Tip Not Included

Imagine you're cleaning up your ice cream shop and in walk in two Secret Service men to surveil the joint. The year is 2015 and Hillary Clinton is running for President. The former Secretary of State is known to be a chocolate ice cream lover and heard about your establishment. She does in fact show up and not only orders ice cream for herself, but picks up the tab for other patrons, too.

This scene really happened to Mikey Cole, the founder of Mikey Likes It Ice Cream, the world’s first pop culture inspired ultra-premium ice cream brand. With three NYC locations (East Village, Harlem and Midtown), it’s where homemade, artisan and all-natural ice creams are created.

Hear this tale and more, on the latest episode of Tip Not Included as the irreverent Eric Levine is back behind the mic after too-long of an absence and welcomes, Mikey as his first post-Covid guest.

Mikey relays that memorable meeting with HRC (where among other topics they spoke about prison reform) plus, recalls how he found his calling in making ice cream when he realized how it helped him get through a particularly difficult chapter in his life. He knew that if the cathartic effects of ice cream making could help him, it could surely help others. And thereafter Mikey Likes It Ice Cream was born.

With his traditional milkman white uniform – accented with royal blue in a nod to NYC sports teams – Mikey believes that with all its ups and downs, life is like a roller coaster. And for Mikey, the important thing is, you don’t get off.

Before his chat with Mikey begins, Eric does what Eric does best. He gives his opinion. This time, he goes back to the show’s roots and questions why a server would not be able to tip a cook or a dishwasher after walking home with $350 a night, with others making minimum wage, while the dishwasher is wearing a black garbage bag over his head like a uniform. Do you know why? Would you like to weigh in? If so, reach out to Eric on Instagram: @tipnotincludedpodcast or Twitter: @tipnotincl or Email: [email protected].

You can follow Mikey on Facebook & Instagram: @mikeylikesiticecream and on Twitter: @mikeylikesitny. Visit: mikeylikesiticecream.com

Let's remember that a movement was fostered thanks to what happened in the hospitality industry.   Back in 1960, four young black men, who became known as "The Greensboro Four" had the courage to sit at a "Whites Only" lunch counter at a Woolworths in Greensboro, North Carolina. Woolworths refused to serve them so by the third day, hundreds showed up. Then it turned into thousands. Then it turned into a movement. A catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement which swept the United States.   Sound familiar?   While realization came that segregation was wrong, as soon as it hurt the economics of a business, things changed. Because it always starts in restaurants and retail since that's the common denominator among races and classes. It doesn't matter where you live or what you wear, but essentially everyone can afford a double macchiato at Starbucks.   On this episode of "Tip Not Included", Host Eric Levine is back to address the social unrest taking place today and questions "Where's The Beef"? while asking "What's Your Beef"?    Well, the beef has been growing for years, with windows, souls and backs being broken in the process. The beef is being shouted loud and clear across the country on racial inequality and racial injustice. Especially in the restaurant industry where its workers (along with convicts) make 30% below minimum wage.    Hey, it's not called "slave wages" for nothing.   So in this time where our society is being unmasked while we're being asked to don one, it's worthwhile asking how stunned you are -- without a stun gun -- that people are taking to the streets to voice their beef. Blacks, Whites, Asian, Latinos. Even vegans.   Contact Eric at: [email protected]

Guess what's the only industry in the world - besides the restaurant industry - where people make below the minimum wage? The incarcerated! We're talking prisoners here who have steady work and no nasty customers sending back their orders.   Then why the restaurant industry? Where 40% of the employees are single Moms & Dads! There's no 401K in the restaurant industry. No IRA. Do you even know what they are? Had you had them, your money could have been invested in the market and have been given returns. You could have made a few extra thousand bucks. Legally. For doing nothing but just investing.    Take our advice and go into a brokerage house or your local bank and open up a Roth IRA which will give you tax free deductions and growth. Especially if you have young kids. You'll start saving and earning and come out with a wad of money at the end of the decade. Point is, you have to start planning ahead!  Remember that money equals freedom. Try liquidating that shoe collection. You don't have to buy Bobbie Brown. That Maybelline lipstick is good enough. You're going to kiss it goodbye anyway. Invest that money so you can dance on the street and not on a pole.   You'll feel better about controlling your destiny when you start controlling your money.   And while we're on the subject of destiny, take a lesson from those that wrote their own, by making comebacks. Henry Ford's first company went bankrupt and his second ended in disaster. Disney's first company went bankrupt too and faced some lean years before his eventual success. Sly Stallone was once homeless living on the floor at the Port Authority bus terminal and even sold his dog for a little cash to survive! And what about Oprah who was told she was unfit for television news?   They all have comeback stories. What's yours?   Contact Eric at: [email protected]  

