You really think $8.80 is a "living wage"? Not sure what suburb you live in but you can't possibly live in *new* Portland on that kind of money. In fact, as a retired veteran of this industry, you really can't pay someone enough money to work in a high volume bar. The work is thankless and stressful and after dealing with non-tipping drunk fucks, you get home exhausted at 4am. I'm actually shocked that this has turned into a debate about tipping. I'll make it simple: you tip $1 per drink. I've been drinking in bars for 15 years and this rule hasn't been changed or adjusted for inflation like everyone else's salary. Of course, you can reserve the right to be a douche and tip less, but that just means the cute bartenders will all secretly hate you, and your cocktail pours will be weaker than mine. Nobody ever went to the poorhouse by tipping generously. If $10 at the end of the night makes that big of a difference, then maybe you should think about a career change.

Graham,
Reading your past comments I'm going to guess that you either have an amazing sense of humor, or that you're living in a creaky old hotel with your mother's corpse. So if the later is true... here in the outside world that you've never seen, we have something called supply and demand. People want to drink and they want a public place to do it. Don't believe me? Maybe you should draw up the blinds, undo the five deadbolts on your door, and go wander around Portland for a while. Or maybe not, the public is probably safer with you tucked away indoors.