Embarrassing things Europeans do while visiting America...

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Publicly and awkwardly work out tips...

― paulhw (paulhw), Monday, 1 March 2004 16:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Hello!

Embarrassing things Europeans do while visiting America..

― N. (nickdastoor), Monday, 1 March 2004 16:50 (twenty-one years ago)

I've seen many a hapless Eurotourist get scolded by obnoxious American waitstaff for not leaving tips.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 1 March 2004 16:50 (twenty-one years ago)

pee in the bidet

― The Huckle-Buck (Horace Mann), Monday, 1 March 2004 16:53 (twenty-one years ago)

sleep with my brother

― The Huckle-Buck (Horace Mann), Monday, 1 March 2004 16:54 (twenty-one years ago)

So I'm standing in McDonalds in North Chicago, just got the hang of nickels, dimes and so, the bill is $4.01 and the girl says 'have you got a penny?' I'm like yeah, in my 'other' change pocket why? then I realise she means a cent...

― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 1 March 2004 16:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Talk loudly in public about how fucked up and stupid America is, despite having chosen to visit.

(I'm sure this goes both ways.)

― mmmmsalt (Graeme), Monday, 1 March 2004 17:09 (twenty-one years ago)

then I realise she means a cent...

a cent is the value, the penny is the thing.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Monday, 1 March 2004 17:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Piss on The Alamo.

― andy, Monday, 1 March 2004 18:15 (twenty-one years ago)

order brown sauce at McDonalds

― tokyo rosemary (rosemary), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Black socks and sandals.

― El Diablo Robotico (Nicole), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Are Americans the only people on earth practice creative change-making? In my travels I've never encountered it anywhere else. If something is $11.09, I'll give the clerk $21.10 or whatever so I can have a ten and and a penny instead of $9.91.

But I get nervous in the UK and end up with £10 in change floating in the bottom of my suitcase.

― andy, Monday, 1 March 2004 18:21 (twenty-one years ago)

In the bakery where I work, we have a bread called Oregon Herb, and one time this middle-aged English couple came in, and the man said, "One loaf of the Oregon H-...Oregon ERB, please." He looked like he was really concerned that I wouldn't know what he meant if he pronounced the H.

― kirsten (kirsten), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:23 (twenty-one years ago)

he's only uman.

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Andy, I do that, but it confuses the hell out of the fuckwits that can't get a better job than manning the checkouts in my local supermarket.

Which is not meant as an insult to checkout workers in general, but it doesn't tend to be a job which attracts the smartest members of the workforce.

― ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:27 (twenty-one years ago)

"Are Americans the only people on earth practice creative change-making?"

I as an American don't do this too often. There isn't sales tax here, so I never have to deal with many coins at all except the occasional 1 cent or 50 cent change. In other states I sometiems panic and get lots of extra coins.

― A Nairn (moretap), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:27 (twenty-one years ago)

"here" as in the state I live in, not all of america

― A Nairn (moretap), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Haha, I was going to be REAL insulted for a second there, Ailsa!

― kirsten (kirsten), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:28 (twenty-one years ago)

then I realise she means a cent...

As opposed to what?

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:28 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, but kirsten, you aren't over here. i meant, IN THE UK. then i realise i will be offending someone somewhere.

OK, i mean the moron that served me in tesco earlier on today. i am just prone to exaggeration.

― ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Haha

― kirsten (kirsten), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:31 (twenty-one years ago)

WTF? America's the place where I've had the most trouble with smart change. I've literally given 20.20 for 10.20 and have them hand the 20 cent back.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:33 (twenty-one years ago)

In my experience, most domestic born folks will ask for pennies and things to round out the change, while many immigrants shop keepers will just hand back the change that the cash register recommends.

Round up the Immigrants!

― andy, Monday, 1 March 2004 18:36 (twenty-one years ago)

I handed someone $20 for something that cost $7.84 .. but the cashier entered it in the register that I only gave her $10. She had to get the manager, who then had to get a calculator to determine what the correct change from $20 would be, because the register was displaying the change from $10.

xpost

― dave225 (Dave225), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Andy, I do that, but it confuses the hell out of the fuckwits that can't get a better job than manning the checkouts in my local supermarket.
Don't the computers at the checkout tell them how much change they need to give?

