First, America should be following the European model on this one. Having to rely on gratuity for a wage is barely above begging. I guess the only way it'll change on a wide scale is via Congress once the GOP is laid to rest as a party.

Second, you're a cretin if you don't tip in America. I can't imagine how insufferable it must be to be around some of you people. It's clear you treat wait staff as adversaries.

I don't think I've read a single comment here that has exhibited any logic or clear thinking.

USPS is a service to which most devote little thought. The USPS, until the past few years, was the conduit for spreading information around this massive country. Now that the Internet has usurped it, people are all too willing to point at it as being wasteful or as being crippled by unions (do you really think they just sit around all day? My USPS parents might beg to differ...) Go ahead and privatize it, or just abolish it and let FedEx fill the void - then you'd really gripe about prices and customer service.

Gotta say I've been using standard English when determining the size of coffee I want for years now. No repercussions so far. Just from the brief of this article, I imagine that the prof simply refused to specify if she wanted it without the toppings just to be difficult. One thing to insist on speaking non-jargon English; another to just be difficult about it.