Tipping

I think we need to do away with tipping in this country.  The concept has grown quite out of hand.  I always tip my servers and bartenders well, since I was one many moons ago.  But, I have great difficulty tipping baristas (especially when I'm going through the drive thru), the dude "drying" my car at the automatic car wash, the sandwich "artist" at Subway, the dry cleaner.  Um, it's your job.  Why isn't a tip jar present at McDonald's?  Because the people are doing their jobs as set forth in the company manual.  Can't we just hike the prices and pay these people a living wage instead?

Tipping should be reserved for exceptional service, not for fulfilling the minimum duties of the job description.  Tipping should not be expected or tied into a person's wage (I'm looking at you restaurants).  I have given tips at the Starbucks drive thru.  On a couple of occasions, when I pull up to the speaker box, the chipper person on the other side has said, "Would you like your usual Green Tea Frappuccino, no whip?"  Why, yes, I would.  That is above and beyond, and very tip worthy.   

Speech

When Drake was first acquiring the gift of speech, Tim and I said he was speaking Klingon- lots of harsh, strong consonants.  Flynn seems to be speaking either Navajo or Apache- lots of vowels and more fluid sounds.  "Uh-oh" is the most common.

We were so worried about Drake's speech.  He understood language and he communicated with us using sign language.  He just wasn't interested in speaking much.  At 25 months, he finally started speaking regularly.  Now, at the threshhold of 3, we can't stuff all the words back in. Here's an exchange from a few weeks ago.  He had to have blood drawn (again), and I promised him we would go to Starbucks afterwards.

Drake: Go to Starbucks, Mommy?
Me: Yes, Drake.  We are going to Starbucks.
D: Get Drake's drink?
M: Yes, we'll get your drink.
D: Get Drake's apple juice.
M: Yes, Drake.
D: Get Mommy's drink?
M: Yes, Drake.  We'll ge Mommy's drink.
D: Get Mommy's frappuccino, no whip?

And he's listening to everything, too, apparently. :)