AND, FOLLOWING ON THE STORY JUST BELOW, HERE'S ANOTHER SAN FRANCISCO TREAT – AT 6:53 P.M. ET:  From the Chicago Tribune:

Nothing succeeds in the travel industry like a bad idea. The latest hidden mandatory add-on is a "health" charge added to restaurant bills. As far as I know, this scam cropped up first in San Francisco, but you can count on it to spread.

The rationale for this one is to cover the employers' mandatory contribution to the City's "Healthy San Francisco" health-coverage system. The charge actually is levied on employers, but at least some restaurants are adding a few dollars or percentage points to each customer's bill to cover this charge.

The restaurants' excuse for assessing this charge separately is to let customers know how much they're paying for employees' health coverage.

And...

The restaurants adding this fee self-righteously proclaim, "It's not hidden; we print a notice on our menus." But that, too, is nonsense: Presumably, restaurants could apply that same rationale for extra fees to cover the cost of electricity, heat or linen service.

COMMENT:  What happens in San Francisco should stay in San Francisco.  That 1906 earthquake must have had a permanent effect on judgment.

March 3, 2010