Not Intent on Arriving

One Hawaiian restaurant thinks such a charge is fine. The restaurant, Keoni by Keo’s writes, in red print, on the front of their menu that “a 15 percent gratuity will be added to your check for parties of six or more and for non-English speaking guests.” The restaurant defends the gratuity because 99 percent of their customer base consists of tourists, many of whom do not have similar tipping traditions in their countries of origin. As a result, servers lose out on wages because the restaurant assumes 9 percent of its revenue will consist of tips when paying taxes.

In a KITV report, several English-speaking tourists objected to the policy. The Hawaii Civil Rights Commission plans to investigate the gratuity.

Robert Michelson, 21, just had a question for the 911 operator. He wanted to know how much trouble he could get into for growing one marijuana plant— “just a seedling” he clarified. The operator replied he could be arrested, he said “thank you” and hung up. The problem? He called from his home phone number and the police responded, searched his home, found a small amount of paraphernalia and arrested him.

He admitted spending a lot of money for the equipment when questioned by the police. Out on $5,000 bond, he flashed two middle fingers at police officers when leaving the detention center. “Presumably for doing such a good job,” the police said in a statement.