What?

by Barbara Finnicum (I haven't figured out how to change authors. I will. In the meanwhile, Barbara wrote this). Please help me get my readers back that Substack(assholes) stole. I don't normally curse, but there comes a time ...

Sometimes I wonder what’s really going on with how people think these days. You hear folks complain about brain fog, forgetfulness, or feeling like they’re half-awake all the time. Maybe they’re finally taking the fluoride out of the water like some people demanded—but that makes me wonder: what else have they put in there instead? It seems like half the country is wandering around in a daze, unable to remember anything longer than a TikTok video.

On Economics

I’ve always said that we Americans are often our own worst enemy when it comes to money and how the economy works. We demand higher wages for ourselves because we know we deserve to earn a decent living. But at the same time, we want to buy everything as cheaply as possible. We’ll stand in a store staring at two items—a shirt made in America for $45, and another made overseas for $8—and somehow, we talk ourselves into believing we’re helping our budget or being “smart shoppers” by grabbing the cheap one.

The truth is, things made in America cost more because labor here costs more. We expect higher pay, better working conditions, benefits, and some basic rights on the job. All those things get rolled into the price tag. So, we’re stuck in this vicious circle: we want good jobs with good pay, but we don’t always want to pay other people decent wages for the things they produce.

Having worked in and managed restaurants for years, one thing has always bugged me: why is it that restaurant owners—and a lot of other businesses in service industries—get away with not paying their people a real, living wage? Why is it considered normal for businesses to push the responsibility of paying their employees onto the customer?

Think about it: in restaurants, salons, hotels—so many places—the owners pay their staff a couple of bucks an hour and expect the rest to be made up in tips. That way, they keep their labor costs low and their profits high. Meanwhile, it’s the customers who have to fork over more money just to make sure the workers can survive. And on top of that, those workers have to pay taxes on what are basically “gifts” from the customers.

I’ve heard people say, “Oh, don’t worry—tips won’t be taxed anymore.” But a lot of folks only hear what they want to hear. What they block out—selective hearing at its finest—is the reality that any so-called “tax-free tips” had a $25,000 limit, and that was tied to the Trump administration. It was a temporary thing, and it expired when he left office. So, tips are still taxable income, plain and simple.

Hotel Workers and Tipping

I’ll admit, I never really thought much about tipping hotel maids until my daughter-in-law took a job as a housekeeper. I was shocked when she told me she only got paid around $3 per room she cleaned. And that’s before taxes. Her livelihood depended on how generous guests felt on any given day.

I felt awful because I honestly didn’t know how bad it was. I used to leave a tip only at the end of my stay, usually if I’d asked for extra towels, toiletries, or more coffee packets. I figured one tip at checkout would be enough. But my daughter-in-law explained that unlike on cruise ships where the same person might clean your room every day, hotels often rotate staff. So the person who cleans your room today might not be the same person tomorrow. If you leave your tip only at the end, the worker who scrubbed your bathroom on day one might never see a dime of it. She said it’s always better to leave something each day to make sure the right people get paid for the work they actually did.

It opened my eyes to how exploitative the whole system can be. Housekeepers bust their tails for long hours, scrubbing toilets, changing beds, hauling heavy carts up and down hallways—and for what? A few bucks a room, plus tips if they’re lucky. It’s exhausting work, physically and mentally, and they deserve far better than the scraps they’re given.

Immigration and Hypocrisy

And of course, there’s the irony that politicians like Trump rant about immigrants taking American jobs while simultaneously depending on immigrant workers to keep their hotels and resorts running smoothly. He wants to “free up” hotel service workers—which, let’s be honest, often means immigrants willing to work for lower wages—so his properties can stay pristine and profitable.

It’s laughable, really. On one hand, they whip up fear about immigrants supposedly coming here to commit crimes or drain public resources. On the other hand, they rely on those same workers to change sheets, scrub floors, serve cocktails, and keep the luxury machine humming. And let’s not pretend some of those employers are squeaky clean either. Plenty have gotten caught hiring undocumented workers while preaching about law and order.

So yeah. Whether it’s what’s in the water messing with people’s heads, or the economic contradictions we live with every day, it feels like there’s always a layer of hypocrisy running underneath it all. We can’t keep demanding high wages while refusing to pay fair prices for goods and services. And we shouldn’t let businesses off the hook for paying workers what they deserve—tips or no tips.

That’s how I see it, anyway.