Cup of Coffee

June 7, 2024: Shields Up

16 Comments

Speaking of isolated spots of cicadas, there's a random spot near work that's like driving through an asteroid field. Just like a bunch of random rocks hitting the hull as you drive through.

16 thoughts on “June 7, 2024: Shields Up”

  1. I will try to tip toe around the forbidden zone. I joined Hospitality Minnesota a while back as I realized there was not enough smart representation from my industry when it comes to legislative issues (like reigning in credit card fees). Well, a few months ago, I was asked to meet with the Governor about a handful of subjects. A few weeks ago, I was asked to be a hill runner for the National Restaurant Association. I agreed to do it, as there are a bunch of issues on the table that could affect my business greatly. The unfortunate side of this is I have to schedule a meet and greet with my Representative, and let's just say we do not see eye to eye on many issues. She is being facing a primary challenge by a fella who is even more distant from my beliefs. It will be a challenge for me to meet with any legislator from my neck of the woods right now and be as friendly as I should be.

    Regarding credit card fees: I annually pay somewhere between $120K-$150K in credit card fees. It is a pretty ridiculous amount. I have chosen not to add a "3% credit card fee" on my receipts, as I think people don't really like to see that. I just adjust my prices as needed to account for the expense. Both at the state and federal level, legislators are looking to make adding such fees illegal. This is getting more traction than the effort to protect small business from the crazy fees we are charged by the banks and cc processing companies. It's all a mess.

      1. Yeah... it's pretty convoluted, but technically you can't discount for cash. You can add the fee on for using a credit card. In the end, I don't want to make credit card users feel like they are being targeted as they make up 90% of our business. I do think the banks and cc processing companies are making billions off the backs of small business. Part of the reason our fees keep going up is tied into rewards cards. I laugh when guests are surprised to hear that their credit card big rewards are covered by the business they shop in and not the banks.

        1. VISA is a monopoly so they can get away with fleecing businesses (and consumers) as a business model. Their power is enormous, they are the 800 pound gorilla of the payment card industry, you can't successfully run any retail business without them. My wife's job is to resolve disputes between businesses and consumers when the transaction involves a VISA card, that's all she does all day long. I don't know how much can be accomplished through legislation, though, because money talks. How much is the restaurant association willing to donate to political campaigns to get the legislative outcomes you want? That's the only question politicians seem to care about. Your group might have better luck reorganizing as a PAC. #cynicism

          1. Yea, monopoly power sucks.

            That is an industry ripe for disruption. But I guess the barriers to entry must be high.

        2. Personally, I wouldn't mind if credit card transaction fees were mandated to be more transparent. If the law was such that sales tax had to be baked into the price and the credit card fee was tacked on after-the-fact as a line item, people might even complain more about credit card fees than sales tax. As Twayn mentions, though, it seems unlikely that the VISA lobbyists would allow that kind of a change.

          1. I really wish sales tax was included in the advertised price. It's not that hard.

  2. I took my daughter to a show at the Fine Line last night. I think I found two people older than me. Definitely the youngest show I've attended and I was the one that wanted to go!

    1. I've gone to more concerts in the last 3 years than I had in the previous 20. It's always a bit comforting to see people there my age or older. I don't expect it, but I do tend to move toward them just because I know they're less likely to mosh or do anything too extraneous.

      At the last concert I was at (Nothing More), my daughter thought she saw me crowd surfing. Even sent out a snap suggesting as such. I had to let her know that sadly it was not me. If it were me, I'd be hyping that up like nothing else! (I also won't like and say I didn't think about it). There was a mosh pit for the metal band before NM that materialized right behind me. I ended up spending most of the set looking back and holding up the security guy that was keeping things in order (as much as one can do so).

      1. The kids don't know how to mosh these days. The crowd was decidedly older at the Frozen Soul/Obituary/Cannibal Corpse/Amon Amarth show I went to a month ago compared to the Born of Osiris show a couple weeks ago and the difference between the mosh pits was stark. I had a blast in the pit with the older crowd, but when we tried to mix it up at the latter show there wasn't enough people in it for the area it took up to get into any kind of rhythm.

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