The 25 wealthiest families control $1.4 trillion. And count 10 seconds and Sam Walton just made $23,000! So who's really self made? Think about it. Some are given a pittance of yeast to make a loaf of bread, but are clever enough to make enough bread for a carb-fest to feed the entire population of Palm Beach, Florida (hey, weather's crappy in NYC now so our mind wanders south). Then, some are given a lot of yeast and can't even find their way into the kitchen. And how about those given neither yeast nor a rolling pin?   It's that last group that especially needs to be mindful of when to ask for a raise in their minimum wage jobs. Problem is, there's never really a good time. Sad part is that many middle managers are known to have gone up to 7 years without a raise. What does that do to someone's psyche? And what do they tell their families?   Times like that where one has to re-evaluate and perhaps switch gears. That's what Jahred Haynes did.    A career restaurateur, Jahred was a lifelong baseball player ever since he was a kid growing up in the Bronx. His wife tired of him screaming at the TV during games so she signed him up for umpire school in Florida. Armed with courage, confidence (and his cup!), he left his job supervising some 70 employees in a food chain outlet to pursue his dream.   On this episode of Tip Not Included, Host Eric Levine welcomes Jahred to the program to chat about his journey to his field of dreams, and more.   Contract Eric at: [email protected]

So Starbucks is expanding its empire to place more of its trendy coffee shops in underserved (euphemism for "poor") neighborhoods under the ruse of creating more jobs. They plan to open or remodel 85 stores by 2025 in rural and urban communities, each complete with common event space.  Community groups will even get in the game to conduct training programs for employees, too.    As the SNL "Church Lady" would say "Now isn't that special"?!   The execs may say they're building their temples of overpriced joe for altruistic reasons. But wait. It's as if they're wanting to move one "people" off one addiction and on to another -- crack to caffeine. And how are the folk to get the money to pay for a double mocha frappuccino?    Nobody seems to be asking that question plus others like whether poor folks need a $5 cup of coffee to begin with. And what's going to happen to the local bodegas and coffee shops and diners -- traditional neighborhood gathering points being gentrified in the name of profits and masked under the umbrella of "doing good".    Don't let them fool you. Green is the color of the day here. Of Starbucks aprons, un-roasted beans, of envy and of course, money!   And speaking of green, say you save $20 a day over 40 years at 10% return on the market -- you've now saved $3,758,000. That's a lot of coffee pissed away in unkept Starbucks toilets.   Listen to Host Eric Levine opine on this Starbucks travesty plus hair-based discrimination and more.   Reach Eric at: [email protected]

The bathroom attendant at the strip club makes $15 an hour wiping jizz off your pants but the guy serving chicken nuggets to your kids gets less than minimum wage.   Gee whiz. Or maybe, jizz whiz!   And those seated nail salon ladies make minimum cleaning the shmutz underneath well heeled clientele's toe nails but the kid busting his ass serving drunk frat boys at at Friday's doesn't. What gives?   Despite the unfairness, servers have dreams. And dreams do come true. Like those of Omar the Comedian, who joins Host Eric Levine on this episode of Tip Not Included.   Omar Thompson aka Omar the Comedian, and long-time Levine friend, saw comedy as a "high" from an early age. He's been at it for 16 years with some exciting projects in the works.   Yes he has talent, but he also has a bad-ass wife who supports his habit. She's a teacher, mother to their young daughter - and one on the way, and keeps the house working. A house with 6 bedrooms and an in-ground heated pool. Not bad for someone who grew up in the projects.   As a former server, Omar knows the importance of tipping. He also knows that treating the wait staff well will get nice things said about you to patrons and gig bookers.   Hear the conversation between Omar & Eric. You may be inspired yourself to get out of the restaurant biz and get behind the mic.   Contact Eric at: [email protected]

