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Let Go VIP – Mini Story

Hello, this is AJ. Welcome to the mini story for this month. Now, as usual, I will do three things during this mini story. I will make a statement. When I make a statement you say aah. Move your body when you do that, very important.

Number two, I will ask a question that you know. You know the answer. When I do that shout the answer. One word, two words, full sentence, it’s your choice.

And finally, number three, I will ask a question that you don’t know the answer to. When I do that you shout a guess. Just guess anything, it doesn’t matter. Of course, after you listen to this a few times you won’t need to guess anymore.

Let’s start this month’s mini story.

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There was a chinchilla. His name was Mr. Chinchilla and he was stingy.

A chinchilla is small little animal. I don’t know, kind of like a rabbit. I think they’re from South America. Look it up on the Internet.

So Mr. Chinchilla was stingy, ahh.

Was Mr. Chinchilla generous?

No, he wasn’t generous. He was stingy.

“Stingy” is the opposite of generous. Stingy means that you are very tight with your money. You don’t want to spend money. You remember the story ‘A Christmas Carol’?

It’s about Scrooge. It’s about a stingy guy. He’s always holding his money very tightly.

So that’s stingy.

So was Mr. Chinchilla stingy or was Mr. Chinchilla generous?

Stingy. Mr. Chinchilla was stingy.

Did he like to spend lots of money and give away lots of money?

No, he didn’t, quite the opposite.

He was what?

Stingy. Mr. Chinchilla was stingy.

Was Mr. Chinchilla a dog?

No.

What was he?

He was a chinchilla, obviously.

And he was what kind of chinchilla?

A stingy chinchilla. Mr. Chinchilla was a stingy chinchilla. Aha, interesting.

And one day Mr. Chinchilla went to a restaurant Papa’s Crab House and at the restaurant he got great service, super great service and he got wonderful food and after the dinner he left only a two percent tip.

He left a two percent what?

Tip. He left a two percent tip.

Of course, a tip is extra money you give to a waiter or a waitress, some other situations, maybe a taxi driver, things like that. And in the United States it’s very common to give tips to waiters, waitresses, taxi drivers, people who cut your hair, massage therapists. I think those are the most common people that you give a tip to. So you pay the normal fee and then you give extra, a tip.

So was a two percent tip a good tip?

No, it was not a good tip. It was a very bad tip.

Was it too low or too high?

It was too low.

Where did Mr. Chinchilla give a two percent tip?

He gave a two percent tip at Papa’s Crab House Restaurant.

Is it normal to give a two percent tip at American restaurants?

No, it’s not. It’s not normal to give a two percent tip.

What is normal?

Ah, 15% up to 20% is the usual amount at a restaurant. Fifteen percent is fine.

So what is a normal tip in an American restaurant?

Hum, about 15%, 15 to 20.

How much of a tip did Mr. Chinchilla give?

Mr. Chinchilla gave only a two percent tip.

So how did the waitress feel?

Oh, the waitress was irate.

How did she feel?

Irate.

And who felt irate?

The waitress.

The waitress who felt irate, where was she?

She was at Papa’s Crab House Restaurant and she felt irate because Mr. Chinchilla only gave her a two percent tip.

So, “irate” means very, very, very, very angry. “To be irate” means to be very, very angry.

So was Mr. Chinchilla irate?

No, Mr. Chinchilla was very relaxed.

So who was irate?

The waitress was irate, because she gave him great service and the food was great, but he only gave her a two percent tip.

You see, in South America it’s normal for chinchillas to give only two percent tips – extra information for you – but in the United States what’s normal?

Fifteen to 20% is normal.

So was the waitress ecstatic, super happy about the tip or was she irate about the tip?

The waitress was totally irate, very irate; very, very, very angry.

Was Mr. Chinchilla irate?

No, Mr. Chinchilla was oblivious, oblivious.

Did Mr. Chinchilla realize that he angered the waitress?

No, he didn’t realize. He didn’t know. He didn’t understand that he angered the waitress.

He was oblivious.

So was he aware or was he oblivious?

He was oblivious.

“To be oblivious” means to be totally unaware. It means you have no idea. You don’t know what’s happening around you. You don’t know what the situation is.

So Mr. Chinchilla had no idea that he angered the waitress. Mr. Chinchilla had no idea that two percent was a bad tip. He was totally unaware.

He was what?

He was oblivious.

Was the waitress oblivious?

No, the waitress wasn’t oblivious.

She was what?

Irate.

And how did the waitress feel about the tip?

Irate.

And Mr. Chinchilla was what?

Oblivious.

So was he aware or not aware of the waitress’ feelings?

He was not aware. He was unaware. He was oblivious.

Well, next, Mr. Chinchilla visited his son who lived in Chicago and they went to a restaurant together and they had a big wonderful meal and at the end of the meal Mr. Chinchilla’s son said “Dad, please let me pay.” And Mr. Chinchilla said “No, no, no. Son, I insist. I will pay.” And he paid the bill, but again he only left a two percent tip.

So the son said “Dad, let me pay.” And Mr. Chinchilla said “No, I insist”, insist. Did he request or did he insist?

He insisted.

“To insist” is kind of like to demand. It’s to very, very, very, very strongly suggest. You can say I insist. It means I must, right? It’s not quite a demand. It’s softer than demand.

If you demand something, then that’s very, very strong. Insist has a softer feeling, but it’s still quite strong.

If you say I insist on paying the bill. You’re saying I strongly want to pay the bill or I absolutely will pay the bill. It’s that kind of feeling. So he’s saying very strongly no, no, I will pay the bill. I insist. It’s a common phrase. I insist. No, no, no, I insist. It means I will.

