Tip Economy

Why not give tips to salesmen at clothing stores? I think it would encourage them to provide the best possible service and if tips became commonplace they could reduce commission which could eventually reduce the total cost of clothing.

Paying someone a tip should be much cheaper than the amount of markup added to figure in the salesman's commission.

Who is with me? Let's start a tip economy. Where else can this be implemented?

Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting

I went to the lighting with Monica and Ed. We almost got stuck on 5th avenue because everything was gated off. One sergeant let us through, because I showed my physician ID and Ed told stories of one of his police officer friends.

So the next checkpoint was another crowd blockage and we got up to a gate which was crowded with people. The gate was moved forward and a lady slipped through to the less population dense crowd checkpoint. I tried to follow and the bitch next to me called for the police. She told on the girl who had made it but the policeman stated "maybe she was press. how do I know" He obviously thought the same thing of that chick as the rest of us in our pen - traitor, unloyal, backstabber, etc.

So I waited until they were about to light the tree and then quickly moved the gate forward and ran for the next checkpoint and made it. I saw Monica and Ed on my heels. We reunited with 2 people who had made it across and did the happy dance together then I turned back, made eye contact with the tattle rat and gave her 2 fingers up. It was a decisive victory. We proceeded to dance and do even some swing.

Afterwards Monica and Ed left and I got a little closer to the tree and met with Carol next to the ice rink and Brookstone on the sidewalk. We shared a nice time then walked home.

Tortilla Flats

We had a great time at tortilla flats http://www.tortillaflatsnyc.com/

They played BINGO with weird configurations like H and U. If anyone at your table won, the entire table received a round of cuervo tequila. The strawberry margaritas were yummy and way too dangerous.

Afterwards Sanjay and I walked aimlessly and entered but didn't stay long in a few places on the trek home including Maritime Hotel, Spice Market, Pastis, APT, Gaslight, Hiro, Art Bar, and the Apartment.

Would def go back to spice market and the apartment.

Hairstylist

Today while getting a haircut, my hairstylist explained to me a little about how muslim marriage is done in her country. The girl and guy get together twice with the family and see if they like one another. During this time the families will go to each other's neighborhoods and ask all the neighbors what type of person this is. For instance smoking, drinking, and hanging out alone with members of the opposite sex are points against you. Then after ther 2 meetings the "lovers" will decided that they want to be engaged to be married.

This is very similar to my job in Emergency Medicine. I meet a patient briefly, gather some information from my exam and tests and possibly some info in the computer then with limited data I make a very important decision.

Search for my place

Upon my return from Germany I realized that I did not fit entirely into the German mindset nor culture. However it is not just Germany. At this point I don't fully identify with any culture. Where does this leave me?

The idea of a global city is most appeasing. In these cities it is very easy to phase in and out of various cultures and not be trapped into any one mindset. At most, there is a way of the city which is a mix of many cultures and people. New York City is one of these cities. The other traditional ones are London, Paris, and Tokyo.

Airport

The airport security was insane this trip. At the German airport I lost a stick of deodorant and my contact lens solution. The guard simply reprimanded me with "keine Fluessigkeiten" (NO Liquids). In the terminal I looked around me and noticed that there was a disproportionate number of people wearing glasses. Apparently they knew that there would be no solution allowed in flight and who wants to risk having your contact dry out on a long flight.

What was unusual is that the USA allowed contact lens solution on the way to Germany. Why would Germany's rules be stricted than ours?

Game night

A bunch of us got together to play games, drink alcohol and suck down candy at a very cool game bar. The menu had everything.

We played on game called Lupus in Tabula. In it there were three types of players; werewolfs, seers, and villagers. The seer could see who was who and the werewolfs would decide which villagers would get killed, and everyone attempted to find out who the werewolfs were. It was very fun.

WC

The Hamburg Hauptbahnhof bathroom was a ripoff. It costed 50 Euro cents and it didn't even have a sink to wash your hands.

Germany really needs to remove all of the pay bathrooms, especially in places like train stations. It should be a public service to have bathrooms for people to use.

Pomm-Doener

I thought I had found a gold mine in the basement level of the Hamburg Hauptbahnhof. A turkish fast food place had on the menu a Pomm-Doener. I naturally understood this to mean a doener how I like it with french fries in the bread. When I go it, it was everything mixed except in a cardboard cone. I tried to get them to make it my way but they refused and would only sell me a piece of bread to do it myself.

Lesson - don't let a name fool you into buying something that is not what you want.

Smoking in Germany

The bus is now nonsmoking, furthering the eventual fall of smoking that will take just a little more freedom away from the smokers and give a little more to the nonsmokers. Europe is a big hold out for smoking.

I remember going to classes in Dortmund and watching people douse their cigarrettes directly outside the lecture hall and blow smoke into the room as they entered. Dortmund university has also become relatively non-smoker. The professors started the movement by smoking inside the buldings in designated places instead of outside in plain view. The students and others followed this trend such that it appears that smoking has been banished on campus.