Re tips: My mum and I had a taxi driver chase is in Florida because my mum said:"Keep the cent!" not realizing you had to give tips. This was twenty years ago. But she hasn't changed much: she once gave a guy half a dollar. I asked her WHY she'd give so little. "He can go drink a beer with it!" Uh yeah, two centuries ago!

― nathalie (nathalie), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:38 (twenty-one years ago)

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1985000/images/_1986677_bono_ap_300.jpg

― Gear! (Gear!), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:40 (twenty-one years ago)

YES! I often have to instruct European friends into the etiquette of bar-tipping. I could see it was breaking the heart of this Italian girl I know to leave $1 a drink, but I glared at her and made sure she did it.

― andy, Monday, 1 March 2004 18:42 (twenty-one years ago)

it is a crazy thing.

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:43 (twenty-one years ago)

There's nothing crazy about it! Most bartenders don't get paid very much.

― kirsten (kirsten), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Nathalie, yes, but, if the bill is £7.10 and you give them £10 then say do you want the 10 pence, they have already rung in the £10 and want to give you £2.90 and can't get their head round the fact I'm trying to make it easier for them.

― ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:45 (twenty-one years ago)

they should pay bartenders enough.

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:46 (twenty-one years ago)

I tip bartenders everywhere! I'm an ugly american. In Australia they seemed suprised but pleased nonetheless.

― andy, Monday, 1 March 2004 18:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Assume that cars have right of way on the roads. I worried and appalled Sarah with my aggressive driving and my hesitant and fearful sidewalking, which is the right approach in Britain but very wrong in the States, it seems.

― Markelby (Mark C), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Drinks over here are usually cheaper than they are in the UK anyway, it seems. So I don't mind tipping.

― kirsten (kirsten), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:48 (twenty-one years ago)

There's nothing crazy about it! Most bartenders don't get paid very much.

That's what's crazy about it!

― run it off (run it off), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:48 (twenty-one years ago)

$1 per drink still seems really inflated... I tip $1 per trip to the bar .. and sometimes $0, if I've made a lot of trips. If it's a big tab at the end of a night, I'll give ~20% rounded down to the nearest $5 though.. And if the place is charging $8 for a beer - sorry, no tip.

All depends though.. If the bartenders are nice and work hard, I over tip. If they're too cool to be friendly, I don't try to earn their comaraderie with money.

― dave225 (Dave225), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:50 (twenty-one years ago)

I just figure that if I don't have enough money to tip well, I don't have enough money to go to a bar.

― kirsten (kirsten), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I guess it's probably because I've been on the other side of the bar before, and it really sucks when you're working your ass off and people don't tip.

― kirsten (kirsten), Monday, 1 March 2004 18:52 (twenty-one years ago)

"I tip $1 per trip to the bar..."

What, on a round of five drinks? This might be okay at some Pittsburgh 25-cent beer night, but not okay for mixed drinks.

― andy, Monday, 1 March 2004 19:00 (twenty-one years ago)

let's talk about something else.

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 1 March 2004 19:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Really, if you can't tip a dollar a drink, you should just go to the liquor store and drink at home.

― kirsten (kirsten), Monday, 1 March 2004 19:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Sorry, Richard.

― kirsten (kirsten), Monday, 1 March 2004 19:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Let's talk about cow-tipping.

― Nemo (JND), Monday, 1 March 2004 19:03 (twenty-one years ago)

that is how you pronounce human though!

― cozen (Cozen), Monday, 1 March 2004 19:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Europeans should definitely go cow-tipping when they visit America.

― kirsten (kirsten), Monday, 1 March 2004 19:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Here in America it is customary to tip the cow that gives you milk.

― Nemo (JND), Monday, 1 March 2004 19:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Prancing around on public sculptures while spray-paining vague slogans is one of the most embarrassing practices, in my opinion.

― andy, Monday, 1 March 2004 19:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Europeans should wear anti-perspirants on the bus at the Grand Canyon in August.

― BICICLETA EMOCIONAL!!! (Jon Williams) (ex machina), Monday, 1 March 2004 19:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Also, they should not go to your place of employment, demand free things, then huff, "Where I come from, the people are much friendlier."

― kirsten (kirsten), Monday, 1 March 2004 19:20 (twenty-one years ago)

???

― amateur!st (amateurist), Monday, 1 March 2004 19:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah...it's happened.

