third post: canadians are percentage maths technical wizard masters

ask a canadian what any percent of any number is anywhere in the world... garanteed that most would just be able to accomplish this task.. the truth is their public school education doesnt seem that much better than ours, nor is their tertiary, the government having stripped students of free education years ago.. its their tax and tipping system..

i was in a bar called bukowskis, named after an american alcoholicl and part time poet, we order a jug of oakanaga springs 1516 which was on special for 13:50.. (canadian dollars are worth about 95 aussie cents, so basically for ease just equate 1 aussie for 1 canadian) this price for the jug was good since it is a premium.. so it comes time to pay..

naive young wandering aussie anthony expected to pay what the jug was advertised at.. 13:50.. thats how things work in the world of retail.. they advertise a price.. and we as consumers, blindly pay the price.. not in canada.. or canaidia as i like to call it..

$13.50 was just the beginning.. put it this way at the end of the night the jug ended up costing me 18dollars.. THIS IS AN OUTRAGE I DECLARED.. to no avail.. PREPOSTUROUS.. CRY FOUL I DID CRY.. alas it was useless.. i learnt some important lessons about the old canaidians that day.. number one.. they dont add tax.. inc GST to their advertised prices.. for instance.. a "dollar slice" of pizza will be advertised at 93c.. so the added tax brings it up to an even dollar.. the added tax adds up to about 10 or so percent.. and this becomes annoying when your trying to buy on a budget..
the next important north american lesson was that waiters and waitresses get paid 8 dollars an hour by their place of employment.. that means they make most their cash from tips.. that means that tipping is a fairly important part of their hospitality industry.. so when you finish a meal.. or order a single jug.. after tax.. the minimum tip is about 15%..
so im sitting there with my wallet in my hand.. trying to work out in my head how much this fucking jug is gonna cost me.. initial calculations where wrong, according to ingrid.. i had it at about 15 bucks.. but since she was the canaidian i had to trust her judgment.. so i ended up just saying is 16 enough? no, okay is 17enough.. "yeah just" im like FUCK IT.. take 18.. that was all the money i had in my pocket..

now theres nothing wrong with tips.. but its beyond a joke here.. she took our order for the jug.. bought it over.. then bought over two glasses of water (which we didnt ask for so that could be considered "service") then bought the cheque.. and she got a tip..granted they get paid peanuts.. but my point is no matter how shitty a job they do.. they'll get tipped.. and some of them walk away with 300 bucks a night.. its a strange strange world here in canaidia...

also itinary update.. i extended my trip until the end of feb.. ill be back tues when uni starts.. see you all then.. and if you read this then drop a comment.. its easy and delightfully refreshing..

peace all