publish my thoughts, I'd like to be able to endorse them. Most of the thoughts I've ever had are ones I no longer agree with.

**Andres** · 06-28-2011, 13:15

So, you could write a best-seller today. The next year, you can write a new best-seller in which you destroy everything you have written in the first one. And then you can continue that process for infinity.

Pizza's world view or The truth according to Pizza in 37 volumes, each volume completely different from the other ones. Should make for a fun read.