― kirsten (kirsten), Monday, 1 March 2004 19:22 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.caratuleo.com/m/modern_talking_-_america_(2001)-front.jpg

― Nemo (JND), Monday, 1 March 2004 19:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Rats. I meant:

http://www.eurodancehits.com/mt_america.jpg

― Nemo (JND), Monday, 1 March 2004 19:30 (twenty-one years ago)

There's nothing crazy about it! Most bartenders don't get paid very much.
Salespeople as well, so why don't they get tipped for good service?

― nathalie (nathalie), Monday, 1 March 2004 19:32 (twenty-one years ago)

"Salespeople as well, so why don't they get tipped for good service?"

They make commission sometimes, and grocers make fat union wages. Everyone else pilfers to survive.

― andy, Monday, 1 March 2004 19:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Salespeople get minimum wage or more. Waiters mostly make $2.13/hour and bartenders can make anything from $2.13 on up depending on where they're at.

But you aren't tipping at bars out of pity, you're tipping for service, better drinks and the occasional free drink. You save money in the long run by tipping well.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Monday, 1 March 2004 19:49 (twenty-one years ago)

you're tipping for service, better drinks and the occasional free drink.

I know this is the conventional wisdom, but far too often I'm at bars where everyone's crowded and shoving and the bartender doesn't even have time to notice what you've left as a tip, because he/she's already on to the next order. And then everyone's tips just pile on the bar until the bartender has a spare moment to collect them. So I can't see how anyone's getting preferential treatment because of the size of their tips.

The only experience I've had with getting free drinks is when I've known the bartender personally.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 1 March 2004 20:08 (twenty-one years ago)

In those circumstances, you're probably right. I don't like drinking in crowded places (ie clubs), so I've got no experience there.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Monday, 1 March 2004 20:17 (twenty-one years ago)

The bartenders I've spoken with much prefer the tipping system to a higher hourly wage, because it brings them in more income plus you get cash in your pocket every night you work instead of getting a paycheck every other week.

Even considering the IRS now taxes tips, they still come out ahead.

The people who really get screwed are servers at buffet places who only bring you drinks... they get server minimum wage yet nobody feels the need to tip them. I regularly tip at Souper Salads where this is the case and I probably get my buffet comped about one in every four times I go there.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Monday, 1 March 2004 23:01 (twenty-one years ago)

And if the place is charging $8 for a beer - sorry, no tip.

That's absurd. It's not like the bartender is seeing any of that $8/beer. And if you can't afford to leave a tip, you shouldn't be frequenting bars that sell $8 beers. What a jerk!

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 00:05 (twenty-one years ago)

It depends. Anyone who has been to one of the Hollywood rock clubs to see a show and have a beer ever been stung with the plastic Miller in a 10 ounce for $7 a pop? Fuck tipping in that case.. sorry.

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 00:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Do any of you tip the beerman at the baseball field? If you're willing to tip a bartender for an $8 beer, you'd better tip that guy, too.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 00:17 (twenty-one years ago)

so then the bartender has to stand at some bar pouring beer to a bunch of non-tipping assholes for $2.10/hour?

anyhow, wheni was waiting tables, this group of german businessmen were having lunch and then asked me about a restaurant called Balthazar. I said they would haved a hard time getting dinner reservations that nite (this was 1999 or so) but my friend worked the reservation phones, so I got them a table for 4 at 9pm or so. I did them a huuuge favor and was expecting a big tip, but they rounded up their bill to the nearest dollar, so i got 40 cents. fuckers

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 00:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Do any of you tip the beerman at the baseball field? If you're willing to tip a bartender for an $8 beer, you'd better tip that guy, too.

Those plastic cups of $5.50 Budweiser at Giants Stadium? Yeah, you bet I put a dollar into the tip kitty. Sometimes $1.50. I'm already screwed, so why take it out on a poor bastard in a teal polyester knit shirt?

― Dickerson Pike (Dickerson Pike), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 01:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Is it not a fact that if your $2.10/hour plus tips doesn't equal minimum wage, the bar makes up the difference?

― Stuart (Stuart), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 01:14 (twenty-one years ago)

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 01:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Apparently, it varies from state to state.

