More Things Americans Think are Totally Normal... But Others Find Bizarre

[@brainblaze6526]

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[@marcbeebee6969]

Here in Germany we use the fake silver icecubes for Things like Whiskey.

[@scooby45247]

cite your sources

[@marcbeebee6969]

@@Darksh0t009 like im the move the last Diktator

[@TBJ1118]

I just made my first website for my father in law (he's a painter) and it was surprisingly simple. Thanks Simon!

[@channingdeadnight]

Ice is the most important thing ever. If I have enough ice and a liquid I enjoy drinking, I am happy in almost any situation. I inherited this from my mother who has a similar ice addiction. My friends and family have learned to just buy a bag of ice when we visit because a normal family will never have enough for us. Or we just buy a bag ourselves. But considering how many other addictions are more expensive, unhealthy and inconvenient an addiction to ice isn't the worst thing. But if my mother or I have as much ice and water or tasty beverage we are happy people. That's just about all it takes. But no ice and beverage don't expect us to have a long visit. We can only handle an iceless existence for so long.

[@Battle_Beard]

I’ve got a bit of experience being American; all my life in fact. I’ve always been under the impression that most Americans get annoyed by the amount of ice that restaurants out in their drinks. Most people seem to feel that it’s just a way to give us less drink for the money.

[@ridesq]

Unless there’s free refills. Only caveat.

[@fear.censorship]

This is what I thought, I despise the excess ice in most drinks.

[@xsanguine8]

This is why all the disposable cups have that line halfway up the cup, where they are supposed to fill up to with ice before pouring in your drink.

[@JessieHTX]

I prefer a ton of ice, even if I’m not getting a refill. I recognize a lot of people feel otherwise, though.

[@Ixidora]

I'd rather have a cup of barely cool soda with no ice and not need the "free refill" than have the cost of everyone else's drink built into the cost of my one.

[@Fruitflyonyourwall]

as an American, I can promise you we also feel incredibly awkward about the gaps between stall and door in our public restrooms. one of the most horrifying moments is if you make eye contact w/ the person in the stall while knocking through the gap

[@voodoosnakebite]

I like to wave at them I hate going to Europe because I cannot see the randoms

[@frogzim]

Canada is the same way sadly.

[@jaylee9552]

Lol if you can make eye contact that definitely to much of a gap 😂

[@NPFAC]

probably a way for the restroom supply companies to save money on materials

[@KlaximumSkroeft]

But then WHY

[@germandog123]

Simons genuine bewilderment at how horrible it is to be a worker in the US makes me remember that I’m not crazy and this is actually hell.

[@oliver6287]

He needs to make one on how crazy Americans think the outside world is, he could go on for days😂

[@michinwaygook3684]

@@oliver6287 That would be a video about how little Americans know about the outside world.

[@Justaguyuguys]

I like the way America's system is for my industry, I repair roads and a 32 hr work week isn't really suitable for that type of work. Nothing would ever get done if we were limited to 4 8 hour days. But I can understand why office workers and customer service folks would want a more European style work environment. I couldn't sit at a desk 40 hours a week, that can't be healthy.

[@oliver6287]

@@michinwaygook3684 you think we don’t already know how crazy it is? 🥹😂

[@oliver6287]

@@michinwaygook3684 and plus Simon already has a few series on how crazy or bizarre other countries are soooo there’s that lol

[@bretp5601]

In America, I get 15 paid days off total (vacation, sick time, PTO all combined) and I get shamed for taking a week off. I also don't really have anyone to cover for me while I'm gone so I come back to a pile of work and trying to figure what people did while I was gone so I can correct things. Also, I have been at this company for 6 years.

[@patsysadowski1546]

I’m English and honestly between this and the healthcare situation, you guys seem to get a bum deal.

[@TheSeptemberSapphire]

@@patsysadowski1546and god forbid you get pregnant or terminally ill. They won’t give you more days off. Disability is used as maternity leave to have a baby and that’s at most 60% of the salary. If you’re terminally ill, get ready to beg your coworkers to donate their PTO to you so you can get life saving treatment.

[@patsysadowski1546]

@@TheSeptemberSapphire that’s awful. I’m disabled from a neuro disease and a mother but the rules here make it easier for me to work and still get support if I’m unwell. I can not imagine how stressful that must be. For small employers too.

[@katsmeow6946]

@@TheSeptemberSapphireafter 20 years at one company and my other full time job was for fifteen. I got disabled, on the job. Filled out the wrong forms lost everything. Glad I paid those double insurance premiums so after I couldn’t work I didn’t get a penny.

[@frankm.2850]

Which wouldn’t be as bad if seemingly half the country flipped their shit when someone points this out. Seriously, half the country seem to take being fucked over by corporations as a point of pride. It’s insane.

[@AletuatheFallen]

Some states in the US do have laws saying that employees get paid holiday & paid sick leave, but combining that with "at will" employment means that you run the risk of losing your job if you call in sick or try to take time off if the boss is in a bad mood, so it's sort of like not like having them at all. My best friend lost his job by calling out sick & since the manager had heard a rumor he was moving away in a few weeks, they assumed he was taking the time off to pack & fired him.

[@TidalShadow]

The lack of paid leave in the US is legitimately ridiculous. I worked a full time, salaried job for a private company, and I only got two days of paid leave (plus mandatory federal sick leave) for the whole year. Unsurprisingly, I no longer work there.

[@ticket2space621]

I can't believe people are getting paid time off. Even two days.

[@skyhawk_4526]

@@ticket2space621 I work in the US, and I get 8 weeks paid vacation every year. Plus, an additional 2 weeks of compensatory time, and 1 "floating holiday" that I can take whenever during the course of the year. Granted, I only got all that after 15 years on the job, but still. If my work dropped all that, everyone would quit, because, quite frankly, everyone hates their job where I work. Yes, it's law enforcement. Before you criticize the vacation and other benefits in my job, ask yourself; would you do it? My guess (especially since we can't seem to hire ANYONE even though we pay very well, offer good benefits, and are still constantly short staffed) is no. I can assure you, I would never continue to do this job if it wasn't for the vacation time and the retirement benefits. Neither would you. As mentioned above, we still can't hire anyone competent who is willing to take this job even though the benefits are fantastic.

[@nicholaslewis8594]

Nah, at least IMO giving cops good benefits should be a part of police reform so you can actually be picky about who becomes a cop and so the people hired aren’t overworked and on the edge of a break down.

[@tedrex8959]

Many years ago when I was 14 I dropped off a Christmas card to my grandparents Scots neighbour. He said "Will you have a wee dram?", I don't mind if do, "Will you be having ice or ginger ale?" I must have pulled a face when I said Neither! because he replied, "Aye, right answer, you'll be getting the good stuff!" He then poured me a glass several centimetres deep of some single malt older than I am from a tiny distillery. I sat and savoured the best whisky I have ever had. I swear as I walked through the village blanketed in half a metre of snow that I felt as warm as I if I was sitting by the fire, the snow might even have been melting as I passed.

[@tiacho2893]

Ice (and a lot of cocktails from the US prohibition era) were probably used so the drinker could choke down spirits that tasted like chemical degreasers. It's a sin to ice any spirit that has been carefully distilled and aged by someone that gives a damn about their job. To put ice in a dram of Oban or Macallan single malt should get you ejected from Scotland with prejudice!!!! That said, I lived with a guy in university that popped ice and sachet of artificial sweetener into a glass of nice Pinot Noir that our roommate picked to go with a full roast dinner.

[@movingforward3030]

Your neighbour sounds awesome!

[@thejudgmentalcat]

Had the same experience once by a river bank with a fifth of the smoothest Jack Daniel's I've ever had (passed around about 8 people). Fishing has never been more fun!

[@hbeachley]

I don’t think I would have liked a scotch when I was 14. Sophisticated palette there.

[@peterjf7723]

@@hbeachley I certainly liked Scotch by the time I was 14. Also liked wine which I had most Sundays with Sunday lunch.

[@zackcash4941]

American here. I was once fired due to a miscommunication where I asked a temp agency for time off. They told the contractor I was demanding that time off. Was fired immediately essentially for just asking for a week off a month in the future. Must companies aren't like that though miscommunication between management has been an extremely common problem in many companies I've worked for.

[@JF1908x]

Laughs in European with 30+ days holiday annually

[@JakeSezz]

Imma guess it was at a warehouse of a major online retailer that offers great benefits to its customers, such as free 2-day shipping and a streaming platform? 🤔

[@paulceglinski3087]

I smell what you're stepping in, Brah. LoL in Tennessee.

[@Fruitflyonyourwall]

Going through a temp agency was the first mistake

[@bayoubilly5176]

@@Fruitflyonyourwall Naw I go through em my whole life. Gets rid of the stupid interview process and I'm good enough Ive had an offer at each place I've ever placed at full time. Didn't take it half the time. Let's you shop employers well seeing what it's actually like. Just make sure you have a bit of savings.

[@K8McPhee]

In the U.S. my husband got an angry phone call/vm from his employer wanting to know why he wasn’t at work… he called back to remind them that we were on our HONEYMOON and that he put in for the time off weeks prior, and they approved it. Their response was “oh ya… we forgot…” 🤦🏼‍♀️

[@Humdrumble]

One thing left out of the Vacation Days bit: PTO. Some employers don't differentiate between sick days and vacation days, rolling both together as Paid Time Off. This is great for people who worry that taking a few days of vacation will mean they won't have enough time off if they get sick.

[@wuzziemaster]

In my youth i worked at McD. My boss didn't like people ordering drinks without ice. It messed up the profit yield. Which is why i always order drinks without ice since then.

