There is a lot to like in this little book. Fans of websites like Captain Awkward or The Pervocracy will find themselves nodding their heads along with discussions of topics like active listening, self-respect, and treating people you're attracted to like they're also real! However, I find that I cannot write a review of this without taking umbrage on two particular topics.



On sick leave: “So long as your company is part of an industrialized nation, you will have sick days allotted to you.” Excus

There is a lot to like in this little book. Fans of websites like Captain Awkward or The Pervocracy will find themselves nodding their heads along with discussions of topics like active listening, self-respect, and treating people you're attracted to like they're also real! However, I find that I cannot write a review of this without taking umbrage on two particular topics.



On sick leave: “So long as your company is part of an industrialized nation, you will have sick days allotted to you.” Excuse me? If you just straight-up Google U.S. sick leave, Wikipedia tells you that "The United States does not currently require that employees have access to paid sick days to address their own short-term illnesses or the short-term illness of a family member. The U.S. does guarantee unpaid leave for serious illnesses through the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)." Last time I checked, the U.S. was an industrialized nation & all, but as an example, my husband does not now & has never had access to paid sick leave. I get that Doherty doesn't actually specify paid leave, but I think that's implied; to my mind, taking unpaid time off ≠ "leave." I’m of the mind that if you asked just about any worker in either the food service or the hospitality industry if they'd feel comfortable taking unpaid sick time, most would tell you no, either because their employer doesn’t let them or because a day without pay is just not feasible. I’m not trying to be a dick here, but I find it utterly ridiculous that when B gets sick, we have to make the untenable compromise between him going to work & being miserable & maybe getting some of his co-workers sick too or just missing out on the money he’d make that day. This is a big issue for many, many people in this country & it seems pretty irresponsible to just throw this industrialized nation stuff out there without making note of it, especially since the U.S. is practically the only industrialized nation that does not offer paid time off to most of the workers in the country. Here’s good ol’ Wikipedia again: “At least 145 countries provide paid sick days for short- or long-term illnesses, with 127 providing a week or more annually. 98 countries guarantee one month or more of paid sick days. Many high-income economies require employers to provide paid sick days upwards of 10 days, including: Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Singapore.” Way to be, America.



Here’s Doherty on tipping: “Here’s a quick guide for standard tips: 10% delivery.” Ahem. I’ve worked for several different places delivering food over the years & here’s what I’ll tell you. If you tip 10% and you haven’t just had $200 worth of food delivered to you, you’re flat out not tipping enough. Most places pay their drivers minimum wage plus a flat fee per delivery. What the customer pays as a “delivery charge” does not always go to the driver. I’ve worked in places that pay $.75 per delivery, $1.50 per, and 6% commission on sales (which was the best ever & I don’t know of anyone who pays it anymore). Gas in Denver right now is at $3.29 a gallon (which seems really super cheap so I’m totally going to fill up on my way home from work!), so I’ll say it again: if you tip 10%, you’re not tipping enough. You should be tipping your delivery person at least 20% & if the weather sucks, you should be tipping at least 30-40%. And if you ever, ever tip either your delivery driver, your cocktail waitress, your bartender, or your server less than 10% on any meal ever, then you’re probably destined for a hot place when you leave this life.



But other than all that, yeah, okay, pretty good book. And all the other reviews here seem to allude to this being a book for young adults, so maybe I'm a dolt for taking it so seriously.