― Stuart (Stuart), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 01:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I do believe I was correct:

http://www.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/002.htm

An employer of a tipped employee is only required to pay $2.13 an hour in direct wages if that amount plus the tips received equals at least the federal minimum wage, the employee retains all tips and the employee customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips. If an employee's tips combined with the employer's direct wages of at least $2.13 an hour do not equal the federal minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference.

― Stuart (Stuart), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 01:59 (twenty-one years ago)

haha! have you ever worked in a bar?

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 02:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Is my legal interpretation correct?

― Stuart (Stuart), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 02:17 (twenty-one years ago)

So your employer works it out so you make minimum wage. Big deal. Someone who has to stand behind a bar and deal with drunks and jerks all night should simply make more money than that. I get embarrassed when I go out with someone who doesn't tip, to the point that I tip twice as much every time I go to the bar. It comes down to the fact that people who work in the service industry rely on tips, and they work hard for tips, and people who don't tip should just stay home.

― kirsten (kirsten), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 02:30 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm only responding to the "These people only make $2.10/hour" argument. They are legally entitled to minimum wage. Some states allow tips to be included in calculating how much an employer pays a tipped employee, some don't, but anybody only taking home $3/hr average because of bad tippers is being robbed by his employer.

― Stuart (Stuart), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 02:36 (twenty-one years ago)

No, they're being robbed by twats who don't tip. Well, I guess legally they're being robbed by their employer, but who gives a fuck about law anyway? In practice, if you don't tip your bartender/waiter, you either are European or a twat.

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 02:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Or both.

― tokyo rosemary (rosemary), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 02:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Re-Rail!

― Stuart (Stuart), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 02:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Haha I knew this thread was going to be ALL about tipping somehow.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 02:57 (twenty-one years ago)

MR. STUART: Uh-uh. I don't tip.

NICE GUY PHIL: Whaddaya mean you don't tip?

― maypang (maypang), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 03:04 (twenty-one years ago)

I do too.

― Stuart (Stuart), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 03:08 (twenty-one years ago)

MR. STUART: Phil, I really don't know how you got mixed up into all this..
NICE GUY PHIL: I LEARNED IT FROM WATCHING YOU

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Tuesday, 2 March 2004 03:17 (twenty-one years ago)

non-tippers should realize that they will be remembered. for years!

― Emilymv (Emilymv), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 05:20 (twenty-one years ago)

everyone wants to be remembered.

― RJG (RJG), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 05:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Stuart, technically, the bar/restaurant is supposed to make up the difference. Not once have I ever seen that happen. No one I know - dozens of servers and bartenders has ever seen it happen. What the law says and what actually happens are two different things. (Even if it did - anyone waiting tables or bartending and only clearing $5.15/hr is getting fucked.)

On top of that, it's only on average - so if your job requires you to do a half-hour of setup and a half-hour of breakdown/rolling silver/cleanup, you're making $2.13 for that hour.

The best labor situation I had was a chain that got fined for illegal immigrants and other labor no-nos, so they actually covered everything, didn't have you roll silver, nada. You showed up, worked, cleaned your tables and left. Too bad they figured out I was robbing them blind.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 06:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Do any of you tip the beerman at the baseball field? If you're willing to tip a bartender for an $8 beer, you'd better tip that guy, too.

Beer vendors at ball games work on commission. Now I know you're thinking that's probably better than for less than minimum wage, and it is, but when you factor in the union dues these guys have to pay, it's not great. You should tip your beerman. And your bartender. And your waiter. And your delivery person. And if you don't, you're a fucking scumbag.

― hstencil, Tuesday, 2 March 2004 06:21 (twenty-one years ago)

He speaks the truth.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 06:37 (twenty-one years ago)

what's this got to do w/ europeans?

― RJG (RJG), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 06:38 (twenty-one years ago)

x-post

well I worked at Wrigley Field, don'tchaknow? Non-tippers got the spat-in Pepsis.

― hstencil, Tuesday, 2 March 2004 06:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Europeans have a reputation as terrible tippers and for being highly demanding.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 06:51 (twenty-one years ago)

we would always try to get the managers to add automatic 20% service charges to europeans, even if they weren't a party of seven. Like an Italian couple, or a group of four French friends.

