Only in Europe is there a perception that (a) businesspeople are raging assholes who (b) want to screw their customers even though doing so drives them away. So only in Europe are there actual laws forcing restaurants to give out water.
Well... looking at your own source one would have to be really naive not to think that businesspeople are raging assholes.
Water charges from five cents to a dollar for a glass of water with some restaurants charging even if you did not order water!
That's almost the definition of businesspeople being assholes and wanting to screw their customers!
Re:Chelsea Manning is tweeting from prison
by realusername on Monday April 06, 2015 @04:52AM
(#9327195)
The article you linked is saying the opposite of what you are writing here, look at the second paragraph, some restaurants are indeed doing it. You need this consumers laws because otherwise some people are going to take advantage of it, that's how it works.
Re:Chelsea Manning is tweeting from prison
by bitJericho on Monday April 06, 2015 @07:07AM
(#9327467)
I think if a restaurant in the US tried to charge for water there would be a mutiny on their hands (or well I'd probably just leave.)
Something similar happened when restaurants started charging for (previously free) bread. There's a good podcast & article at http://freakonomics.com/2014/06/19/theres-no-such-thing-as-a...
Re:Chelsea Manning is tweeting from prison
by cookiecaper on Monday April 06, 2015 @10:53AM
(#9328345)
Some restaurants do charge for water (when you order it). AFAIK, in most (all?) states, they are not obligated to provide it for free beyond any applicable municipal codes that may or may not mandate publicly accessible water fountains.
My intention was only to point out that some things are free for moral reasons. Not every rule of society is a law per se, if some one asks you for a cup of water and you don't give it to them you're probably kind of a dick, right?
Its a social standard not only because of the very low cost but also due to the horrible things that happen to dehydrated people and the frequency that it recurs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehydration#Signs_and_symptoms
I suppose should have added the qualifier decent to society.
I have never not been able to get free water in a restaurant in the US. Usually they pour you some without even asking, if there is table service.
Only in Europe is there a perception that (a) businesspeople are raging assholes who (b) want to screw their customers even though doing so drives them away. So only in Europe are there actual laws forcing restaurants to give out water.
I'm not even kidding, here is a source: https://www.restaurants.com/blog/are-restaurants-required-to...
You can easily find more sources if you just Google "Are US restaurants required to provide water."
So yeah, your point is completley incorrect.
Also, I am actually trying to intellectually engage with the issue, and it seems like you're just making a pithy comment, but maybe I'm just misreading your intention.