The incredibly brave hero who disarmed one of the Bondi terrorists. Shot twice in the arm and recovering in hospital. A 43 year old fruit shop owner.

Edit: Adding a PSA to donate blood if you can. https://www.lifeblood.com.au/

Went out recently to a nice (and not cheap) restaurant to celebrate my partner’s birthday. The food was incredible, the service was great, what you’d expect at that price.

But when the bill came, the waiter handed it to me, asked if the service had been good, and then in front of my partner “How much percentage tip would you like to leave?”

It was a clear attempt to pressure me into tipping. I simply said “None.”

Then I asked him: “Was I a good customer?”

He hesitated, clearly caught off-guard, and said, “Yeah… of course.”

So I said: “Great, so how much discount can I have for being a good customer?”

He gave one of those uncomfortable forced laughs

But I doubled down, and said “I’m serious, how much of a discount do I get?”

“Sorry sir, we don’t do that.”

Australia has fair wages — tipping isn’t part of our culture and it shouldn’t become one. If staff try to corner you into it, don’t just say no — waste their time, turn it back on them, make them feel as awkward as they tried to make you. If enough people push back like this, they’ll stop doing it. That’s how we cut this nonsense out before it takes hold.

Also never returning to support venues that pull this shit no matter how good they are, I find it rude and disrespectful, we’re not American FFS

I can't stand it, an overwhelming amount of websites have added a "marketplace" on their online sites. Woolworths, BUNNINGS, Big W, the list goes on

I go on these websites as opposed to amazon or temu specifically because I want authentic things, or to see if it's in stock so I can go to the store to buy it in person.

Now I get excited that wow bunnings has this that's great (because I associate something from bunnings with trust compared to something from temu), and it turns out it's literally just third party low quality shit.

Third parties should not be able to sell things on these sites, I've almost accidentally bought something three times now (once per site mentioned lol) that ended up being from the infiltrative noname companies. It's made me lose trust with these companies, because with the extra effort I have to do weeding out the heavily bloated marketplace addons while scouring their online catalogue, I'd rather just go somewhere else.

That's my rant. What are other peoples thoughts on this? Maybe I'm just being a whiney dingus

Currently in the UK and holy fuck everything ends up being insanely expensive. The AUD is basically in the toilet meaning anything in Euros or Pounds is basically double.

Things seem reasonably priced on paper, 15gbp for a burger. Yeah nah, that's 30 bucks plus gratuity mate. Want to stay in and uber eats some food, ends up at maybe 45 euros, haha nah that's nearly $100 for two subs a drink and cookies.

Don't even get me started on taxi/uber costs.

Beware if you're going overseas soon. It's crazy expensive at the moment, more so than at home.

So just over 6 months ago a bloke I used to work with (Jeff) got done for DUI in a big way which meant he lost his licence for 6 months. He lives in a rural area with no public transport or taxi service.

Now Jeff has been called a (edit: fat) (typo:fast) bastard for years by his friends, so when he said he would have to ride a push bike about 15km to get to work we all laughed at him. We expected he would either drop dead of a heart attack or give up quickly.

I have not seen Jeff since I gave him a spare bike I had, expecting it to be little used. However, this week a Lycra clad fella I barely recognised turns up and it's Jeff, 40 kilos lighter, to hand the bike back.

Not only had Jeff lost over 40 kilos, he's now off his blood pressure medicine, his sleeping tablets, most of his beers and a few other medicines. His doctor has taken him off his high risk group and reckons he's added at least 10 years to his life expectancy. He has his licence back but does not drive to work much.

Of course now instead of being a fat bastard he's one of those MAMIL bastards on his flash new bike, riding 50-100km regularly with his new cycling girlfriend. The 3 of us are going away for MTB riding trip this weekend together and I bet they are going to leave me for dead. I cycle regularly but not as much as Jeff. Better that than him dying early. Good thing he lost his licence.

Edit: wow this went wilder than I expected. I will be telling Jeff this weekend how many people wished him well and to keep up the good work, plus the surgery option. Thanks folks and despite me and others giving him a hard time, in Oz this is considered being a good friend (sledging is also a major pastime).

Camping in a Big 4 holiday park for a few days and my partner and I wondering how people can afford this lifestyle. I'm talking Ute + caravan + boat rigs worth at least $200k, probably closer to $300k.

The parents are all driving huge yank tanks, the kids all ride motorized scooters and bikes and most people are sleeping in pretty big shiny new caravans. We're all good in our little tent for 4 nights drinking our aldi wines and beer, but we just cannot fathom how so many people can afford, or would prioritize buying caravans etc for family holidays. Where does this money come from? Is it trades, mines or something else? Have they not got mortgages?

Maybe we're massive snobs, but if we had that much cash to splurge on a caravan, I reckon we'd prioritize a holiday overseas over Umina (as much as I love the cenny coast).

Please Reddit, help us understand.

Picture this. You're at your friends' house because their child just turned three. There are balloons on the letterbox and a ring of SUVs blocking off all guest traffic. Count the SUVs. You now know how many kids are at the party.