[@Markle2k]

Today's McDonald's not only has free refills, but the xsmall, small, medium, and large all cost $1

[@antiisocial]

Lol. I ask for easy/light ice.

[@wuzziemaster]

Well were i live now (Ireland) has a sugar tax, Order a coke/pepsi/whocares? light. ll good. Regular ANYTHING with sugar? 30% extra. Cut down on sugar. Sugar is bad for you. Goverment: Not that wdgaf. Stores:profit Politicians, Hang on a sec Stores:kickback (Grabbing all profit) Politicians, ok, so lets go.

[@JessicaClark-lq4gw]

I worked at mcds for 2 years (not in America) I stopped getting ice in my drinks after seeing the hygiene practices regarding ice. Most of it was a really high standard. Full clean of the ice maker once a week, sanitisation of the ice buckets and scoops, full clean of the ice bins every night etc. The bit that got me was that immediately after taking payment people would go and make the drink. They would take the ice scoop, scoop the ice, then drop the scoop back into the bin instead of putting it in the holder. Cash is one of the germiest things in the world and immediately after handling it people would touch the scoop and then leave it in the ice someone would drink. Still makes me feel sick thinking of it 🤢 so i never get ice anywhere now.

[@anamkarajoy]

lol! I do, too! Someone told me that I should ask for “light ice”, because it’s just plain annoying that we never really got more than a couple sips of soda out of a ridiculously huge cup. Turned out most places around here serve “light ice” requests by filling at least half the cup with ice-instead of as much as it could hold-before adding even a drop of whatever you actually bought. Still getting ripped off, and half a cup of ice actually melts faster than the whole cup, so the little bit of beverage you do get tastes more watered down and is just kinda gross. NO ice, please! (The markup rate is pretty mind-blowing, so I don’t have any guilt. lol) I paid for Coke, not tap water, because I wanted to drink Coke… not tap water.

[@raindegrey9429]

Honestly one of the reasons I love watching these so much because of Simon's undeniably enthusiastic feelings around the marching powder.

[@goawayihavecommentstomake1488]

He may have done a lot more coke than he admits to…

[@js19861234]

@@goawayihavecommentstomake1488 I know I have 😅

[@GimmeJimmy23]

Flour?

[@raceyrache8463]

Another thing Americans finds normal

[@ignitionfrn2223]

0:40 - Chapter 1 - Ice, ice baby 7:35 - Mid roll ads 10:20 - Chapter 2 - Forgotten vacations 18:15 - Chapter 3 - Public exposure 23:10 - Chapter 4 - Cash bail

[@RachelsantVIDEO]

American here. Another vacation issue that is annoying is that the companies I have worked for had a "use it or lose it" policy. If you weren't able to take your vacation paid time off then at the end of the year that unused time just disappeared. At the beginning of the year your available vacation time reset to new year's allowance.

[@jenniferk9242]

I'm eating a huge cup full of plain shaved ice (from my Cuisinart snow cone maker) as I listen to Simon talk about my American obsession with ice 😂

[@sharonawaldschmidt3622]

Bathrooms in America, 😂 that reminds me of taking my service dog with me, he laid on the floor, put his head down and it was in the stall with the lady in the next stall. I hear her “oh that’s new”

[@gracegaylord9025]

The only peeper I welcome

[@AngDevigne]

😂😂

[@juliabazanska]

This is the funniest thing I've read all week, thank you for that!

[@riverlady982]

🤣 I laughed so hard I was wheezing, partly because I can imagine saying that.

[@eclowe6594]

"Do you not get the money back?" for unused vacation days... uh. yeah. so it used to be that way in the US... but lots of states have made it possible for employers to create "expiring" vacation days.... Basically if you don't use them you lose them and they don't have to pay you a dime. It's ridiculous and to me it should be considered theft of wages. But, ya know, our lawmakers prefer to care for the corporations...

[@vickymc9695]

That's insane

[@danbuckley6584]

yeah they call it PTO (paid time off) instead of vacation and you don't have to schedule it. where i worked we got like 2 sick days, PTO and a couple weeks vacation. And if you were a minute late to clock in they counted it as an hour.

[@RayTheMickey]

This can depend on whether yo are an "exempt" or "non-exempt" employee. If you are salary and do not use your vacation you can lose it. If you are hourly you should get paid for it. Most companies allow you to roll it over and accumulate for the next year though there are usually limits to that.

[@jettanyx1]

There are some states too that allow an employee of I be fired for no reason

[@eclowe6594]

@@jettanyx1 Montana is the only state that doesn't allow that at all. Every other state at least allows it for some jobs.

[@jacquelynsmith2351]

My first experience having paid vacation time was when I worked for a company whose CEO was German. He didn't like the USA's vacation or healthcare policies (there was none at the time), so I also got health insurance for the first time ever. Where I work now, we're only allowed to carry over 60 hours of our vacation time to the next year, and we MUST use the rest, even if it means taking several weeks off during December, which is what I'm doing this year!

[@JF1908x]

I work in Germany and I have 35 days holiday annually and can rack up 100 extra hours to use whenever/however I want. Most years I take 50+ days off

[@Infamouslbx]

Same thing, but Norwegian CEO and President. He was like, "We're not pulling that crap here." Then he retired, the new CEO tried to cut it back, the entire company HEMORRAGED employees until they reverted. These were not people easily replaced, and our pay wasn't comparable enough to make the cuts worth it. America REALLY sucks when it comes to that sort of stuff. Workers rights are a joke here.

[@nytenjin]

When was this? I've had healthcare coverage and paid vacation at every job I ever worked since the 90s. My first job was at KB Toys.

[@jaygremillion3501]

Been there. Where I work now they sold part of the company and your vacation got reset. If you had x amount of weeks turned into one overnight.

[@BohoStitcher]

@@nytenjin You have been very lucky.

[@amandajones661]

I was on a jury where the accused had been in jail for two years before his trial came up. When we , the jury, agreed his crime was pretty low, he was allowed to go home because his time in jail, while waiting on his trial , was more than his crime would have gotten him.

[@skyhawk_4526]

Dubious post. No prosecutor or judge would ever allow the defendant's pretrial incarceration to be introduced to the jury at trial. (I'm in the US though. Different rules probably apply elsewhere. I assume you are outside the US since you used the term "prison" to refer to pretrial confinement; whereas, in the US, "prison" refers to post-conviction confinement in the case of felony convictions and any pretrial confinement (except in federal cases, which are rare) would take place in a county jail, and not a prison.)

[@JamesTTierce]

@@skyhawk_4526 Even americans misuse the terms prison and jail. Anyhow, people are held in pretrial for extended periods all the time. "a recent CalMatters investigation found 8,600 prisoners who had been jailed for more than a year, and 1,300 jailed longer than three years without being tried or sentenced. More than a quarter of those 1,300 have actually been incarcerated for over five years."

[@angryotter9129]

@@skyhawk_4526 it’s not dubious that someone would be released for time served based on sentencing at the trial. The verdict and sentencing are separate and a judge would take time served into consideration when deciding the sentence. The OP never said the facts about the defendant’s pre trial incarceration were used to sway their verdict.

[@smuggreycat8137]

Wtf

[@amandajones661]

@@skyhawk_4526 You're right about one thing... I misued the term prison vs jail. But you're wrong about it really happening. -- I found out his length of stay in jail after the fact because I wanted to know what happened during the entire process.

[@Fabala827]

As not only an American, but one who works for both an incredibly large America-based coffee chain & a 15-employee independent bookstore, I can safely say that while I in NO WAY feel guilty towards the larger company when I take time off, I do sometimes feel guilty to my COWORKERS. I’ve been with the company for a long time, and bc of that I “earn” more vacation time per hour that I work than most of my coworkers do. I really couldn’t care less about “inconveniencing” the company, but I do care about the people I work with, and I try not to take time off unless I know someone is available at the time I usually work, bc I know how terrible being understaffed can be. I also don’t think I’ve ever called out from there day-of due to a combo of a strong immune system and the fact that I usually open- if I didn’t show up, they physically wouldn’t be able to open the store, and it’s unlikely anyone else would be awake at 5:30 am just available to come in on demand.

[@Pushing_Pixels]

Being understaffed is the company's problem, and it's their responsibility to solve it, not yours. You shouldn't feel guilty for a problem you neither caused, nor are responsible for solving.

[@thedepthsofrepair]

@@Pushing_PixelsCompanies do this on purpose. It sucks. There is a district and regional manager, no? Because they could come and open the store. And, really, if the store didn't open... then... people go elsewhere for coffee one day? It's okay. There is zero reason why you shouldn't have a back up. If other employees aren't trusted to open, that says something and isn't your problem.

[@thehangmansdaughter1120]

Every boss I've ever had in New Zealand has insisted that staff take their paid holidays, saying taking breaks leads to better productivity. It just makes economic sense.

[@Pes._]

To bad productivity is like 7th on the list of priorities

[@chlorineismyperfume]

Productivity is just as important down in NZ and Aust. I agree it makes economic sense.

[@cezary_bulyka]

In Poland as an employee you are REQUIRED by law to take two weeks (at a time) of your vacations at least once a year

[@Pushing_Pixels]

Unpaid leave shows up as a liability on a company's balance sheet. They want people to take it so it doesn't just accumulate and make the company's finances look bad.

[@domentora]

My current employer has a policy mandating everybody take off 9 consecutive days a year, during which the employee is not allowed to do any work for us, nor can we contact them about anything related to work. We get bank holidays, and earn about 6.5 hours of paid time off every paycheck. In the US, that is insanely good. My mother, by contrast, gets 10 paid days a year, no holidays.

[@BohoStitcher]

Easy to see why it’s still your *current* employer! Well done- hold onto that one!

