From Reuters, via the New Zealand Herald: Contrary to the notion that American tourists are obnoxious, a survey of 15,000 European hoteliers found that Americans ranked second, behind the Japanese, as the world’s politest and most preferable guests. This may have to do, of course, with our great fondness for tipping. Britons, meanwhile, were rated the fifth worst tourists, due to “rude behavior, noise and a miserly attitude to tipping.”
More than a dozen Washington Post staffers spent a Saturday tailing sixty teenage girls (and one boy) through Tysons Corner, a shopping mecca for affluent Washingtonians. The reporters studied how teens make buying decisions by following them around the mall and documenting their purchases in print, photos, audio clips and video.
Via Consumerist: Forbes has published a list of the best- and worst-paying jobs in the U.S. The top nine slots are all types of doctors; the bottom six all involve the restaurant business. The No. 1 job is anesthesiologist. What does it say about us that the best-paying job in America involves bringing someone to the brink of death?
8 Comments
They say that anesthesiologists don’t get paid that much for putting you to sleep, they get paid that much for waking you up…
— DG LewisOh America I praise you. In my summer reading list, which I hope to get done before August:
I’m not a terrorist, I own a gun
My adviser is a terrorist, should I report?
And, of course, the Freakonomics blog.
.lermit
— lermitIt says we value people based on the scarcity and perceived value of their skill set. Haven’t you read the book? Sheesh.
— inuseWhat about blog editors? I hear they make the big bucks…
— 711buddhaIssue with the list of the 25 least paying jobs: servers and bartenders work largely for tips and in my experience most claim (at best) 50% of what they actually make. For example, I actually made $17,000 last year working 25 hours a week waiting tables in an Applebee’s like restaurant.
— Robert B.“What does it say about us that the best-paying job in America involves bringing someone to the brink of death?”
LOL. I fail to see any logic in your question.
Executioners, who actually take someone past the brink of death, get paid far less.
Anesthesiology fees are set by multiple factors, including market forces, which in toto suggest to me that “it say(s)” we live in a market-driven society. No, I’m not an anesthiologist.
— drbOn tipping…
Australians by and large do not tip. This is not because we don’t appreciate good service. It’s because (maybe until recently anyway), every service industry worker is on a generous (by international standards) hourly wage. Most waiters and waitresses would be earning around AUD15-20 (approx USD12.60-16.90 today), which would be around 2-3-4 times what a waiter or waitress would probably get as a base wage in the US or for that matter, most other places. When tourists come and tip, staff are very happy indeed!
— Aussie BobI would suggest that passing gas is one of the more stressful specialties in the medical profession. I have heard that they have one of the highest rates of drug usage and malpractice insurance. My understanding is that many surgery deaths are attributed to the anesthesiologist, even if the surgeon really was the primary culprit. And they can’t really complain, because often, the surgeon picks the anesthesiologist.
— Bruce Hayden