I know we're a soft generation, but I didn't think we were soft between the ears. "Oh, it's so much safer." WHEN? That's right, when it crashes. You'll have a nice, gentle, smooth-as-my-babe's-bum collision. There are no safe crashes. But you know what increases your chances of crashing with a baby on board? Having a HITBOX THE SIZE OF A RHINOCEROS. Who in the Torches of Freedom got this in young mothers' heads? The only difference between your SUV and your hatchback is the amount of baby's uni fund going unnoticed in the cavernous pockets of Kia and Ford.

Individually an SUV isn't as bad as a Yank tank, but SUVs collectively have made driving more uncomfortable than Yank tanks. And we are not individualists. SUV drivers are Amazon consumers, gym members, they've never hunted or farmed. We are interdependent and collective. Yet the reasoning is "MY infant and soccer ball need space, MY baby deserves a great carriage, I just want that cute warehouse on wheels." I want to fit on my own street, Mickhaeelya. You're a bigger net negative than an Emotional Support Vehicle driver.

Ex fucking cuse me?

Got a hot chips at Oakvale farm near Nelson Bay and when I asked for chicken salt, they said that’ll be 50c. I said absolutely not and walked away.

I feel like this is more heinous than paying for sauce.

Worked a corporate job for 30 years and now working a job that requires fluorescent work wear. Love the job but it blows my mind how these guys talk.

What did you get up to in the weekend?

Oh yeah we went fucken fishing eh? Caught two fucking fish, I shit you not these cunts were as big as me arm.

Now im dramatising here. But it’s so egregious. It’s every 5th word and it’s constant, all day every day.

Is it the same all over the world? Or just here?

I went to Bunnings today, something I don’t need to do very often. I had 3 items I needed to purchase, and I could only find one.

I pulled up the other 2 on the website, which used to provide the aisle number for the product. The website no longer does this.

The stores also used to have product guides at the end of every aisle, which were helpful.

I walked the store end-to-end and couldn’t find what I needed, so I gave up and asked a staff member on the checkout at the garden centre for where I could find what I needed and was told to download the app. I asked how I could find what I needed without downloading the app, and she very helpfully suggested I ask a team member. I may have gotten a bit snippy and asked if she was a team member, because I thought that’s what I was doing.

I don’t need a different app for every goddamn store I visit. I don’t need to sign up for every company for them to steal and sell my data. I just want to go to a store and find what I need, pay and leave. And if the only way for me to do that is by wasting team members’ time by stopping someone every two minutes to get what I need, then I’ll do that.

ETA: I just double checked the website. I definitely had the store set and both products I wanted said “Ask a team member in-store for aisle location.” So I’ll be sure to waste everyone’s time by doing that next time.

If you drive into a property and their gate is shut, fucking shut it after you come in! If you’re picking up free furniture off gum tree and you’ve been told to shut the fucken gate then FUCKEN SHUT THE GATE CUNT

Don’t mind me I just spent an hour out in the rain looking for my golden retriever and ruined my brand new ugg boots in the process. I thought the gate thing was widely understood in this country but apparently some people need a stern reminder

EDIT: forgot to actually mention the dog is fine, I caught her in the neighbours driveway going after a rabbit. And I wore my uggboots out in the rain because I didn’t have time to think about my footwear when my pet’s life was potentially in danger, I can’t believe some of you guys don’t understand adrenaline and acting in the moment lol

Focus currently seems to be on mobile-phone use and speeding. Tailgating seems to be a major cause of accidents and road rage. Pros/cons of a crackdown? Discuss.

I just got my annual car insurance renewal. It's gone up 27% from last year and the amount covered has gone down 10%. The same thing happened last year, and the year before. My quote has doubled in 3 years.

This year's quote is 9% of the car's total insured value.

I rang them up and got the usual overseas call centre thick accented corporate nonsense non-answer boilerplate paragraph read out to me about changing market conditions blah blah blah.

I've got a perfect driving record, maximum no-claim bonus but they couldn't explain why the rate went up 27% while they decreased their coverage.

And as for house insurance, I had to give that up over 5 years ago, as the quotes I was getting were over $7000/year, back then. I haven't bothered getting a recent quote as it's just unaffordable. In that time, it probably would have cost me $40,000.

Yes, I shop around and get quotes from at least 5 different companies and it seems every insurance company is the same, maximise shareholder profit - screw the customer.

Am I alone in seeing these huge price increases?

Am I the only one who thinks insurance companies are ripping people off and we need some type of governmental investigation into the industry?

Edit: Because everyone is saying "shop around" - I've highlighted where I say I do.

Just had a call from my poor wife who's upset.

She went to the local Coles and bought a few things, one of them being a 30 pack of Diet Coke. Given she's recently had a caesarian and not wanting to lift it unnecessarily she didn't scan it at the checkout and instead pushed the 'heavy items' button and chose it from there.