[@blitzzer24]

I agree! Although depending on your position there is some wisdom in mandatory PTO. Oftentimes people who are in sensitive positions within a company, (think finance, IT, HR etc.) Have mandatory time off to allow another to look over their work and ensure no abuse of power or fraud is occurring. One person with poorly allocated job duties could easily cause chaos if allowed to operate for years with no oversight.

[@thelandlockedselkie]

Another American here. I have not had a single fully-disconnected vacation in the 12 years I've been working full-time. I also frequently find myself contacted after hours by the companies I've worked for. I often fear setting boundaries with my employers around things like that because it could very easily lead to me losing my job.

[@modifiedmomma2365]

Another American- I was answering work calls while being prepped for surgery back in 2021. An invasive surgery they knew about for over a month & I ended up getting calls the next day while I could barely move. $13 an hour and not a day off in the years I worked there.

[@dmh101]

In some parts of europe its actually illegal for a company to contact its employees when its outside of work hours

[@lijohnyoutube101]

Yep, we were in Disney on a family vacation and my husband got told off because it took him like 2 hours to get back to a work phone call. They were super peeved with him.

[@rossharper1983]

I've only just discovered Brain Blaze and this is by far the best Simon channel of them all. Brilliance

[@arielletucker6560]

Yeah I’m American and I can verify that the no guaranteed time off is accurate. My boyfriend has worked at least the last 90 days straight with no end in sight. It’s absolutely over the top, yet so many people in my generation are regularly accused of “not knowing how to work for anything” and “expecting things to be handed to you on a silver platter”. It’s actually good to know that other countries don’t handle work this way 😅 Love your videos, laughed so hard at this one 😂

[@IzzyMarrie]

Okay, there had to have been at least a few days off, right? Or does he work more than one job? Because it's 100% illegal to work someone 3 months straight in a row without any days off. Although, I can only imagine the overtime

[@dmh101]

If thats all one job that sounds hella illegal. In my work they are not allowed to schedule me more than 5 days in a row.

[@arielletucker6560]

Nope no overtime he was on salary. Barely making enough to pay rent and we still couldn’t afford a car. And then they fired him out of the blue with little to no cause. Wonderful country, really 🙄

[@SoManyRandomRamblings]

​@@IzzyMarrie not illegal 🤣🤣🤣 people work without time off for one job all the time. Especially when the companies keep refusing to hire more staff.

[@smooshiebear80]

Just to clarify: he did not get weekends off and literally worked for 90 days straight?

[@arcady0]

28:30 - Danny is right. Police are behind a lot of opposition to attempts to get rid of the cash bail system. Look into who gets to keep the money people pay in bail - it goes into funds for a number of groups, and so of course those groups want the system to stay around. Also - if people realized how little need we actually have for most forms of incarceration, if people began to live with a little less fear - they would be less prone to want to hand huge sums of cash to police.

[@wallyman292]

Uhm. . . You get your bail back once your trial is over, usually minus any penalties or fines, etc., so not sure where you're getting this "keep the money" story from but suspect you just make things up to fit your narrative.

[@l.s.aldridge5798]

The police don't set bail. A judge sets bail, or a jurisdiction has a set amount for a specific offense. Also some people, ie those with no criminal history, often get released on their own recognizance aka "ROR" if they have no flight risk and/or the charge is minor. It seems like people who argue for bail reform always have to make it sound worse than it is to make their point.

[@JoeBidenHatesU]

It’s not like cutting police funding would cause our taxes to go down or anything. They would just use it to hire more federal agents like I.R.S or FBI. Maybe even use it to fund more pointless research projects like when they spent $500,000 to see if birds were more promiscuous after using coke. Public safety is worth investing in imo

[@Pushing_Pixels]

@@wallyman292 He's talking about bail that doesn't get returned.

[@Pushing_Pixels]

@@l.s.aldridge5798 The presumption that bail is required in most cases, and that being held in custody should occur if bail cannot be posted, goes completely against the concept of innocent until proven guilty. ONLY dangerous people, or people who are likely to flee, should have to pay bail. Also, the likelihood of getting ROR varies from state to state, but in other developed countries the assumption is ROR should be given unless the prosecution can demonstrate risk.

[@kcollier2192]

As a former restaurant manager I can say that one of the reasons for loading your drink with ice is that it helps profitability - the more ice the less product used.

[@itcat_x2605]

Is it not more expensive to run an ice machine (especially with current energy prices) compared to the prices of post-mix syrup? Here they’re absurdly cheap, it wouldn’t surprise me if the ice had a similar cost.

[@Im-Not-a-Dog]

@@itcat_x2605 Ice Machine Operational Costs < Liquor Prices.

[@itcat_x2605]

@@Im-Not-a-Dog I wasn't talking about alcohol. I was specifically talking about soft drinks.

[@azcomicgeek]

A 16 ounce soda has only 2 ounces of actual product with the rest being crushed ice.

[@lukastemberger]

Totally. I always have diet coke when ordering at bars. And I always say "no ice". The shock on bartenders' face is epic.

[@bjw4859]

On an ice related subject, I was given these interesting things that were basically cubes of rock that you put in the freezer so when you add them to your drink it doesn't water it down, & they actually work, I mainly use them in wine, but yes, I have ice in most drinks as it is hot most the bloody time in Australia.

[@neen42]

In the US, they are usually referred to as whiskey stones

[@joels5150]

Yeah, I have a few of those. They are about dice-sized little stones, and they do work. Otherwise, I use artisanal ice cubes when drinking scotch/whisky. Diluted scotch is a crime against humanity…

[@bjw4859]

@@neen42 Yes I think that was their official name, I just no longer have the box.

[@bjw4859]

@@joels5150 Yes, exactly.

[@junknstuff8501]

Yea, most employers don't guarantee time off. In fact a lot of companies will say that the time off they promise is "at their discretion". I know someone that works for a place where they get 12 paid days a year. However, they're not allowed to use those days on Mondays, Thursdays or Fridays. Tuesdays & Wednesdays are 'possible' but you can't use them more than 1 consecutively, and they treat it like a major inconvenience. If I'm not mistaken an overwhelming amount of employers have a "use it or loose it" policy with vacation time and not stacking days. I'm not even aware of virtually any State that requires PTO to be paid out if not used. A lot of employees are actually forced to use their vacation days as 'sick days'. Hell there isn't even a federal mandate that says if you're 18+ you are required to have a lunch break. I use to believe workers were required, but when I heard that I was like "nah" so I started looking into it. Last I looked 2021 there was still no federal mandate that a worker get's any brakes, there isn't even technically a cap on how many hours one can be made to work.

[@willtngl]

I work in architecture. I can actually answer the bathroom stall question The gap underneath, at least on large ones, is actually related to accessibility. The height is based on clearances for a wheelchair so the foot rest wont get caught on it but can fit underneath if someone in a wheelchair is turning around. And a lot of jurisdictions require the panels to not reach the ground because of drainage to the floor drains if the floor is rinsed. I believe you can go all the way to the ground, but then they require more floor drains and/or different requirements. For example, the jurisdiction where I primarily work requires any wall or partition that is touching the ground to have a cove base (a curved portion where the wall meets the floor) which is a real pain to find. Like, not a lot of manufacturers do that. As far as it not reaching the top, I would guess budget.

[@Forsworcen]

In certain jobs you can also get in trouble for “abusing” the Vacation time if you use it too often

[@movingforward3030]

How do you use your vacation time too often?? You get the days! You use those days...

[@fear.censorship]

Sick days, not vacation days. You get fired for abusing sick days, you can't abuse a vacation day.

[@eliharper6616]

@@movingforward3030 I've seen guys get in trouble for taking a month off at a time and I've seen people get in trouble for taking all of their Fridays off for the year. A lot of companies put it in the rules that you can't take too much time at a time, take away roll-over time etc

[@bayoubilly5176]

@@fear.censorship sorry bud you've just not had a bad employer, I've seen it plenty.

[@emerje0]

No, really, how do you abuse your vacation days? Surely a manager or a scheduler has to approve or deny your vacation so why would you be the one in trouble?

[@ravertaking6343]

There was a club in Orland that had "bottomless" mugs. You paid for the first beverage (Jack and Coke for me) and refills were free for the night. Then you kept the mug. My friends and I used to save the mugs (Plastic) and the next bottomless mug night we'd go early with our mugs in our purses and drink for free all night. This was back in the early 80s.

[@sujimtangerines]

Late 80s there was a bar in Athens GA that had a similar night. The cup was the size of a 7-11 Big Gulp (or Double Gulp)... you paid 5 bucks at the door for the cup, the colour was random to keep us from bringing ones from the previous nights) & a little chit for your first drink. Refills of any mixed drink were 25c & beer was 5c. I always got an Adios Mother Fxcker (Long Island Ice Tea... with blue curaçao instead of coke). So for less than 10 bucks you could stay open to close (5pm -3am) listen to the bands play and get pretty wasted. (I still tipped a dollar; I'm frugal, not cheap.) Kinda miss those days. Haven't heard of the concept anywhere else so it's cool to know some other bar in some other place used to have that kind of promotion. Although... now I think about it... might have been a money laundering outfit. )

[@viridian-]

If you work in a restaurant or many other hospitality jobs in the US, vacation time is how you know whether your employer values you or not. They are required to provide time off by law, but not required to pay you for it. They are not required to give you any reason for firing you. So if they don't like you, they can replace you while you're on vacation.

[@vic5015]

As a general rule, employees of private businesses in America can be fired fir any reason. Or even none at all. There are some exceptions, bit they only apply to a small number of workers.

[@MichaelOKC]

If you work in the restaurant and hospitality industry and you are Not getting paid a salary And points, then you Do Not Matter! DON'T Work this industry unless you like it . Don't work it for money unless you are constantly looking for another job. Period!

