Kā‘anapali

Money makes the world go around, but it works a little differently in America. It's a country that has had gold rushes, and that moved away from the gold standard - partially because gold was discovered in Soviet Russia and there was a danger that the Soviets could control the value of the US dollar by controlling the trade of gold from their country. From the point of dropping the gold standard, money became metaphoric, and capitalism went a little rampant with concepts of instrumental value, credit, debt, and the rest of the messy business.

The first thing you notice about the physical American money is that the dollars are in notes rather than coins as they are in Australia, and also that they have one cent coins. Nothing is rounded up, you pay for every cent that is on the bill. Every cent has value. The coins in Australian and American money does not feel not as metaphorically "valuable" as the notes. I'd very easily put $5 in coins in a homeless man's cup but a note would feel like too much (poor guy). It's strange how the paper the $5 note is written on isn't worth intrinsically as much as what a $1 coin is worth if I melted down the coin, but the $5 has more symbolic value. The same is true in America, but the value is for a $1 note rather than a coin as it is in Australia. A dollar seems more valuable in America than it does in Australia, purely because it's a note.

A buck is fought over in America. A dollar coin in Australia would almost be handballed around the table; "no, you keep the change, I don't want to fill my wallet with shrapnel". In America, a dollar is the difference between politeness and an insult. If you are ordering a drink from a waiter, you should pay $2 on the first drink then tip $1 for each drink after that. This is to ensure that the waiter knows that your business is worth their while and to ensure they come back to fill up your glass. The tip jars are full of notes, but I want to unload my coins into a tip jar, like at home. Although four quarters have the same value as a dollar note, I feel it's slightly rude to put coins in the tip jar. Maybe that's just me though. If you need to break a note, they will pay you back in a lot of $1 notes, probably in the hope you'd leave some as a tip? It's hard to know, but the amount of $1 notes they give you back as change seems to be trying to make a point.

I expected American prices to be cheaper than Australia, but when you tip 15-20% off the low bill to get a total it would be about even with Australia. They don't mention that in America the tax on the quoted menu or listed price isn't included, but added to the final bill or at the cashier. So you are meant to tip 15% off an amount you aren't sure off until you receive the final bill. It's left me in a haze, no idea what I'm spending or what to expect when I get to the counter. Japan also doesn't list its tax cost on items until you are at the front counter, but adding a massive tip (massive when compared to Australia or Japan, where tipping is not expected and can be insulting), I feel very poor and quite cheated. After the meal has been paid for, I've probably paid the same as in a fancier Melbourne restaurant, but eaten just a burger handed to me by an ultra-friendly waitress. "I'll be your waitress and will take good care of you today ok?". Their customer service is often impeccable, but is for a tip and if you have stopped eating and drinking it's probably time for you to move on. Money makes the world go around, like they say.

This leads to my last query of America and its money matters - if the menu and the hotels and the tours and the rest cost the same as Australia, but the minimum wage in America is around $10 lower than in Australia, who the hell is getting that extra money? My office aims to have no more than 53% of our money on wages. If the menu in a restaurant costs around the same as Australia, why are the people here working multiple jobs? What bonuses are the big bosses taking home? How much of the bill goes to the staff wages, and how does a wage work when the waitstaff are getting tips but the dish-pig at the back is getting nothing additional? A day tour today cost $140usd, and we were expected to tip the guide (who wasnt anything special) an additional 15%, so an additional $20pp US. If I'm paying $140, I expect service and would expect the guide to be paid for his job. Why not just absorb the 15% 'tip fee' and if the guide does and exceptional job, chuck him a couple of dollars extra? It's like you are judging everyone on how they serve you (which does make American service exceptional), but it would be quite a slap if you tipped nothing, so the service would have to be something abysmal to not warrant a tip. A tip is expected, it's listed at the bottom of your bill - different rates depending on the quality of the service.

People have good and bad days, but I believe they should still be paid a living wage for their work and time away from their family. Particularly if they are working in tourist traps with Aussies and Japanese customers who are not all together clear on the tipping protocol.

This is a real user pays society. The expensive hotels do not offer free water and you have to pay for areas of the hotel - such as the slightly fancier deckchairs or the cabanas. A cabana in our last hotel in Waikiki cost $175usd for 5 hours, that's on top of the near $500 a night the room usually costs. This has also made us nervous to assume anything here, as everything has a price. The bell staff will ask you if they can take your bags to your room while you check in, but if you agree you have to pay a tip. I've found it all a bit exhausting.

The very fabric of American society lends itself to a society of working poor, and 1% billionaire CEOs. This must be where my money is going, if it's not going on wages, besides the tips. The receipt costs the same as it does in Australia where we pay our staff a living wage and also have a high standard of living, then the difference in cost between Australia and America must be going as bonuses or some kind of tax. Perhaps it's going to the staff in healthcare costs the employer pays instead of a government funded system? I really have no idea how America does America, but it's capitalism in all its grand and gritty finest.Read more