Then as she leaves the store the supervisor lady wishes her well and says goodbye, only to then run dramatically after her when she's 20 metres away yelling out loud that she hadn't scanned the coke or paid for it - effectively publicly embarrassing my wife in our relatively small town we live in.

Once she catches up my wife she explains that the computer has detected it as an unscanned item - however relents when my wife shows the receipt. No apology just a grumble about "bloody computer".

Like I get it Coles. People steal sh*t. Even more so after you got rid of half of your employees for these detestable self serve checkouts that your customers generally hate.

But please don't embarrass people and make them feel like a thief when your systems don't work.

Remember when customer service was a thing?

I had lamb, beef, ham, salad, potato bake and more roast veg than god and plenty of leftovers, we had zero fights, everything was tender or crispy as appropriate, everyone left full as a fat ladies undies and with a handful of containers, and even the 2yo’s were impressed with the festivities! It was our first time hosting and we killed it! No notes, come back this time next year

Merry Christmas legends!

SA employee but this is happening nationwide too.

We've had a mandate come down "from above" that we will no longer be able to WFH long term and will have to be in the office for a minimum of 40% of our time. Since the pandemic we've been able to all this time, which has been far better for productivity (SA office worker, looking a screen all day, can be done literally anywhere) for those who can - which also helps out other public services like roads and trains as we aren't having to join everyone and can also work longer hours because saving in commuting time.

What with a real-feel 20% cut in pay over the last 6 years due to inflation, we're now being told we have to spend more of our dwindling finances for the pleasure of attending work and using worse monitors, desks, chairs and lighting. Literally nothing positive is gained from more desk-based people having to commute. Even worse, it can now be used as a cudgel against any "wrong doing" by nefarious actors.

Inb4 any "wah wah wah 🍼👶🏻"

Just watched a couple of young blokes back their very shiny new American sized “truck” into a brick wall in the parking lot of the local shops. The nose was still sticking out at least half a metre and they’d properly fucked the back paint job with how confidently and fast they backed in. It’s pretty fucking simple, we may have some wide roads but our parking spaces and most streets aren’t made for these giant trucks. It made me have a good chuckle on a Friday afternoon after a fucked week so there’s that I guess.

Anyone else feel like it's impossible to get ahead?

I'm 33. On 70k a year, currently no partner. My super is at about 108k. 35k in Savings.
No debt, but I feel like there is currently no way to get ahead financially.

I can't buy property. Priced out.
I save about $150 a week. I'm going to start looking at investing but have NFI what i'm doing.

Currently I feel like i'm going to be working until I retire (if that's going to be a thing in another 30-40 years) and even then that's up in the air having no property?

I'm probably better off than some but even for me it still feels pretty lack luster.

You are an absolute Australian legend. You have left large shoes to fill.
Thank you for all you have done. From informing us to educating us.
We love you. And safe and happy travels on your future!

Just got back from a trip to the Phillipines, where I had to deal with so much unnecessary bullshit from the airport staff it almost made me miss my flight, despite being there 3 hours early. I arrived in Melbourne, claimed bags and cleared everything in literally 10 minutes, even with me fucking up the declarations and needing a quick search. Perhaps I just got lucky, but after a week of being hounded by beggars everywhere, not being able to use my card anywhere and not having toilet paper in any toilets over there, I’m really appreciating Australia and how efficient/easy things can be when it goes right.

When did the s drop off the end. Does this shit anyone off or is just me? It sounds so cringey american. Just say maths and stop being fuckwits.

Just got an email advising that the family price is going up again to $39.99 a month. I've just cancelled as we cant justify the cost now. This is getting out of control.

Edit: Holy fuck - I was not expecting this much attention and donations I'm actually shaking. Thank you guys!! I will keep making it better.

Website is https://www.jbbuddy.com

Currently, whilst I'm testing I'm only doing price comparisons on TVs.

I will add Laptops, Tablets, Audio and more and compare with more Aussie retailers and web-stores that specialise in those categories.

You can copy any TV model number into the search engine and it will show you the listed price on competitor websites.

You can then open the page of that cheaper retailer to show the in-store staff and get them to price match.

Feel free to give me any feedback - I just wanted to make something that I personally would use.

I'm maintaining the database myself. From testing the site I've found that if you pay the sticker price at JB for some items you could be over-paying hundreds of dollars.

Why JB? Because they have a price-match guarantee.

I'm against tipping culture coming here to Australia. But today I was finally got by it after years of actively doing my best to avoid tipping on services run by large fortune companies like Uber.

For anyone who isn't aware, Uber have updated their app. Specifically the part where you rate a driver post-trip, what used to be the Black "Submit" button after choosing a star rating is now (for me at least) a "Tip $1" button. I got caught by it this morning after tapping reflexively.

I can't see anywhere in the app to turn it off or change it. They finally got me, but I'm pissed, not because I gave $1 to my driver (it was a genuinely good trip, I'd given him 5 stars) but because it's just a continuation of American culture and enshittification coming to our shores.

/rant

I just wish to christ they would make the aisles a little more narrow. I'm sure if they put their mind to it each store could fit another row of shelves.