[@Seanii9323]

Wtf America. If you are a casual worker here in Australia (as in not under a full time or part time contract so you get give shifts whenever they need you) you get paid slightly higher than the salary workers to cover yourself as you aren't entitled to sick or paid leave but still get superannuation from your employer like the other workers.

[@Sentient.A.I.]

This is why they have unions. After that probation period its hard as fk to get rid of a union employee unless they just dont show up or they steal lol.

[@michaelb1761]

@@Sentient.A.I. Stealing usually won't get you fired depending on what you are stealing. "Borrowing the company vehicle" won't get your typical union employee fired, which really pisses off the rest of us.

[@davidmcken]

For the last item, Simon would probably have his mind blown by the "Cash for kids" scandal in America.

[@lilykep]

At my old job I constantly did paperwork while on vacation. At my husband's previous job they wanted him to come into work on his week off. When he told them he couldn't they were aggressively annoyed asking him why not, he calmly informed them that he was not in town then hung up the phone.

[@kyidyl]

Simon, any time you want to know why the US does something, ask yourself who makes money off of it. We don't treat workers right bc CEOs are greedy. We don't have nice toilet stalls bc you can't make money off of them, so they are the bare minimum that is necessary.

[@eier5472]

And they have cash bail because prison is for poor people and their liberty doesn't matter in their eyes.

[@ekc_sc.722]

Speaking as an American, we tend not to take paid vacation days off because we get punished or fired for doing so. I've worked office jobs my entire life. Most employers give you 2 weeks paid vacation that you can take after you've worked for the company for a certain amount of time. I had a job where those 2 weeks was all you could have per year (along with 6 sick days) for the first 7 years. After that you got another week of vacation and 2 more sick days. I finally reached my 10th year with them, was given a fourth week of vacation and 2 more sick days. I was one of only 3 employees that had that level of time with the company (a law firm). I took one week of vacation time (that had been scheduled and approved by two managers a few month's in advance) and was immediately fired upon my return for "abusing the vacation policy". In other words, they fired me because I was finally eligible for 4 weeks of paid vacation and 10 paid sick days per year. Yeah, normal American business practice I'm afraid. Europe has a vastly better system when it comes to paid time off.

[@Markle2k]

This must have been some time ago. My neighbor got a job to cover for people who were nearing their retirement. They had accrued so much vacation time that the company was going to have no work from them over the last two years of their employment. That paid vacation time was part of their employment contract. It was money owed to them.

[@enoraskye6020]

I guess I've just been lucky. I've been in the work force for 30 years and worked for 4 different companies, and in that time, I've never been fired. Certainly not for taking vacation time and I use ALL of my vacation time. I realize not everyone is that lucky, but there are plenty of companies out there that treat their employees right.

[@chlorineismyperfume]

Oh wow, they're brutal working conditions. I hope the culture changes soon. In Australia we get an extra 6 weeks off when we reach 10 years at one place, "long-service leave". There's also legislation protecting workers from being fired or pushed out for taking leave entitlements.

[@Genghis-Jon]

Well if you were working for a law firm, you should have gone right to the competition and filed a suit for wrongful termination. Policy and how many days you took, managers approval, etc...is all recorded somewhere, and it was in your favor.

[@PatrickThomasBrady]

I don’t know a single person that doesn’t use their paid time off, I actually know a few people who have unlimited paid time off as long as they get their work done, if you get paid time off and you don’t use it, your an idiot

[@zigm7420]

As an American, I don’t usually bother to take most of my time off. Typically taking the time is equated with laziness, and it hardly matters when you get calls, texts, team chats and the like on your time off that you’re expected to answer regardless. So even when you’re taking the time, you’re never really off.

[@ShirleyTimple]

No, that's a you problem. When I'm off, so is my phone. NO employer gets my off time for free, fuck them.

[@CrimWorld9]

In America several times when I tried taking a paid day off, I would be harassed by my bosses to come into work regardless. I have learned to just HARD IGNORE all calls and texts from all management during days off, like don't listen to tricks like 'hey buddy, how are you today.' HARD IGNORE IT... I've also been fired for taking days off, one time I asked for 2 days off a month in advance. A week before my day off happened a regional manager said they were going to visit the store during those days. My boss threatened me that I needed to be a "TEAM PLAYER" and cancel my day's off, he said it literally 3 different times and I said no each time. About a month later, I get called in and fired and he just straight up says "This is what happens when you're not a Team Player." with the most snide piece of SH attitude.

[@simplyintricate4160]

I had an extremely minor felony that was reduced to a misdemeanor by the courts with a max sentence of 31 days. While awaiting trial I sat in jail for 153 days, with the option of $50,000 bail(Due to being a flight risk, as I didn't live in the area any longer and admittedly was a flight risk at that point in my life.) - of which I would have needed to pay $5,090 while the other would be "Covered" by a bail bondsman and only be due by me if I didn't show up to court or whatever. So in the end I got a charge that had a maximum of 31 days in jail and $200 fine, but sat 153 days in jail waiting for my court dates and paid over $300 in court fees and booking fees + The fine they gave me for the charge. Our court system is goofy here. Just sort of how it is. Hell, this all originally stemmed from the fact that I got 1 year of probation because I was 18 and a 17 year old standing near me had a pack of cigarettes in his pocket when we were searched by police because they "Smelled marijuana in the park, and we're the only ones in it at 2 AM". I had nothing to do with his smokes, didn't even really know the kid he was just a friend of a friend, didn't even know his age. Yet 3 of us who were 18 all got 1 year of probation over it. They found no drugs, nothing illegal - Just a 17 year old with cigs, and charged all of us for it resulting in over $500 in probation/court fees each(And a fair bit of extra trouble/fees for me personally during the time I was on probation... Ah being young and dumb).

[@ibanfernandez4705]

So.. did I understand it right? you spent 153 days in jail waiting to be judged for being next to a 17 years old kid with a pack of cigarettes on his pocket?

[@simplyintricate4160]

@@ibanfernandez4705 No, I got a year of probation for that - As did both other 18 year olds who were with us. I later got myself into a little more trouble related to the probation caused by that, and left the area for several months when I wasn't supposed to. When I came back I got arrested and charged with a minor felony related to having left/missed court dates, which could have up to 1 year maximum. I sat 153 days awaiting trial for that charge, and it was reduced to a lesser charge(Misdemeanor) with a max sentence of 31 days - Which they said I had time served on, obviously, since I had already sat 5x what the max sentence was. Basically the point is just that I sat 153 days + Paid over 300 in court fees/booking fees while awaiting my trial for a minor charge, and in the end was only sentenced to 31 days and $200 fine - Both of which were less than I had already served/paid.

[@rhov-anion]

Literally just yesterday, my husband (who FINALLY has a job that gives paid vacation) asked me when some friends of ours were planning a vacation to a beach resort. I asked if he had enough time for the whole week, and he admitted he still had 15 days (after taking 10 days off earlier this year... this is luxury to us after going some 10 years with no vacations). However, his boss won't allow them to take more than a week off at any given time, as they need coverage and the execs are too stingy to hire more people. Even when he's on vacation, he'll check email, and once helped an exec with his VPN because his other tech support buddy was out sick so no one was at the office. Of course, he didn't get paid for it. I told him he shouldn't have fixed it without demanding a full day of pay, teach these execs to hire more than just two in-house tech support guys to handle the HQ of an international computer parts company. However, they have no unions at his job, so he's terrified to upset them and lose such a "privileged" job.

[@gwick358]

Only in America. Good on your hubby. With the exception of my military service, I've never had a job with vacation time.

[@bayoubilly5176]

@@gwick358 it is funny how a lot of america and my country crap on unions or any labour rules seen to help people instead of faceless corps. Yet that glaring difference(vacations are mandatory in the gov and heavily protected industries). Yet ppl still get tricked into voting against their interest to favour corps cuz "they might need that tax break when they make it big...". Just keeps getting worse too. There did used to be actual corporate responsibility and citizens would reject the snake oil salesmen. Very lacking nowadays.

[@k.stacey7389]

If your husband is on salary, he was legally entitled to his week’s pay for even working one minute.

[@stephen3164]

For the past 20 years, I’ve only worked jobs where I was responsible for my job function. If I took a day off, that meant I had 8+ hours of work to do on top of my regular work the following day. I also worked a bunch of evenings and at least 4 hours on the weekend in order to make my Monday more tolerable when unexpected stuff always popped up. Taking a week off meant bringing my laptop, doing work in the evenings, checking emails and taking meetings during the day while on vacation, and then getting back from vacation and needing to complete the work from that week. No one covered my job while I was out. My wife had the same setup with her work, and literally had to leave a museum to go sit in the car for an hour to take a meeting, while on vacation. And yes, we had to use vacation days but also do the work. My company gave all employees the last week of the year off, as a “gift”. Unfortunately, I had to close the books for month end and year end, and had to work that week anyways - but it was nice that the office was completely empty and no one interrupted my work.

[@rootkit8603]

If a colleague got sick and something needed urgent attention I would step in to help if I was able to. But that would be a workday and would not count towards my paid leave. But ofc, I would have full rights to just say no.

[@cosmicdan5907]

Starts the sentence with “I love Nando’s” Ends the sentence by calling Nando’s “ A piece of shit“ 😂

[@droomzy]

yeah it's a tad misleading to discuss a topic as tame as "forms of ice" & become impassioned to the point of yelling. Fact Boy caught me off guard with that one 👀😅

[@Alan-zg2jq]

It is the British way.