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 06:59 (twenty-one years ago)

My sister waits tables at a sports bar which serves really good burgers/fries-type food and once chased two covers outside after they left her $1 in tips on a $40 bill or something. When she caught up to them, she plonked the dollar in the guy's hand and said 'you forgot your change'. She didn't get in trouble for this because her boss frankly doesn't want cheapskates for customers.

OK another reason you should tip properly is because the servers are taxed based on the restaurant's actual takings. Say my sister's section pulled in $1000 of a night; she'd be assumed to have earned $150 in tips and would be taxed accordingly. If cheesy munters have stiffed her on some of that money, she could well wind up paying tax on money she didn't earn. However most people eating where she works are regulars/MN Vikings/fellow waiters off-duty so her tips tend to be 25 cents on the dollar, so she's ahead - but she is very good at her job.

― suzy (suzy), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 09:04 (twenty-one years ago)

just want to join the chorus saying that people who don't tip, or tip badly, as some form of 'protest' are complete self-absorbed assholes

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 09:36 (twenty-one years ago)

What about if they're just used to an actual concept of society which pays a living wage?

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 10:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes but if you're a tourist, it's polite to observe the local customs even when they seem to cost money. Amazing how pro- the free local customs most tourists are, and how anti- the customs which you have to spend on.

― suzy (suzy), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 11:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes, complaining about tipping over infinite coffee refills is tempting the god of crushed nads.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 11:44 (twenty-one years ago)

how anti- the customs which you have to spend on.
Well *duh* do you like to spend more than you're used to? I don't know, as I am not used to it, I find it strange, but that doesn't mean I don't tip...

― nathalie (nathalie), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 11:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes, but the pro- and anti- are often stated in moral terms, not financial.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 11:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, it depends on whether your spending on holiday is a false economy or not. The actual food at a restaurant in the US is cheaper than the equivalent place in Europe, but taken together with service the bill works out same-as. For the British here I think meanness in the US makes like no sense, as when a well-tipped bar person makes STRONG or FREE drinks for you, you're actually paying less for alcohol all round.

― suzy (suzy), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 12:05 (twenty-one years ago)

I tip highly at a restaurant or at a bar where they actually serve me. But if I have to go to the bar myself, and all the bartender did was pour me a beer, I don't always give $1. $1 for 2 minutes' work? If the place is crowded and everyone gives $1 per beer, I've gotta change careers.

― dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 12:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Europeans have a reputation as terrible tippers and for being highly demanding.

the first part might be true, but in my experience it is Americans who do all the "can I have that, only without that, and I'd like it done in a way that isn't on the menu, with some of that" shite.

I find the tipping in bars in America kind of amusing and I usually get into it. but as a world of etiquette disasters it is fascinating. do Americans do courses in "how to tip" when they are in school?

― DV (dirtyvicar), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 13:38 (twenty-one years ago)

And your delivery person

Do you mean like the UPS man? And do I have to give these tips in money?

― tokyo rosemary (rosemary), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 14:28 (twenty-one years ago)

UPS delivery men are making a killing.

― Stuart (Stuart), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 15:42 (twenty-one years ago)

As Dawn said when she was a ward nurse "I brought loads of people their dinners, no-one ever tipped me!" (So I have to do this when she's not looking. And then she'll take back 50p or thereabouts)

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 15:48 (twenty-one years ago)

So how come a barperson who serves say 50 punters in an hour doesn't get at least $50 in that hour? Sounds like good wages to me.

― Markelby (Mark C), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 16:05 (twenty-one years ago)

.. crickets ...

― dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 16:12 (twenty-one years ago)

The bartenders who can answer that question aren't awake yet.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 16:30 (twenty-one years ago)

I can't believe nobody's said "call it the New World"

― The Huckle-Buck (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 17:03 (twenty-one years ago)

In the restaurant I used to bartend at, bartenders made a killing. We got tips from the customers at the rail, plus a percentage of all the server's tips. Plus we were paid a higher hourly wage than the servers. The only downside was dealing with regulars and liquor inventory, which we were held accountable for if the numbers were off.

― BrianB (BrianB), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 17:16 (twenty-one years ago)

ups guys dont accept tips, ive tried

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 22:00 (twenty-one years ago)

But if I have to go to the bar myself, and all the bartender did was pour me a beer, I don't always give $1. $1 for 2 minutes' work? If the place is crowded and everyone gives $1 per beer, I've gotta change careers.

you have to think that the bartender has to be there from 4pm to 4am, and it may only be crowded for a few hours, while the rest of the time he's standing there twiddling his thumbs... or what about monday nights when nobody's at the bar? basically, you should tip $1 for every drink. starting now. ok?

