Bro CEOs

[viper37]

What hotel regulations are you talking about?  Sprinklers and emergency exits?

The way I look at those two is they're monetizing idle assets.

on the top of my head:

• building code is different for an hotel than for a house
  
• construction workers conditions are different for an hotel than for a house, that inflates the costs of constructions too
  
• hotels&such have to submit to inspections to insure they keep their ratings
  
• hotels have to charge customers some taxes requires by the States/cities, something Airb'nb is not always doing
  
• they are required to hire specific people and pay various taxes (social security) for these people when they offer cleaning services, something you don't have to bother with even if you're offering that particular services (you could just hire an illegal immigrant and pay her cash, it's unlikely the authorities would chase you for that).
  

Imho, to level the playing field, if we require hotels to charge customers a special tax, Airb'n'b should be asked to do the same.

I agree it's a great idea to monetize idle assets, but if you impose restrictions one one business, you either have the same restrictions for everyone or you don't have any restrictions at all.

For taxis, well, it took the arrival of Uber in Montreal to finally force a few of them to offer their services via mobile phones and accept credit card payments.  I don't have a lot of sympathy for them...

But, they have a legitimate point: if they're forced to comply with certain rules and Uber has fuck all to do with such rules, than either you remove some of the restrictions from Taxi company or you enforce them on Uber & co.  I prefer the 1st point, but I can understand why so many taxi drivers are pissed off at Uber.

[viper37]

The service is great for customers sure. How they treat their 'employees' not so much. And that whole business of flouting laws about getting permission for driverless cars?

If drivers are not happy with their compensation it's very easy for them to stop driving.  Unless you're talking about the CEO spazzing out to that one driver.

True. They can just find other jobs in a jiff.

it was never meant to be a full time occupation.  As Yi said, monetization of idle assets.  You use your car 30hrs a week, you want to do 15 more hours with it by renting your services.

if at some point, you realize you don't even cover your expenses or you simply don't make enough to justify offering the services, then stop doing it.  Seek something else.  When no one wants to do Uber anymore, they're raise their prices.

[Razgovory]

Hostess bar!=titty bar

Yeah I think that point is going to be lost on a lot of people not familiar with hostess bars.

So it's a titty bar without tits, where the dancers don't dance, but you're still paying them to sit with you--they just don't leave when it's their turn on the pole.
Yeah, so much more fucking elegant.

It's one of those weird Japanese things.

[The Brain]

I agree it's a great idea to monetize idle assets, but if you impose restrictions one one business, you either have the same restrictions for everyone or you don't have any restrictions at all.

I don't think any country is willing to consider such a huge change in how regulations work.

[Josquius]

Many cities make Air BnB hosts pay the tourist tax. IIRC its even included as part of the bill calculation on the website now.

[Ed Anger]

Hostess bar!=titty bar

Yeah I think that point is going to be lost on a lot of people not familiar with hostess bars.

So it's a titty bar without tits, where the dancers don't dance, but you're still paying them to sit with you--they just don't leave when it's their turn on the pole.
Yeah, so much more fucking elegant.

Hey GI Joe, 2 dolla! Me love you long time.

[Berkut]

What is a hostess bar?

You and some other dudes go into a room with a table.  Your head dude talks to the madame, says how many girls and how much booze you want.  Girls show up, booze shows up. They pour your drinks, laugh at your jokes, sing some songs, maybe do some shots.  Maybe you grab a tit.  You do that for a couple hours then leave.

That sounds...lame.

[Monoriu]

What is a hostess bar?

You and some other dudes go into a room with a table.  Your head dude talks to the madame, says how many girls and how much booze you want.  Girls show up, booze shows up. They pour your drinks, laugh at your jokes, sing some songs, maybe do some shots.  Maybe you grab a tit.  You do that for a couple hours then leave.

That sounds...lame.

Yeah, but this setup is quite popular in this part of the world.  I should add that these bars can be extremely expensive, with bills going up to the tens of thousands of US$ per night.  Depending on what you drink and the quality of the girls.

[Syt]

What is a hostess bar?

You and some other dudes go into a room with a table.  Your head dude talks to the madame, says how many girls and how much booze you want.  Girls show up, booze shows up. They pour your drinks, laugh at your jokes, sing some songs, maybe do some shots.  Maybe you grab a tit.  You do that for a couple hours then leave.

That sounds...lame.

Yeah, but this setup is quite popular in this part of the world.  I should add that these bars can be extremely expensive, with bills going up to the tens of thousands of US$ per night.  Depending on what you drink and the quality of the girls.

Sounds pretty steep for what, at best, amounts to a serious case of blue balls.

[Monoriu]

Sounds pretty steep for what, at best, amounts to a serious case of blue balls.

A lot of people go to those places on business.  It is where they entertain important customers and negotiate deals.  So they just put the cost on the company account.  The night clubs/hostess bars know that, so they dare to charge those crazy amounts.  They also do their best to impress the guests.  One night club once advertised that they have an indoor Rolls-royce to take guests from the lobby to the rooms so they don't have to walk.  Of course there are marble floors, gold plated pillars, champagne fountains and all that.  It is also a status symbol.  "See, I can afford to go to xxx club" is a way to convince others that your words are not empty. 

[Syt]

Still sounds rather silly.

Do you ever get invited to such events? What does your wife think? And what if there's any femal employees in the entourage?

[Monoriu]

Still sounds rather silly.

Do you ever get invited to such events? What does your wife think? And what if there's any femal employees in the entourage?

I am but a humble civil servant, and we are not allowed to spend more than about US$60 on each guest if we need to buy dinner for them.  All my knowledge about these places come from the media.  Never been invited to these places, and I think I'll likely be fired if I accept any invitation to go there. 

But yeah, they are crazy.  I think they are no where near as popular now when compared to the 80s and 90s.  Those days, many HK companies and businessmen made easy money and blew their cash on the girls.  Even the triads have to cut back now. 

[Josquius]

There's also cheaper versions.
The true Hostess clubs are these ones that cost thousands a night and have super glam women.
Then there are snacks and Philippine bars with considerably less attractive women and lower prices.
I've been to the latter as part of work outings.
... And once to a small snack completely by accident. Ouch. My wallet.

[Monoriu]

I am determined never to go to those places.  It is like highway robbery or extortion.  They'll just give you women to sit with you, lots of expensive drinks, then a crazy bill toward the end.  I am sure those establishments have lots of muscles backing them up.  Luckily the civil service is ultra-conservative about these things, so it is highly unlikely that anybody would invite me there. 

[Tamas]

On the Uber thing: it's one of those things where it is very easy to do your part in forcing a change: if you do not like how Uber treats its contractors, you can just use one of the myriad other minicab/taxi services, who work based on a different, more traditional business model.