[@JesamyPorter]

As someone who sets up vacation policies for companies for a living I would say most employers offer 2 weeks vacation but only AFTER an employee has worked there a year and they make it extremely difficult to take those days due to black out periods so most of that 2 weeks just expires and you don’t get any money for losing those days. Use them or lose them but if you use them just know that all of your colleagues will hate you because now who ever is still working is doing your work as well.

[@UsernameU222]

I knew a guy that was a bounty hunter for a bail bond place. Him and his partner got all these handguns, vests, and other security measures, thinking a guy skipping bail would wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. But almost every time, they would just catch them hiding at their parent's house or drunk and asleep at the bar. With the holidays thing, it is true. I once knew a guy that was fired immediately because he asked for time off. I agree with you. Ice cubes in most drinks are great.

[@amanojin3338]

This video confirms that Simon is a workaholic. I mean the bajillion channels he runs is also maybe slightly proof also

[@ThisisCitrus]

Not too hard when you don't write your own scripts or edit your own videos.

[@amanojin3338]

@@ThisisCitrus Its harder than you think... Filming eats up a tonne of time. Just reading a 5 min script can take a couple of hours to get right. He does multiple 10-20 min scripts a week, not to mention all the behind the scenes stuff like arranging ad deals, managing staff etc. P. S shout out to all the people tied up in simons basement and a special shout out to to his wife for giving him time n space to be creative x

[@ThisisCitrus]

@@amanojin3338 Sure, but to the creators (most of them) who come up with the idea, write the script, edit the script, film the voice, edit the video entirely themselves, Simon has it good. Simon is working smart not hard, and that's not a bad thing. PS: The voice over is the easiest part.

[@riomouris4767]

The ice keeps him going

[@collinclark6086]

As another Collin, I can confirm. Here in South Africa we love our public holidays, and April is great. We get a couple long weekends, sometimes in a row, and taking three days' leave gives you about two weeks off. That's honestly better than December holidays for most people in SA.

[@SvafaBlackhand]

In my work experience, you get so many vacation hours a year (2-4 weeks), but often only 1-2 weeks carry over to the next year, and you just lose any that aren't carried over. Often, when leaving a job they'll pay out your unused vacation, but I don't believe it's a legal requirement, and I've worked places that didn't do so - again just losing that time off. There are also many places/employers in the US where you are severely discouraged, or even not allowed to take vacation during parts of the year. At my current job, we just ended our yearly month long ban on vacation for the month of August. During that time, the only time-off approved is for medical or emergency leave.

[@curtjdup]

I was born and have lived in America my entire life, the sad fact about taking vacation days in my experience is that people usually attempt to make you feel like shit for taking your vacation days (usually you'll start with 7 days of vacation and a few sick days) and you have to be dieing for nobody to point out you used a sick day. Employers treat it sort of like you're screwing them over. Not to mention minimum wage jobs are much much worse in that regard, most of the time you get absolutely nothing for days off

[@MorgaineRiddlePrince]

In Denmark, you have 5 weeks of mandatory holidays and a 6th. You can either keep or get it paid out instead so you get dubble pay that workweek. We also have extra days off for holidays. And if you work on protected days, your employer must compensate with 1.5 days off later.

[@JohnDrummondPhoto]

I am a retired federal employee. It takes 15 years for a fed to reach the 8-hour leave category. That's 8 hours of annual leave (or "personal time") in every 2-week pay period. That works out to 26 paid days off per year. Newbies only get half that. Despite that, or maybe because of it, many employees hoard their leave so they can take longer vacations when they're ready for one. In response, the government forbids carrying over more than 240 hours of annual leave from one year to the next. If you have over that amount at the end of the leave year, you lose the excess forever. So, we don't earn much leave for half the average career. Then we're forced to use that leave in dribs and drabs, unless during the low-leave early years you manage to accrue and carry over that 240 hours to allow a really decent vacation or two every year.

[@melissapoore7161]

As an American for the first time in 15 years I have paid time off and I am required to use it! My boss met with me and asked if there was a reason I was not using my PTO. I must say it is amazing to have an employer care about me as a person and want to retain me as an employee. I don't mind being paid less because I am being offered health benefits and PTO as a part time employee. I had three children with my last employer and I received $0 pay for my maternity leave. Nothing says we love our employees like making a mom return to work 2weeks after delivering a baby.

[@samariamccord4302]

I knew a girl (16yo) when I was younger who worked fast food. Went into labor on shift, worked til her waters broke Her boss told her if she couldn't be back in 3 days he'd replace her. She went back to work 6hours after being discharged from hospital. I felt so terrible for her, had to leave her newborn with a drunk deadbeat just to support her family.

[@greendragon4058]

Well that sucks I work for a company who said that I had to take a vacations During certain times of the year and they had to be split up like WTF

[@anamkarajoy]

Good heavens! I’d love to work part time for whatever company that is!

[@morrigan908]

Depends on the company Simon. Some let you carry over unused time at the end of the fiscal year. Some cash out at the end of the year. Some have a use-it-or-lose-it policy.

[@Amarianee]

It depends on the state, not the company. Time that's accrued as "vacation" MUST be paid out or carried over in California. Companies that opt into the carry over policy have it in your sign-on contract, but you can change that with HR during your employment - just like any of your options on your pay stub. If you quit or are fired though, regardless of what you opted into, any accrued vacation must be paid out. Doesn't matter what company you work for in California, unused vacation is always paid out.

[@wallyman292]

@@Amarianee Pretty sure unused vacation is paid out everywhere, and is not a state by state issue. It's seen as part of your income, as you "earn" it by working. It would be just as illegal for a company not to pay you for unused vacation as it would for them to not pay you a salary.

[@Amarianee]

@@wallyman292 I think you are correct, but I'm not 100% sure on the federal labor laws, so I only commented what I know for sure. So many things vary by state, and we've got such strict employment laws in CA, that I hesitate to make blanket statements about the whole country without doing more research.

[@morrigan908]

@@Amarianee Actually it would be more correct to say that it varies by state AND company. WV has no laws about how vacation must be handled, as that is a private agreement between employer and employees. It only matters that the agreement is followed. I've worked for companies in this state that allow you to carry over indefinitely, pay you out for unused at the end of the fiscal year, or you lose unused at the end of the fiscal year. At one company "March Madness" had a completely different meaning because our fiscal year ended on March 31 and everyone was rushing to take their vacation in March because they'd lose any remaining time on April 1. My current company has nothing to do with fiscal year. You accumulate X number of hours per week depending upon seniority until you reach, I believe, 200 hours (might be 400, I'd have to check our policies and I'm way too lazy to do that on a holiday weekend) then you lose any additional accumulation until you're back under that threshold. There is also no federal law requiring that accumulated vacation be paid out. It's customary, but companies are not legally required to unless there's an employment agreement to the contrary or a state law requires it. I've signed employment contracts that require that I give a two-week notice before voluntarily leaving the company in order to have my vacation paid out. Not particularly unusual in any state in which I've worked. As you rightly point out, California has some of the most strict employment laws in the country, being one of the most liberal states.

[@elizabethmartin6707]

Everyone complains about the toilet stall gaps, but no one ever mentions how the locks seem purposely installed 9 times out of 10 to be non-functional. Seriously, not only are they usually broken, but they are often so off alignment that I can’t understand why they even bothered putting one in

[@whimsical_me5135]

As an American I can verify, yes, people can sit in jail for months or years waiting for trial. In my city, they freaking LOST someone in the system and he ended up sitting in jail for seven YEARS, even tho his case had been dismissed. It was absolutely disgraceful and that's just one case I know of personally.

[@IzzyMarrie]

That's tragic

[@SEAZNDragon]

A note on bail: The amount is up to the judge but most will stick to state issued list base on the crime and the defendant's criminal record. A judge can also lower bail if a defendant can argue for it. As for the traffic offense quip, if you amass a whole lot of traffics and don't pay them a cop may arrest you but you won't serve more than a couple of days in jail. So if a person is arrested for say a minor shoplifting charge it's likely bail will be relatively low. Additionally a judge may issue a personal recognizance bond meaning the defendant is release without posting a bond and expected to show up for court. In cases of high bail defendant can obtain the services of a bail bondman to cover the bond after paying the bail bondsman 10% of the bond. Over the last few years US judge have been easing on bails but there been multiple cases of defendants committing crimes while on bail, often violent crimes.

[@je2231]

My bail was set by an officer of the court that came to the police station. I was released on personal recognized it cost $40. wtf then the court found me not guilty because I didn't do it...

[@KrisRyanStallard]

Yeah, except for when you're poor and the police are out to get you. One of my best friends was arrested on felony "conspiracy to commit larceny" along with the actual shoplifting charges. Her bail was set at $20,000 and she was facing a a combined 20 years in prison on the various charges. She was accused of conspiring to steal six apple watches from a Walmart with a woman she didn't know. She was in jail a month before she was allowed to meet with a public defender. The public defender was shockingly difficult to reach and set appointments with, and ultimately refused to do anything other than arrange a plea agreement. The judge assigned to the case refused to appoint another public defender or attorney in the community. Turns out the district attorney, Judge, and public defender were all close friends. The only "evidence" the police had was surveillance video showing she was in the store that day, but they lost the video. Ultimately they only had an affidavit from an officer who claimed to have seen the video. Given that she's 65 it would have been a life sentence if convicted, and her attorney wouldn't fight it anyway. She was forced to take six years of supervised probation and $10,000 fine. She has to drive an hour to the county she allegedly offended in because the judge refused to transfer her probation to the county she lives in. She shows up, gives her probation officer $40, and leaves. It literally takes her five minutes to take care of her "supervised" probation. Her only source of income is SSI which is currently about $830 a month. Because she has a felony she doesn't qualify for subsidized or senior housing. She's in poor health and unable to do the vast majority of work she's qualified for. Not that she has transportation anyway. She lived with me for a while, but ultimately my roommate (who pays the majority of the bills) asked that she find her own place. She found a tiny travel trailer for $600. It's currently parked on some shady guy's property out in the country. She doesn't have running water in the trailer and has an extension cord to run her air-conditioning. I helped her put a tarp over the trailer so the rain won't get in. And somehow we think we live in a country with fair systems and all you have to do is work hard and you'll be all right.

