Two Questions

It's the Monday after the Super Bowl and Groundhog Day, so I'll keep today's post short and simple.

1. At a major retail store recently, the cashier rang up three items of $5.50 each but didn't charge me for the fourth item even though he thought he did. Before telling you what I did, would you mention this oversight to the cashier?

2. This is a poll/question. If you have lived in the Washington DC area for more than five years, have you been interviewed by someone regarding a security clearance for a friend, neighbor, family member, co-worker, etc.?

What Would Bruce Springsteen Do?

We recently visited New Jersey for the Memorial Day weekend and had a great time. That’s not of the point of this post, though. New Jersey is one of the last places (along with Oregon, I believe) that requires full service when you get gasoline. Besides New Jersey, I actually don’t even remember the last time I had the option of getting full service when filling up the car.



Anyway, my question regards the protocol of tipping the gas station attendant. I didn’t tip the guy since all he did was take my credit card, swipe it in the machine, fill up my car (while walking away to do the same to another car) and hand me back the card. I didn’t even need to sign a credit card receipt. Back in the Stone Age, the gas station attendant minimally washed off your car windows and often checked your fluids. If that occurred in New Jersey last weekend, I definitely would have tipped the attendant a dollar or two.

When I mentioned my New Jersey experience to a friend, she said that I should have tipped the attendant. Since I disagree, I pose this question to you. Should you tip the gas station attendant when full service is required?

Where Would You Time Travel?

Let’s have some fun. In today's scenario, you have access to a time machine where you can travel to one place anywhere in the past. Let’s pretend that this is like Back to the Future where Marty McFly goes to the past for a short period of time, but you’re unable to impact the future. Therefore, you can’t prevent 9-11 or the Kennedy assassination, although if can somehow find a future Sports Almanac, use it wisely. For this example, let's say that you go back in time at your current age. You can't go back to high school and all of a sudden you're 17 again. If you go back to the time of your high school years, you are still 35 (assuming that you are 35 today). So where and when would you go?

Without putting as much thought into this as I would have liked, I would pick either Pittsburgh during the 1960 World Series or Berlin when the Wall came down in 1989. Both joyous events that took place in the not too distant past. I probably wouldn't do very well going back too far like during the end of the Revolutionary War since there was no television, air conditioning or fast food restaurants. It would be tough enough traveling back to 1960 and 1989 without the internet!

Three Questions

I need some advice. Let's go to the phones.

1. Do you have any suggestions on things to do if you have a 3+ hour layover at the Atlanta airport? Feel free to include some sarcastic answers, but seriously, where's a good place to eat if you have so much time available?

2. What should you see and do in Charleston, SC if you'll only be there for 2 days?

3. Hypothetically, let's say there is a company replacing your shower. In the process of the construction, there are now several loose tiles on the floor outside the shower that were not loose before the project started. When I, I mean, hypothetically, approached the company about this, you are told that it is not recommended to try to remove individual tiles throughout the floor since the installation is typical builders grade which means that everything will start to come loose when chiseling tiles out. Hypothetically, you are given an option to replace the entire floor for an additional sum of money. Do you have any recourse about trying to replace these loose tiles without paying to replace the entire floor which you don't want to do? Or are you now stuck with loose tiles?

Please leave your answer(s) in the comments section below. Thanks!

Question of the Day

Where have all the Paula Coles gone? (And did she find her John Wayne?) Yippee Aw, Yippee Yea.

Appropriateness Question

A friend of mine recently had a death in the family, and I am going to send him a sympathy card. I am also going to attend a sporting event with this same friend in March. Since it is likely that I will not see him before the game, I am going to mail him the tickets. Is it acceptable to mail the tickets and condolence card together or should I send them separately?