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Brand names and tipping

December 5, 2005 By pia

The snow has remained on the roofs of the brownstones so when I look out it looks like a winter wonderland. Outside it’s virtually all gone.

My sister and brother-in-law went to see Rent at the Loews 68th Street. My bro in law really liked it; my sister didn’t but they both acted as if they found G-d in the movie theater. I was shocked that they don’t have a similiar theater on the Island, but…

Now they understand why sometimes I feel like moving into it.

I saw I Walk the Line last week; thought it was great but can’t really say why now. It pumped me up so much that I resented having to walk a block to buy the soundtrack.

Know that interesting and maybe exciting things have happened to me this past week but am too exhausted to think.

My sister thinks that I’m a suburban matron in a city skin since I get so excited because Bed Bath & Beyond is just a few blocks from the theater. Duh. If Manhattan is going to be chain store city, I’m glad they have good home places. Also it forces the real Manattan stores like Laytners and Cracious Home to have more frequent sales or keep their prices more realistic.

Once bought an wonderful faucet that I can still look at forever from Manhattan Replacement Parts where contractors go. It was $179 there, and I thought that was incredibly expensive. At Gracious Home West, it was $379; same model.

We need regular stores here because so many of us are regular people who don’t want to mortgage our souls for a kitchen faucet. The price is just the beginning. Then you have to pay the handyman, tip the super–don’t know why, it’s just expected, and this is the first full week of Legalized Extortion month or tip the people in your building, manicurist, all the girls at all the doctors and dentists, and pretty much everybody who has ever smiled at you. I always over tip cab drivers and waiters; in December I double the regular tip. Fortunately my hair stylist, Rafe, would be insulted if I tried to tip him. But I have to double tip the girl who washes my hair, and I always give her $20. I pay Rafe for two thirds of my cuts and uh dye jobs because I have a mountain of hair; and feel that business and friendship should never mix.

Tipping is my single biggest holiday expense. It drives me crazy. Have my own system for tipping. Tip the doormen I like more than the super. The New York Times says that if you don’t have the money even a note of appreciation will do. Totally not true.

I’m going to spend most of the month on my book. Looking for an article I once wrote and never sent out on life in New York before discount stores. Sort of shows why I appreciate chain stores so much. Will be blogging as I’m a blogging fool.

Hope to make it to my first Target soon. My niece thinks that I’m deprived; but she also thinks I’m totally Kool. We took a style test: I’m Chanel, and she’s Fendi. As she’s eleven it’s a bit weird to me. On Saturday she wore two Abrecombie & Fitch sweaters, a North Face ski jacket that didn’t cover her tush, and a Coach bag. Despite her penchant for brands, she’s sweet, kind and unspoiled.

I finally gave in and got an IPOD nano; she showed me how to use it. Let me go before this turns into the longest advert for brand names around.

Filed Under: 9/11, New York Stories Tagged With: 9/11, If I'm not Christian, am I still an American?, New York Stories

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Comments

  1. QueenBitch says

    December 6, 2005 at 12:00 am

    You’ve never been to Target? Wow…life really is different in the big city, huh? Out of all the chain stores I abhor, I am a Target addict. I should be against them most of all, because I can’t just go in there to get cat food…always end up with at least a hundred bucks worth of “good, cool deals.”

  2. dan says

    December 6, 2005 at 10:51 am

    Targets home base is here in MN. If you don’t go to Targets here you disappear quietly and are “re-educated.”

  3. Doug says

    December 6, 2005 at 9:12 pm

    Tipping is the best part of commerce in my opinion.

  4. Bone says

    December 7, 2005 at 1:24 am

    Hmm, interesting. I thought (with no real basis for thinking it) that people who lived where there were no/few chain stores despised them.

    Was thinking of seeing ,Walk the Line. Everyone I’ve heard has said good things about it.

  5. Sar says

    December 7, 2005 at 4:45 am

    Target is my answer to WalMart which I will not step foot in. Hubby thinks it’s silly because they’ll still make their zillions of dollars regardless of whether I boycott or not, but I say well at least I’ll know none of their zillions came from me.

  6. S. L. Cunningham says

    December 7, 2005 at 5:11 am

    Pia,
    You have the makings of an incredible essay here. I love the use of metonymy in your very first sentence. “The snow has remained on the roofs of the brownstones so when I look out it looks like a winter wonderland.”
    “Brownstone” contrasted with the snow creates a richly textured image.
    Also liked this sentence: “We need regular stores here because so many of us are regular people who don’t want to mortgage our souls for a kitchen faucet.”
    Living in a city I suppose requires a certain level of synergy to make it all work, and sometimes all those little pieces, from the doorman to the server, to the shopkeeper to the banker, requires us to participate by being gratuitous toward those who provide us services, either by tipping or by patronizing their business. When we make so little ourselves, we may be limited and spread too thin. As you say, “the price is just the beginning.” During the last few years with my son and daughter before they headed out on their own, I was astounded as to how hard it was to find gifts that were thoughtful, worthwhile, and significant without running out of money first. In that sense Christmas can be absolutely nuts. Enjoyed,
    Scot

  7. Belinda says

    December 8, 2005 at 2:08 am

    I would never survive all that tipping! Around here, it’s muffins or homemade soap for the mail-carrier and the hair-gals…that’s about it!

    Think of all the Christmastime donations to the needy that could be made with that tip money!

  8. JiggaDigga says

    April 8, 2006 at 9:03 am

    Great reading, keep up the great posts.
    Peace, JiggaDigga

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About Me

I live in the South, not South Florida, a few blocks from the ocean, and two blocks from the main street. It's called Main Street. Amazes me too.

I'm from New York. I mostly lived in the Mid-Upper East Side, and the heart of the Upper West Side. It amazes me when people talk about how scared they were of Times Square in the 1970's and 1980's.

As my mother said: "know the streets, look out and you'll be fine."

What was scary was the invasion of the crack dens into "good buildings in good 'hoods." And the greedy landlords who did everything they could to get good tenants out of buildings.

I'm a Long Island girl, and proud of it now.
Then I hated everything about the suburbs. Yet somehow I lived in a few great Long Island Sound towns after high school.

Go to archives "August 2004" if you want to begin with the first posts.

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