[@wallyman292]

@@KrisRyanStallard Yep. . . And her situation is anybody and/or everybody's fault but her own, right? smfh. . .

[@O4FUXACHE]

@@KrisRyanStallard America - the best justice money can buy . . .

[@KrisRyanStallard]

@@wallyman292 yeah, the implication being she didn't commit the crime, and couldn't afford to hire an attorney to take it to trial, and couldn't afford bail until that trial actually happened. That would literally make this someone else's fault. Unless you're saying it's her fault for being poor. Because, ya know, we would all be as rich as Jeff Bezos if we all just put in a little effort 🙄

[@deaniej2766]

This changed in the last 30 or 35 years, but people in the northeastern part of the US thought of iced tea as strictly a summer drink, along with almost all traditionally iced drinks like lemonade. Room temperature for wine really means 55 F to 60 F sometimes even cooler because that was the room temperature in old stone castles and wine cellars without decent heat all over Europe. So it isn't room temp for modern heated and air conditioned houses. That's partially why ice buckets were invented.

[@Markle2k]

When referring to "room temperature" beer, the room in question is the unheated tap room.

[@calibmatlock]

In regards to not taking vacation days due to pressure from your job, this is a very real problem. I have worked with so many people who have stressed themselves nearly to death over jobs that honestly do not need that level of commitment. I got lucky, though. I spent some time in the military where they would send someone to your house if you didn't show up which really puts the "pressure" of civilians jobs into perspective. You can walk away at any moment and they can fire you at any moment. Employees and employers have the same leverage despite what we've been conditioned to believe.

[@courtneyo2082]

Me, an American vet tech, amazed when we got 5 PTO and then guilted if attempted to use at an "improper time"

[@MikeFougnie]

In America, I work 12 hours per day, 6 days per week, and I've already used my 10 vacation days for medical stuff that I then have to pay for.

[@PlazDreamweaver]

Our prisons are private, for-profit enterprises, so it's all by design. Prisons get a "minimum guaranteed occupancy" by the state, because they get $10k per cell filled. As you can imagine, this leads to loads of innocent people behind bars. Again, by design. Also, on your mention of Illinois in 2021 abolishing cash bail, that's thanks to governor Pritzker, who I helped canvas for since I may as well do some decency while I'm stuck in this sh*thole of a state. It's mindboggling when you hear all of the Republican politicians running on "reverse Pritzker's changes, revert IL to pre-Pritzker." You wanna know what IL was before Pritzker? It was about to become the first bankrupt state in the history of this country. All because the previous governor used our tax $$$ to pay for his mistresses' (plural possessive, he had multiple) and family members' vacations abroad, among other gross misuse of tax dollars. But to be fair, that's no different than on our Federal level, where the poor are taxed the most, and the rich pay nothing (literally nothing) in taxes, and our tax money goes to the pockets of the rich instead of where they're supposed to -- like, y'know, education, infrastructure, public services, and the like. Also, many cops make millions a year. There are many cities and towns where the police chiefs are the highest, or among the highest, paid citizens.

[@MinMaxxx]

It varies by state but overall the US only has 8.41% of prisoners in private jails. UK/Scotland are over 15% and even New Zealand is 10%. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_prison

[@collinbeal]

@@MinMaxxx but percentage doesn't really matter if you consider the sheer difference in numbers

[@elfymcelferton2187]

"It's not anti-social to do coke in a bathroom." -Simon Noted.

[@billwheeler1213]

That's the Fact Bio we know! (& miss) Someone take the chair away and turn off his heat/AC ;)

[@elfymcelferton2187]

@@billwheeler1213 I miss the script slapping and random screaming too.

[@warwick5390]

Yaaasss the old format was better, bring back the script slapping and cocaine jokes!! "Am I right Peter!!"

[@BohoStitcher]

He’s not wrong. 🤣🤣

[@jennymichie5175]

...nor the tube in London apparently...but it's customary to stick to bumps not lines....or so I've been told 😅

[@piotrp5668]

In Poland we have 26 days of mandatory payed vacation days. My employer enforces it, you must take all of them.

[@vickymc9695]

Yer, most employers in the UK want you to take them off, because it's cheaper than paying you for the day plus the holiday pay. You get bugged to take them before the tax year ticks.

[@ChemAngel3]

As an American who used to do all her studying in restaurants, free refills are amazing! Also as someone with sensitive teeth asking for no ice can mess up the taste because things like tea are often made stronger to be diluted by the melting ice.

[@OscarHMarble]

I'm 41, and I've never had a paid vacation day, or sick day, or any other benefits. The joys of working in the restaurant business in small town America

[@theloverlyladylo9158]

I am the rare American who hates ice in my drink, because it waters the drinks down and then it tastes off. So when I went to France, I figured that for once, I wouldn’t have to specify “no ice”. Nope. They heard the accent and just gave me ice.

[@alli_mode]

Got to drink the drink faster than the ice melts.

[@sendthis9480]

I make milk ice cubes, for a SUPER cold glass of milk.

[@BohoStitcher]

I don’t like ice either. Even at home, when I have soda I drink from a can with a (reusable) straw.

[@BohoStitcher]

@@sendthis9480 That’s a fantastic idea!!

[@wallyman292]

If getting ice in your drink as an American in France is the worse thing to happen to you, then you should count yourself lucky! ;)

[@Stormynormy42]

I met a guy while I was in prison who was ultimately there for jaywalking. Now, you don't get prison/jail time or usually even arrested for jaywalking itself, but the guy had used the crosswalk and veered off it a couple of steps before the curb to save some steps and an officer had decided to ticket him for it. He laughed in the cops face, refused to show ID for the ticket to be written and tried to walk off, so the officer arrested him for evading police, a charge you can't get bail for, plus the jaywalking charge. 6 months in jail later he was able to work a plea deal to have the evading charge dropped if he pled guilty to the jaywalking and agreed to 12 months probation and a monetary fine. He got out and refused to pay and after a month or two refused to go to his probation meetings and was arrested for that, during which time he apparently said some sideways stuff to the officer and was also given a new felony charge where the officer said he'd made threats, though he said he never said those things. The prosecutor tried to work another plea deal with him, but he made it clear to them and the judge that he would never pay any fine for walking two steps across part of the street or report to any probation for it, and they ended up being able to convict him on the charge about the threats to the officer and gave him two years in prison. Also, have a friend currently in one of America's largest jails with a hugely backed up court system for a murder charge I believe him to be innocent of. He's not been offered any bail and has been in for close to 100 days. Luckily (I guess) he hasn't even been indicted yet, and if they haven't indicted within 100 days then it's mandatory to offer bail. But, the charge being what it is, that would probably be $50k at the very least.

[@martynraveybracey7202]

Dude Thats mental! even having a term for it, jaywalking, its just crossing the dam street.

[@Stormynormy42]

@@martynraveybracey7202 absolutely. Granted, the guy had a very toxic personality and I can see how things escalated to the point they did lol, but that doesn't mean he wasn't right in his initial assessment that it was a load of BS that the officer had even stopped him in the first place. He probably would have gotten it dropped fairly easily if he'd just taken the ticket, but his wasn't the personality type that "just takes" anything lol

[@THE-X-Force]

@@Stormynormy42 When keeping it real goes wrong ..

[@wallyman292]

"I met a guy while I was in prison who was ultimately there for jaywalking." Then proceeds to right a novel on all the other things he did that "ultimately" resulted in his being in prison! smfh. . .

[@Stormynormy42]

@@wallyman292 the point was that if an officer had never decided to confront him over taking two steps outside of the crosswalk to cut a corner and get on the sidewalk quicker (which harmed/inconvenienced exactly zero people) then the entire situation would have had no opportunity to arise. Obviously dude could have handled it in a significantly smarter way and avoided all that happened afterwards, but the ridiculous law and even more ridiculous over-policing of said law is what created the situation to begin with

[@skorza212]

When I was working a minimum wage job, where you simply couldn’t save for an actual holiday, we got 25 days leave a year and I had a mate who would not take a holiday for half the year, then take every Monday off for the second half. He basically worked 4 on 3 off on full pay half the time. If you can’t afford to go away properly it’s not a bad way to live

[@danbuckley6584]

haha i worked somewhere that half the people just took all of January off and then would actually need days off and end up fired

[@sgtm7]

Yeah. I have always got 30 days leave per year, plus the federal holidays(I think 12 of them?). I never took long vacations. I just don't really like taking long vacations. Instead, for the months that had no holidays, I would take around three days vacation during that month.

[@ComedorDelrico]

As an American, I've been in the workforce for nearly 30 years and I've *never* had a job that offered paid vacation. I don't mean that I didn't take my vacation days. I mean we didn't have them. Most jobs I've had didn't offer paid sick days, either. Only once did I have a job that offered paid sick days. It was a part time job working for the school district. In three years, I only called in sick one day and, when I got my paycheck, I was shocked to see that I had been paid for it. I thought it was a mistake at first. In most jobs, I've been allowed unpaid days off but only if I could get a co-worker to "cover my shift". I remember once, I had a job working at a medical facility. When I asked about time off, I was told I would have to get someone to cover my shift. But I was the only employee at the company who had the medical license required to do my job, so that would've been impossible. When I pointed this out, I was told they would be hiring another person with my qualification. But, later, I found out that this person would be working the exact same schedule as me, so it would be impossible for them to cover my shifts. So essentially, I was not allowed any time off. Ever. Yay, America!! (Don't get me wrong, I love America but there are some things we could definitely do better.)