I must. Okay.

So who insisted on paying the bill?

Mr. Chinchilla insisted on paying the bill.

Did his son insist or did Mr. Chinchilla insist on paying the bill?

Mr. Chinchilla insisted. He strongly recommended. He strongly, not demanded, but he strongly said “I will pay the bill. I insist.” And so who actually paid the bill?

Mr. Chinchilla. He said “No, I insist. I will pay the bill.” And when he paid the bill, how much of a tip did he leave?

Well, he left only a two percent tip and his son said “Dad, that’s not enough. Let me leave the tip”, but Mr. Chinchilla said “No, no, no, it’s fine. Don’t worry.” How did his son feel about this situation?

His son felt embarrassed. He felt embarrassed because his son lived in Chicago. His son knew that in the United States 15% to 20% was normal, but Mr. Chinchilla was oblivious. He was totally unaware of this.

How did the waiter feel at the Chicago restaurant?

Well, the waiter was furious.

“Furious” also means very, very angry. So irate and furious are very similar.

So the waiter was what?

The waiter was furious, very, very, very angry.

Was Mr. Chinchilla’s son furious?

No, no, he wasn’t furious. He was embarrassed.

Was the waiter embarrassed?

No, the waiter wasn’t embarrassed. The waiter was furious.

Was Mr. Chinchilla furious?

No, Mr. Chinchilla wasn’t furious. He was oblivious, totally unaware.

Well, later, Mr. Chinchilla returned to Papa’s Crab House and he had the same waitress again. This time she scowled at him and she was very short with him.

Hmm, there are a couple new words possibly. “To scowl” means to frown and it really is to frown in a little bit of an almost angry way. It’s the opposite of smiling and being friendly. To scowl means your mouth goes down and your eyes kind of go down. Your eyebrows go down and you look a little bit angry. So that facial movement, that facial gesture, expression, is called scowling. So she scowled at him.

So did the waitress scowl at him or did she smile at him?

She scowled at him.

She scowled at who or whom?

She scowled at Mr. Chinchilla.

Did Mr. Chinchilla scowl at the waitress?

No, he didn’t scowl at the waitress. He smiled at the waitress. He was very happy and friendly.

So who scowled?

The waitress scowled at Mr. Chinchilla and, also, when she talked to him she was very short with him.

“Short with him”, this is kind of a casual phrase, but it’s common, “to be short with someone.” She was short with him. So this is not the normal meaning of short. We’re using it as a verb “to be short with”, to be short with someone.

To be short with someone, it means that you are kind of unfriendly and it means that you speak only very short sentences to them. That’s kind of the idea, right? Instead of being open and friendly, you say only a few words to them and you say it in a slightly angry way. Let me give you an example.

Normally, we might say “Hi, how are you? Hi, how’s it going?” But if you’re short with someone you might say “Hi. Yeah, how are you? Yeah, hum. Okay.” See, it’s kind of a different sound and feeling, right? It’s very quick, short, little words. It’s a choppy feeling.

It’s a short feeling, right? The sentences are short. The pronunciation is faster and it sounds less friendly. “Hi. Aha, how are you? Can I help you?” That’s to be short with someone.

Instead of, “Hi, how are you? Oh, nice to see you again. Can I help you?” That’s more normal and friendly. The short version, if you’re short with someone you would say “Hi, can I help you?” You’re just speaking the minimum amount possible in an unfriendly way.

So was the waitress friendly with Mr. Chinchilla or was she short with him?

She was short with him. She spoke in an unfriendly way with him.

She was short with who or whom?

She was short with Mr. Chinchilla. She scowled at him and she was short with him.

So was she open and friendly or was she short with him?

She was very short with him. She spoke in an abrupt way, in an unfriendly way.

Mr. Chinchilla realized she was unhappy. He said “Why do you seem upset?” And she said “Because you stiffed me last time! You only gave me a two percent tip.

That’s very rude.”

There’s another nice phrase. It’s kind of a common phrase, maybe a slang phrase, “To stiff someone.” When we’re talking about money or a payment and you say “You stiffed me” or you use the word “to stiff” as a verb, it means that you don’t pay the correct amount or the total amount. Maybe you pay nothing or maybe you pay less than you should, right?

So it’s the idea of not paying a debt or not paying a fee or not paying a price correctly, not paying enough. If you say “You stiffed me”, it means it’s kind of like you cheated me, right? You cheated me, but we use it in the situation of money usually. So if I say “You stiffed me”, it means you didn’t pay me the money you should have. You cheated me of money, that’s the idea.

Maybe you owe me $100 and you only pay me $20. Then I might say “You stiffed me.

You only paid me $20, but you owe me $100. You stiffed me.” So she said to Mr.

Chinchilla, the waitress said, “You stiffed me last time. You only gave me a two percent tip.”

How much should he have given her?

Well he should’ve given her 15% at least, but instead he only gave her two percent. He stiffed her.

So who stiffed the waitress?

Mr. Chinchilla.

How did he stiff her?

He stiffed her by only giving her a two percent tip instead of the normal 15%.

So what did she say to him?

She said “You stiffed me. You only gave me a two percent tip last time. That’s very rude.”

And, finally, Mr. Chinchilla realized his mistake. He realized that in America 15% was normal and so, from then on he always tipped at least 15% and the waitresses and waiters were very happy with him.

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And that is the end of our mini story and, by the way, this is true. If you visit America, if you travel in the United States, it is normal to tip 15 to 20% in sit-down restaurants or when you’re traveling with a taxi or something like that. It is also true that the waiters and waitresses will be irate and furious if you only give them two percent. So only do that if they give you really bad service.

All right, I’ll see you next time. Bye-bye.