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 22:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Do you mean like the UPS man? And do I have to give these tips in money?

I meant food delivery guys. That's one of the hardest jobs out there, and pays jackshit (of course I've done that too, so I know).

― hstencil, Tuesday, 2 March 2004 22:17 (twenty-one years ago)

So how come a barperson who serves say 50 punters in an hour doesn't get at least $50 in that hour? Sounds like good wages to me.
Because if the bar is that crowded, there are other bartenders. Plus a barback and runners if you serve food (who get tipped out most places). And the 'self-absorbed asshole' factor.

But the occasional $50/hr shift isn't completely unheard of. The last time I got to bartend, two of us split $600 in tips for a five-hour private party. (Group of middle-aged men+ hott blonde co-worker = money for me.)

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 22:24 (twenty-one years ago)

i always tip $1 a drink.
what about happy hours when drinks are free ? i was at one of these a few weeks back and i still tipped $1 a drink. i noticed not everyone was doing this.

― kephm, Tuesday, 2 March 2004 22:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Damn straight you tip on free drinks. Buybacks, even.

― Dickerson Pike (Dickerson Pike), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 22:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Look cute in my computer lab!

― LITTLE LAMB [Jon Williams] (ex machina), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 23:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Many continental restaurants -- dunno about the UK, never been there --add a service charge to your bill automatically. Doesn't it go to the staff? Or is it flumped into the utopian living-wage pool?

Working in the service industry stinks. I admittedly make less money at my current job, but not by much -- those 50 customers/50 drinks per hour nights are averaged out by those Tuesdays when three customers are there nursing one beer -- and I more than earned the extra money. I'd never go back; I'd rather have less cash. If you haven't worked foodservice you have no idea how miserable it is to deal with hungry/thirsty/drunk people -- it's a much higher animal-ugliness level than retail. To this day I get upset when there isn't a tip jar at the coffee shop. Call me superstitious but it seems like bad karma. Yes, the European system of service charge/living wage is better -- but does the bartender have any control over the U.S. labor market? He could drink himself to death and shrink the pool, I guess... if someone is at your mercy because of a social system and you fuck them, then you're a fuck. It's just as rude not to tip as it is to run around Europe expecting everyone to speak 'Merican. 20 percent is appropriate in any situation here as a rule of thumb, unless the service was abusive.

― Ann Sterzinger (Ann Sterzinger), Tuesday, 2 March 2004 23:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Service charge is compulsory in certain EU countries, fairly common in the UK. It should go to the staff, but you do hear stories.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 3 March 2004 00:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm eating pizza in a restaurant. Slowly, but surely, I discover that everybody on the table is looking at me. My friend has her head in her hands.

"What?"

"You're eating pizza with a knife and fork. What kind of sick freak are you?"

― carson dial (carson dial), Wednesday, 3 March 2004 00:54 (twenty-one years ago)

My mom's sorority used to have a formal dinner for potential pledges where they served pizza. If you used a knife and fork, you were out.

― LITTLE LAMB [Jon Williams] (ex machina), Wednesday, 3 March 2004 00:56 (twenty-one years ago)

That's cunning! But what was I supposed to do? The waitress gave me a knife and fork! It was only polite to us them…

― carson dial (carson dial), Wednesday, 3 March 2004 00:59 (twenty-one years ago)

There's nothing wrong with using utensils. If anybody tries to tell you differently, you can stab them with your knife and fork.

― Stuart (Stuart), Wednesday, 3 March 2004 01:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Go back to Europe, fag!

― LITTLE LAMB [Jon Williams] (ex machina), Wednesday, 3 March 2004 01:11 (twenty-one years ago)

is preferring to eat pizza with a knife and fork wrong?

― dog latin (dog latin), Wednesday, 3 March 2004 01:41 (twenty-one years ago)

three months pass...

Is it obligatory to tip in fast food outlets eg McDonalds, Taco Bell?
What about leaving money for cleaners in Hotels/Motels?

― stevo (stevo), Sunday, 6 June 2004 13:35 (twenty-one years ago)

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