Month: January 2021

For my next passion blog series, I have decided to continue/spin off my last theme of traveling. Since I have already written about most of the countries that I have been to, I am going to write about countries that I would like to visit, once the pandemic is over. It will follow a similar structure. I’ll name a country, list activities I’d like to do, places I’d like to visit while also providing general background information about the country and why I would like to visit. I think this will be a fun continuation of last semester’s blog while also trying something new. I have always loved learning about different countries and geography has always been a personal interest of mine. I subscribe to several youtube channels covering these topics and it will be fun writing about it myself rather than just observing. Being able to write about my hopes and dreams of visiting these places will only continue to fuel that passion and maybe it will inspire to keep working towards those goals.

The topic of my civic issues blog will be about the experiences of immigrants coming to the United States. I want to cover the good and bad experiences that people have had trying to grow accustomed to and integrate into American life. My paternal grandparents immigrated from the Philippines in 1967. My grandmother told me stories of hardships that my grandfather had to through in medical school, the workplace, and general life. I would love to cover and bring to light certain issues that immigrants face in this country. The United States is an oddity in the sense that the overwhelming majority of its population is not indigenous to the land it inhabits nor is it mostly homogenous unlike countries such as Germany or Japan. But I would also like to share positive experiences too. It would be interesting to write about immigrants overcoming hardship and finding great success in this country. That is the American Dream after all and the driving force that brought a number of people’s ancestors to this country. Overall, I want to highlight the immigrant experience and how that either fits or contrasts the American Dream while pointing out issues and discrimmination that immigrants face.

“Check please.”

You’ve just finished a delicious meal at a very popular restaraunt. You and your friends have had a nice night out and it’s time to pay your bill and get going. The waiter/waitress comes back with your bill. You take a quick look and hand them your card. They come back a few minutes later with your card, a receipt, and a pen. They thank you for dining at their restaraunt and wish you and your friends a happy evening. You look at the thin piece of paper and it asks how much you will leave for a tip: 18%, 20%, 22%, custom, or gratuity (20%). Your server was very friendly, patient, consistently had your drinks replenished, and got your food out very quickly, even on a packed Friday evening. You decide that they earned it and leave them a 25% tip on a $200 bill. Having worked as a server full time at a busy restaraunt like this last fall, something miniscule like leaving a decent tip can make your whole day.

From my personal experience, being a server isn’t easy like it may seem to those who haven’t worked the profession. You’re on your feet all day, you have to be able to multitask, take care of several different tables at a time, and, the most difficult part, you have to pretend to be nice to people and maintain a friendly and professional appearance. The job may appear to be “simple”, but it is far from easy. It can be very stressful, especially during busy hours, when you can out of nowhere have to take care of 40 different orders all at once without messing anything up. These people are under constant stress while working and they have to hide it under a mask (figuratively), the least you can do is leave a 20% tip. Sure, they may take a little bit to bring your drinks or there might be lettuce when you asked for none, but keep in mind the several other things they have to do along with everything else that is going at the restaraunt whether it’s in the kitchen or at the bar.

Obviously sometimes you will receive poor service and maybe they won’t be worthy of a 20% tip. It happens. But I can assure you, 99% of the time, your server puts forth their best effort to ensure you have the best dining experience possible. Keep in mind, they’re doing that for several other people too, at the same time. The ability to restrain yourself from flipping out on a rude customer or someone just trying to get free food is the greatest display of strength I have ever seen.

When a person leaves a 20% tip it shows a few things about them. It shows that they have the deceny and manners to do so and appreciation. I remember one time, I had a table of about 7 people. We were very friendly and there was no delay with any of their food or drinks. I found out that they were all waitstaff too and they understood what I was going through and everything I had to put up with. After they left, I noticed that they had left me 35%. I had never felt happier at work.

In conclusion, be a decent human being and leave 20% on a bill. They work long hours while barely being able to sit down or even look at their phone. Most of the money that servers make is from tips and a lot of them, rely on that money to pay for school, bills, or for me two months of traveling. If you don’t have enough money to leave a fair tip, then you shouldn’t have gone out in the first place. It’s the least you can do for something in that situation and if you were the waiter, you’d probaby want a good tip too.

 

For this semester, I have been thinking about several different ideas about what to write the “This I believe” blog. Two of my ideas are my belief that people should travel to other countries and my belief that more people should strive for individuality. I would love to write about the need for travel because it can show people how different each part of the world is. Our life experience as Americans is vastly different from most of the world and I think it is tragic to only stay in one place and to say that America is the best at everything without seeing what the rest of the world has to offer. In my experience, travel can also help you figure out what you want to do with your life and you can meet so many amazing people along the way. I would also like to write about my belief individuality because too many people today try to go with what’s popular or what everyone else is doing. To me, being different from other people and having your own interests is more valuable than any popular fad these days. I would go into greater detail as to what I believe individuality is if I chose that as my topic.

I have two ideas for the next passion blog. My last blog was about each country that I have visited. I actually managed to write about most of them, so since I don’t have many left, I think it would be interesting if I wrote about the countries that I want to visit. I love researching and watching videos about other countries so writing a blog about it would come naturally. Another interesting passion blog idea would be to write about movies. Basically, I would name a movie that I’ve seen, give a brief summary, and state why I like the movie and other interesting facts. I took a film study class in my senior year of high school and I enjoyed watching all of the films and writing essays on them; I would love to continue that in this blog.

As a person of color, I believe that there are many different civic issues that apply to people like me in this country. I think it would be interesting to write about xenophobia because I sometimes think about the struggles that my grandparents went through when they came to this country. Immigration is a hot topic and I would like to explore this issue more. Another interesting civic issue blog topic would be the role of religion in America. The United States is supposed to be a secular country but sometimes I wonder how true that is given its preferrence towards Catholicism. I could possibly write about how the Catholic majority in this country discrimminates against, marginalizes, or makes it difficult for other religious and non-religious groups to find a place in our society.