Not only eating at McDonald's will kill you. So will working there. Hear about the two Peruvians electrocuted at their branch?   The golden arches has had its fair share of troubles over the years. Think Clinton who got too happy with an intern way back when and happy meals no longer held the same luster. Or when the company's CEO was axed for sticking his french fry into an employee's Egg McMuffin. No reports of course, whether it was first dipped in ketchup.   If an Assistant Manager did the same, you think he'd get off with the same severance? No chance. So, quit you say. It's just a stepping stone anyway which isn't a real job. But where's he to go? It has nothing to do with race or age. It's that we're all just playing under different rules.   And speaking of playing, over at Uber, they recently released a study indicating over 30,000 ride sharing customers were touched, fondled or sexually harassed. Does this mean you can now order condoms on UberEats? You just wanted to go to your job interview and the driver wanted to take you to third base.   On this, the milestone 40th episode of Tip Not Included, Host Eric Levine dives into the insanity in the workplace and reminds us that the richest poorest people around still have hopes and dreams. Hopefully, in the new year, they'll achieve them.   Contact Eric at: [email protected] 

When you think about it, it's pretty scary! One out of 5 baby boomers can't retire. That means 20% of our population will have to work every single day until they pass away just to make enough money to pay their cable and put food in the fridge. Surely folks couldn't have envisioned spending their golden years working for minimum at WalMart -- hobbling over with their walker to aisle 13 for clean up.   On this episode of Tip Not Included, Host Eric Levine welcomes back Diversity & Inclusion Specialist Vinay Singh to give us a candid view of the present and future job market. The author of "Your Future in Pieces - The Brutal Truth: How Ageism and Income Inequality Are Destroying America" and the purveyor of risingmiddleclass.com, you may remember Vinay as the featured guest in episode 34.   With over 21 years in talent acquisition, Vinay knows a thing or two about the world of hiring (and firing).   As he points out, the vast majority of Americans having little to no savings, thus putting the American Dream on life support.    But all may not be hopeless.    Vinay recommends re-skilling and continuous education (or "re-education" as he likes to say which sounds like something you'd find in the gulag) since everything one learns today will be obsolete tomorrow.    Plus, Vinay wants us to re-think working in the gig economy which is just another word for a "freelancer" or "consultant". With no benefits, no sick leave and no prospects for career advancement, is that model really viable? You decide.   He also wants governments to consider setting CEO wages. Since worker salaries haven't moved up - if you factor in inflation and the rising cost of living, let's just say you're screwed.   Write to Eric at: [email protected]  

If you've worked in the restaurant industry, you're no doubt able to complete the sentence: "You certainly know when it's time to replace a manager, when..."   In fact, you probably have multiple ways of finishing it off. As many ways as the reasons why managers have been finished off!    Let's see, how about you usually know when it's time to replace a manager when he's hiding from customers and staff in the office, watching porn or buying lawn furniture on Amazon. Or, when he's hitting on the cute new waitress (and in some cases, waiter). Or not lifting a finger when everyone else is busting their asses.   But hey, managers don't have it so easy though. They're underpaid and overworked. And working while everyone else is celebrating. They don't have Bernie and AOC shouting for their rights. Servers get tips and overtime. All a manager gets is pissed off. So, they succumb to their small penis syndrome.   On this episode of Tip Not Included, Host Eric Levine maneuvers through the brain of the restaurant manager and uncovers what he goes through, and its impact on employees. Since psychopaths make up 15% of bosses, and it has been documented that the effects of having a bad boss are akin to having PTSD, let's just say it ain't a pretty scene.   Contact Eric at: [email protected]

Oh gross! You found a long orange hair snaking its way through your split pea soup. That can only mean one thing...That Donald Trump is your server!   But think about it? What could he say that could possibly make you lose your appetite? Picture this, you're sitting at a pricey French restaurant and he offers to decant your French wine with a little French tongue. What's wrong with that? He knows the French. He eats their fries all the time.   Or you're in a Rosita Mexicana. El Presidente walks up to the table and instead of carding you, asks to see your papers. That's legal, isn't it?   You can't escape the guy. He's at your favorite Chinese joint, pouring the tea and slapping tariffs on your bill. He's allowed. He has Rudy G backing him up.   Yes, that's Donald Trump the server. By all accounts, the greatest server who ever lived. Who has the biggest customer base since restaurants were invented.    So if Donald Trump was really your server, what would happen? Well, in the end, he'd be fired.   Contact Host Eric Levine at: [email protected]