[@zotha]

"Why am I telling this story, it's not relevant!" ...because that's 80% of you video time and we love it.

[@kingnekogon]

Lately, thanks to the 2 year pandemic, workers are waking up to their worth. Can y'all do a video on American workers now "Working Their Wage"? Which the Corporate Overlords are trying to spin as "Quiet Quitting" to make people feel bad for setting healthy work boundaries?

[@greendragon4058]

How true it is I could have made way more money on unemployment and stimulus checks then work I worked through the entire pandemic and got no thank you and they figured they can work with a skeleton crew from then on so let him I'm retired

[@jaybeemhardscrote7466]

@@greendragon4058 that's entirely untrue, some families got a total of roughly $4,000 throughout the 2 year pandemic. So, you know, like 2 months worth of expenses TOPS. So unless you have extraordinarily low living expenses, you could not have just got stimulus checks instead of work during the pandemic. But yes, everything else you said was spot on.

[@greendragon4058]

@@jaybeemhardscrote7466 but thank you for correcting me I was working the entire time and my paycheck didn't reflect anything but thank you I really appreciate it

[@Nostripe361]

To be fair, Its great to have ice down here in the South of the US. You kind of need ice for temps that can get over a 100 degrees F

[@Kiefsti]

We're going to be 36°C (96.8°F) in Canada tomorrow... I'm scared.

[@C.Fecteau-AU-MJ13]

Word... I've lived in outback western Australia for a while and the very thought of going to that brutal, God forsaken, oven of a dust bowl before refrigeration was a thing is just insanity. I actually can't figure out how the original gold mining pioneers did it. It must have been literal hell

[@Nostripe361]

@@C.Fecteau-AU-MJ13 I live in the Memphis TN area and every summer there are at least a few days you can not remain out in the sun to long without major risk. My dad and I both were moving some book cases into the house this week and we had to take a break not cause the work was hard but because the heat was making us miserable The worse part of me is that I have migraines triggered by being to hot for to long

[@christinebenson518]

It's in the 80's where I live in Minnesota today. Our air-conditioner died a few weeks ago. It's in the high 70's in the house. Unfortunately, we knew it would only last this year since it quit earlier in the summer. Then it was 85 on the main level when the guy came. My room is over the garage and doesn't get below 77, it's awful. My mom suggested window air-ccondtioners, but our windows aren't compatible. I'm grateful it probably won't get over 85 the rest of the year.

[@k.stacey7389]

Yeah, our tap water doesn’t come out cold. Something I never thought about until a Yankee family member was going on about it. “No, it’s not mixed with the hot, that’s just how it is.” Blew her mind that if you were really hot and sweaty in the middle of summer you didn’t even have to turn on the hot water tap in the shower.

[@naftalibendavid]

I am so accustomed to the asides and jokes that when I hear Simon on a channel without comments, I worry that he’s not feeling well or something.

[@Karagoth444]

Sam, I feel you on that reaction to Simon moving around during the squarespace sponsor read.

[@benjaminchristianhay]

Been away for a while, and by god the standard of these videos has surpassed even their lofty beginnings. Great effort lads =]

[@robertwalker-smith2739]

In my city, the street the jail is on has at least five bail bonds businesses. I would imagine that the people owning those businesses would oppose the elimination of cash bail. On the subject of paid time off, I worked my entire career in the Federal civil service. We had both paid leave and paid sick days, and were paid our full salary if we had jury duty. This is historically because civil service jobs paid less than private sector jobs.

[@24934637]

Re: paid for un-taken holidays. Never happens to me, we've GOT to take them. It's fantastic when it gets to about October, and I've not taken ANY days holiday and my boss tells me that I need to take 2 months holiday before March. Hehe, laughing all the way back to bed!

[@lucasallerman7742]

Also Danny I like how you’re always writing a script that makes Simon talk about his ❄️ usage allegedly

[@greendragon4058]

Has he used to say smash that dislike button

[@hypocriticalcritic6915]

I just want you to know that I've been thinking about this video all week. I feel haunted. You get TWENTY DAYS ON THE LOW END FOR VACATION!?!? I didn't even know it was Labor Day in the US because I never get holidays off.

[@erikkornfeld785]

I love it when Simon uses British slang that isn't common in media. Haven't heard "Slash" in a while.

[@kittenfantastic7730]

Most places that use “crushed ice,” like Sonic fill most of the cup with ice. Especially at the time of day they offer discounts on drinks and such, I always ask for lite ice-I’m not paying for ice that makes my drink taste like weird chemicals.

[@Markle2k]

"Weird chemicals"? It's water. If you said you like to taste the full flavor of the drink, I would understand.

[@GeorgeVCohea-dw7ou]

Sonic is especially famed for their pellet ice, not that it matters significantly from overfill.

[@neen42]

Sodas are pretty much weird chemicals

[@kittenfantastic7730]

@@neen42 but they’re tasty weird chemicals. Drinks with ice have always tasted like freezer burn is probably the best way I can explain it. I just put my drinks in the fridge so they’re cold and don’t have the weird ice freezer burnt taste.

[@MrHighRaw]

I dunno man, I never keep my coke in the fridge. It clumps right up and makes it harder to snort.

[@bekkakay8573]

😂

[@diyeana]

Then here I am in the US taking time off only because I had an emergency surgery and my boss seems irritated with me. 😆 I feel guilty enough for something that's not my fault.

[@VictoriousGardenosaurus]

I woke up from a coma and my first instinct was to call my boss to tell them i wasn't quitting. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@Dubmaster3]

Seems you need a new boss/job. There are good bosses and companies out there. My boss never cares if I need a day off for whatever reason and even makes sure I get paid any available PTO if I want it. Also, I don't care what your boss says, you shouldn't ever feel bad about needing time off. It's not your business.

[@BohoStitcher]

You’re not the only one, Melissa. We are conditioned this way from childhood. It’s a huge problem in this country. I have to BEG my husband to take an extra day off occasionally (he works 6 days a week, 7 if his main job is on overtime). Having our healthcare tied to our jobs is a hideous practice too.

[@daylittrell7490]

Five times now in forty years of working, I've gone back to work in direct contradiction of the "recommended recovery time" after a surgery, simply because I'm afraid not to. I can't be out of work two weeks to recover! I'll have the surgery Thursday, recover over Friday and the weekend, and be back at work Monday or Tuesday - taking it easier than usual, sure, but right back at it, even taking conference calls two days after a 3.5 hour throat surgery. Hell, in 1991, I was back at work 24 hours after delivering my second child. I'm not proud of that - I'm appalled at my lack of concern for my health! But there I was, on my feet for my shift 24 hours later, praying my husband could manage the feedings while I was gone, because altho I was only making minimum wage at that job with zero benefits, I was easily replaceable and we needed my income. I want better for my kids, who are all now grown adults. The only one who HAS better is the one who's 12 years into his Navy enlistment.

[@FarHowling]

@@daylittrell7490 God damn that's fucked up, here in Germany you're not even leaving the Hospital for 2-3 days after Delivery. In fact I have to go on maternity leave six weeks before the estimated Delivery date and 8 weeks after. During all that time I still get my usual salary, and after that, I can take up to 3 years of parental leave, my employers have to accept it and have to let me return to my usual position with my usual pay afterwards. And during my first year of parental leave I get about 60% of my pay from the state, along with about 200€/month of child allowance.

[@lindseyjohnson3577]

The passion Simon shows for ice is ‘Merican af😂

[@ledwestward]

As an American that rarely takes vacation days, I do it because I'm the only one doing my job and I can barely finish it in a normal 40 hour work week. If I'm not in the office, I make it up when I get back. Taking time off almost isn't worth the stress of catching up.

[@michellecoleman5577]

Part of the vacation problem is a lack of universal knowledge around the workplace. So that one person that everyone depends on can never go on vacation because the whole team will just shut down in confusion. Or if they do take off, they get constntly bugged because this broke or how do I do this or what's the code? At least that's my experience with tech jobs.

[@helenaalexandra4197]

Even on days that I was scheduled off as a manager of a tech support team, i was expected to be available to my team and i was responsible for their paperwork. So if 'Suzy' neede to make an emergency move and change of work locale over my 'weekend', I was expected to be available to her to confirm that her new work location met the standards of the department and file the appropriate paperwork, even though it was my weekend. And there was no recourse for either of us if the new location did not meet the standards required. I would have to file the paperwork knowing it would fail and the paperwork for her additional days away from work while she sourced another location, hoping that the advertised info she may be provided was correct. If she "took too long to find a suitable envirnment" she would be susceptible to termination.

[@greendragon4058]

You know I had to leave in August years ago for a funeral they wanted me back to work in 3 days I am flying for 4000 miles and then I'm flying in 4000 miles miles well needless to say after working for 9 years for this company I just walked out the door may keep texting me to work for somebody else and I went nope nope keep sending me texts where I was everyday, I had to get all the paperwork in order I had to figure out what to do with the house I had to figure out everything so I wasn't going to be back to work anytime soon

[@qnkendra1523]

I didn't work tech jobs but I had the same experience. Taking a day or two off always meant figuring out work load what is coming and trying to get coverage while understanding I was coming back to a mess. I ended up for a time doing the procedures (written step by step instructions) for most of the departments I worked in with one company. I got the weirdest looks when I was like I want things to be set so if I walk out tomorrow the way to do the job is still known. I did have a different view point though as a sufferer of chronic migraines. Stress about my job while off with a migraine was a nasty self defeating thing since it would trigger/ maintain the migraine since many of the meds I was given worked so long as I didn't stress for like a day after it knocked out the current one.

[@mgbowe1]

Crushed ice is for drinks with straws. Ice cubes, when there's an appropriate amount to keep the drink cool for the duration of your meal, have a tendency to interfere with straws. The smaller size of the bits when using crushed ice allows it to float more freely and get out of the way of the straw.

[@brandonpeters1618]

I.C.E Agent over here

[@techn1kal1ty]

Word.

[@Jessepigman69]

@Reno Figaro ice floats. Less ice means it’s not touching your straw

[@droomzy]

@@brandonpeters1618 bro thinks he's Jack Frost 💀

[@Jessepigman69]

@Reno Figaro sir you are the meme I aim to be. Hats off

[@blackhat4206]

You're right, Simon. Free refills all day long!

[@dianacarbonate]

When I worked at Amazon, we weren't allowed to request a single day off between October 1st and January 1st. One girl requested Halloween of to GET MARRIED and she was denied. We had no sick days; we would get points of we called in sick and of we hit a certain number we would be fired. At the call center where I worked, they threatened to fire me because I insisted on taking 3 days off at Christmas because I needed to take 7 hour bus trips to get home to my family and back. The culture is bad in general but it's stupidly worse for minimum wage workers.

[@elias_xp95]

lmao. I wouldn't last a month working at Amazon. I have dignity of life and would take days off to suit me, not Amazon. (Jobs are dime a dozen, and easy to get)

[@sgtm7]

Do they inform the employees prior to them signing their employment contract, that they can not take off between October and January?

[@dianacarbonate]

@@sgtm7 No.

[@mattiemathis9549]

After retiring I needed something to do so I started working at a convenience store. About 9 months after I started, I got pneumonia. There was nobody to cover my shift. If I didn’t go to work, the previous shift employee would have to stay and work a double. I worked for another month, sick as hell, then my doctor put me in hospital. He said if I could not get time off work, he would make them give me time off work. It wasn’t about the company or the owner, it was about my coworkers who were screwed when I didn’t go to work.

[@stanleyhyde8529]

I love having content makers over the pond from me. I gives me a reminder of the fact that the rest of the world isn't completely insane. It's nice because my government is making me wonder.

[@ShelleyJaneK]

I worked at an elementary school as a teacher aid and among many many terrible things I have two highlights: admin/principal would send an email at 10pm announcing a mandatory meeting for all staff the next morning that would take up our entire morning planning period then we would get in trouble for not being prepared (we had an hour in the morning to print worksheets, finish planning for the day, etc), and after working for them for a year and ignoring the worsening symptoms of my chronic illness I was hospitalized, taken out of work by my doctor, and placed on short term disability, and the school fired me shortly after 🥲

[@leahrnovak]

I'm a correctional officer in the U.S. and I totally agree that our justice system is fucked up. But we're generally happy when someone makes bail because then they leave and we don't have to deal with them anymore.

[@Joppi1992]

Yeah, of course you should be happy to let a suspect walk free, who may or may not be a risk for society depending on the crime the person is accused of, as long as the person can produce the cash for that freedom.

[@slik1977]

I'm with Simon. I will always have as much ice as possible in a cold drink, however Nandos can sod off since they replaced Coke refills with Pepsi... also Coke refills need to be mandatory in every restaurant

[@Matze-c1j]

The toilet stall having large openings actually came in handy for me once. I was bullied a lot in elementary school and the last day of school the four major troublemakers of that grade figured it would be a good time to send me off for the summer with a swirlie (for those fortunate enough to not have experienced this, this is where they dunk your head in the toilet bowl and flush it). At first I was able to hold on to the sides of the door frame like a cat being forced into a bath but I couldn't hold out forever so I suddenly let go and rolled on the floor out of the stall and ran off. I still remember hearing one of them say "Forget it, he's too slippery" as I was making my escape.

[@SaBoTeUr2001]

The worst constructed toilet cubicle I have ever come across was off the lobby of a military hospital in the Philippines I worked at. Not only the gap under the door coming up almost to your knees, but the top of door only coming up to my chin. I soon learned that no one uses this bathroom for precisely that reason, at it was therefore the cleanest public toilet in the facility. I made it my personal toilet. 🙂

[@d4mdcykey]

Yes, Simon, the 'justice' system in the U.S. is pathetically antiquated and given crime stats with other advanced countries _obviously does not work._

[@wallyman292]

Your comparing apples to oranges. the US has a multi-cultured society unlike any other in the world. That said, what would you suggest to improve our judicial system while reducing crime at the same time? Just curious.

[@eliahabib5111]

@@wallyman292 don't make it money dependant. Btw USA is not the only multi cultural society in thd world. Other have the same situation as New York and handle it just fine (London?). And places like Ohio are not that multi cultural so that is just an escuse.

[@wallyman292]

@@eliahabib5111 England is much more homogenous than we are here in the states. I'm not saying that is solely the cause, but lack of equity, be it perceived or real, between the cultures is a huge contributing factor in crime rates. And this is country wide. Not just in our big cities. And I still am not sure how getting rid of cash bail would improve things. Cities that have already done this are now all seeing a fairly large increase in crime rates. Is this acceptable for you?

[@d4mdcykey]

@@wallyman292 ~ _"the US has a multi-cultured society unlike any other in the world."_ Incorrect. No matter how you categorize 'multi-cultured society' the U.S. is neither the most multi-cultural nor is it particularly exceptional in that regard. In point of fact it is ranked as #90 on the ethnic and cultural diversity level list from the widely used Fearon's analysis for determining ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious diversity of countries worldwide, so not even remotely close to #1. And then to label something generically as 'unlike any other in the world' is purely subjective and immaterial to a serious discussion. _"That said, what would you suggest to improve our judicial system while reducing crime at the same time?"_ I'm not a politician or a lawmaker so this is an aimless question. I lack the foreknowledge and experience of law, judicial procedure, working with the opposition to get a bill in congress passed, etc. etc. , so anything I would suggest would lack an informed opinion. However, observation and the most basic forms of comparisons indicate that the U.S. has a pathetic record in regards to law enforcement and the for-profit judicial system where some of the most basic offenses ends up putting a person in jail, in debt, and stigmatized _before they are in a court of law._ For developed nations, this is exclusive to America. This is a single example, there are dozens more. So...we can keep doing the same stupidity that clearly does not work for crime rates OR citizens rights, or...we can get off our asses and adopt programs that have proven to work elsewhere.

[@wallyman292]

@@d4mdcykey As you (kind of) point out, I didn't say we were the most culturally diverse country in the world. Only that we are unlike any other. And on that note, I beg to differ in us not being exceptional, in that most culturally diverse countries are content to let those cultures remain diverse and unique within their borders while in the US there's more of a push for all cultures to adapt to a single, unified culture of "Americans" (you know. . . the whole "great melting pot" thing).

[@epowell4211]

American toilets: I always thought the gaps were so you could easily tell they were occupied and they don't bother me. However, public multi-stall bathrooms with no front door or a permanently open entry door gross me out. Went to a restaurant near a university and the door to the single toilet bathroom was literally a curtain that wasn't even as wide as the opening.

[@nmc5988]

I don’t normally comment on videos, but I want to point out that I’ve never heard of a person going to jail (other than for short periods of time because the driver is drunk, etc.) because of a traffic ticket. I have been an attorney in the U.S. for over 20 years. (I’ve only practiced in one state so I’m not going to say that it never happens. Just that I would be very surprised if it did happen.) Also, the reason why a person will be in jail waiting a hearing is because they’ve agreed to waive time. Generally, they are hoping to wait the prosecution out to get a better deal or their attorney needs more time to prepare their defense. (I do however agree that the U.S. should eliminate cash bail.) Also the device they put on cars to detect if a person has been drinking is very expensive and the accused person has to pay for it so it’s not that simple. (I normally enjoy most of these videos and fell like I can trust the content but honestly, this one seems very poorly researched.)

[@DpMario11]

People in Australia go to prison very often, for repeat offences in driving, that's not even for drunk driving. If you've been caught driving 3 times while disqualified, good chance your looking at minimum 3 months prison and large fines

[@ThisisCitrus]

If you get a traffic ticket that you can't pay, then you go to jail. An attorney should know that.

[@morrigan908]

@@ThisisCitrus Um, no, you don't go to jail for a normal traffic ticket, regardless of your ability to pay for it. Typically you'll have your license suspended until you pay the ticket and any added fees that have been added on for non-payment. You've got to be committing a serious offense to go to jail--DUI, driving more than 30 mph over the speed limit (varies by state), etc.

[@MrGouldilocks]

@@ThisisCitrus If the state wanted to arrest you and put you in jail for unpaid traffic tickets, they could probably do so by law. But in practice, they're just going to suspend your license and wait for you to come to them to pay your traffic tickets, and reinstatement fees when you need a photo ID for something or other.

[@raylouis7013]

@@DpMario11 yeah but to get disqualified is pretty difficult - it doesn't happen "really often". I only know two people who have ever been disqualified. And one of them managed to get an exemption to drive to and from work.... (He's a chef and the local public transport effectively shuts down after 10pm)... So getting busted 3 times driving while disqualified not only means you've lost your licence for repeated infractions AND you've been pulled over for doing something stupid (because they have to check your licence to know it's not someone else was driving your car) 3 times AFTER that.... That's a level of "not learning from your mistakes" or blatant disregard for the law that is really at stupid levels.

[@magus104]

I felt like at my old job I was more dedicated to the business than my boss. He always made it seem like it was super important to get the product out yet if i scheduled time off he would just have my machine down for the whole week losing a whole weeks production rather than having my manager run the machine. Made me feel like taking time off would put us behind on production.