Embarrassing things Europeans do while visiting America..

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Go on, tell me.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 16:41 (twenty-two years ago)

1. Failing to tip. 15%-20% at restaurants, 10-15% to taxi drivers, and AT LEAST a dollar per drink at bars.

2. Feigning ignorance at tipping customs.

― Benjamin, Wednesday, 16 October 2002 16:58 (twenty-two years ago)

I hate it when the mods and rockers visit. They're always at each others throat.

Other than that I think its great when foreigners visit and would never try to make them conform to the local customs.

― lawrence kansas (lawrence kansas), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Flashing their asses at passing motorists.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:00 (twenty-two years ago)

A DOLLAR A DRINK?? If I was serving in a busy bar all night I might serve a few hundred drinks. Bar staff must be rolling in it! Remind me to pick pocket them.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Some the haircuts could use work. Also some of them are friendly in ways that we're just not used to dealing with. And a lot of them are interested in emblematic America-as-frontier stuff, like cowboys, that most Americans don't perceive as having anything much to do with what the country is actually like -- stuff we're largely happy to have gotten over with because it looks awful. A lot of them also overestimate our level of violence.

But by and large Americans don't really care about or get bothered by tourists one way or another, apart from the annoyance I imagine everyone anywhere feels about people crowding up the streets and taking pictures of stuff you were bored with from the beginning.

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:02 (twenty-two years ago)

You're supposed to tip at a bar! Crikey, no wonder the last time I was in the USA the barman wasn't too friendly.

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:08 (twenty-two years ago)

I hate people who are only friendly because you're giving them money.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:09 (twenty-two years ago)

a dollar a drink seems a bit excessive. With the rotgut I drink it's a 50 percent tip!

― lawrence kansas (lawrence kansas), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:13 (twenty-two years ago)

You can order a drink for less than $2 in Cleveland?? I will be at the Days Inn.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Outside of major cities, you can get away with tipping a bit less-- rounding up a $2.50 beer to $3, for example-- but the dollar a drink thing is for real.

The trade-off is that the bartender, by custom, is supposed to give you every fourth drink or so as a free "buyback" (*for which you still are expected to tip a dollar*). But this social contract breaks down on busy nights, or at unpleasant bars.

And yes, Nick, bartenders do quite well on busy nights at popular bars, making several hundred dollars in tips, to supplement the minimum wage of tipped employees ($2.13 per hour).

― Benjamin, Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Even if you're drinking like, $7 drinks to make it a 15% tip, that seems too much - serving a drink is much less effort than serving food.

The trade-off is that the bartender, by custom, is supposed to give you every fourth drink or so as a free "buyback" (*for which you still are expected to tip a dollar*).

This is surely madness.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Sorry - I didn't mean to turn this into another 'Americans and their head-spinning tipping ways' thread.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Chicago still doesn't grasp the concept of the buyback. It's just dollar-a-drink, and I get the feeling Felicity would be more than happy to tell you what can happen when you don't live up to that in the wrong place.

The thing is, Nick, yes, it's less effort than serving food -- but in a restaurant there are enough people to serve everyone, and they're obligated to serve everyone. At a busy city bar, it's dozens of people bellied up to the bar waving bills at two bartenders, so a cash market for attention develops. Tip well -- "well" means, like, maybe two dollars a drink -- and you won't be waiting so long next time.

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Calling everything shit. Driving gigantic mobile homes poorly. Wearing Lederhosen.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:24 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm American and I didn't know I was supposed to tip a dollar a drink. I usually tip a dollar for the first drink (per bar tender). Then maybe on the 3rd or 4th drink tip a dollar again. (Most of the time my "drinks" are merely bottled water or soda, so take that into consideration.)

I will have to ask my restaurant business friends about this.

― Rockist Scientist, Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:24 (twenty-two years ago)

I've never heard of this buy back concept. Must be a coastal phenom.

― lawrence kansas (lawrence kansas), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:25 (twenty-two years ago)

No wonder New Yorkers are thought of by the rest of you as such pushy assholes, but we're not jumping your line at the bar-- we're just collecting on the attentiveness earned by our massive one dollar tips!

― Benjamin, Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:31 (twenty-two years ago)

I feel like a stranger in my own country.

― lawrence kansas (lawrence kansas), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:31 (twenty-two years ago)

a dollar a drink is a little steep in most places that aren't new york, don't you think?

― maura (maura), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Why do New Yorkers demand more?

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:57 (twenty-two years ago)

European customers also forget (or just don't know) about sales tax.

― rosemary (rosemary), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 17:59 (twenty-two years ago)

That's cause we have ours already added onto the prices on the shelves and stickers because we are not trying to trick tourists.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 18:00 (twenty-two years ago)

I commonly tip $1 a drink - not so much because I feel I have to, mainly because I've been a bartender and I'd rather over-tip than under-tip. Plus, I *usually* get better service and stronger drinks - cheers!

― luna.c (luna.c), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 18:02 (twenty-two years ago)

!!!!!

I don't even understand tipping customs over here (I mean, I think I'm ok if not hugely generous in restaurants and so on, but not good at working out whether a tip is appropriate or not in cafes). My brain hurts. I am too scared to go back to the US now. Eek.

― Rebecca (reb), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 18:06 (twenty-two years ago)

www.tipping.org

― lawrence kansas (lawrence kansas), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 18:08 (twenty-two years ago)

It's $1/drink in Boston, too.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 18:09 (twenty-two years ago)

In the greater scheme of things, $1 tip on a drink is not bad. American drinks are way stronger anyway.

Another way to deal with this is to round up: if the round is $17, the bartender is given $20.

In Britain, ALWAYS tip in cash. There was a recent court ruling which allows restauranteurs to keep 'service charge' money from credit card and cheque receipts.

― suzy (suzy), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 18:11 (twenty-two years ago)

I tip $1/drink when I go to the bar and order for myself only, but surely none of you are adding an extra $ for every drink when you are buying a round, right?

― scott pl. (scott pl.), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 18:23 (twenty-two years ago)

On a round, it's up to the nearest $5.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 18:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Actually, that's not true; it's $1 for every $5.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 18:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Actually, that's not true; it's $1 for every $5

Ah, very good. That's about what I do - and I was worried that all this time I was being very cheap!

― scott pl. (scott pl.), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 18:27 (twenty-two years ago)

I've always gone with the dollar-a-drink rule. If you're in a bar, the bartender owns you -- if he doesn't want to serve you, he doesn't have to, and if you're an ass to him, he might water down your drink or even have the barback take a piss in your beer. So be nice to him, and he'll treat you well.

I've actually heard that if you're ordering something complicated, like a layered shot or a Long Island Iced Tea, or anything where the bartender has to use the blender, that you should tip $2. (But I never order any of that stuff.)

― Jody Beth Rosen, Wednesday, 16 October 2002 18:36 (twenty-two years ago)

There's nothing complicated about a Long Island Iced Tea!

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 18:41 (twenty-two years ago)

when I use plastic, I tip between 20-25%.

With cash in L.A. or SF, I always tip $1 on the first drink and then between $.50 - $1.00 per drink depending on a complicated matrix involving quality of service, attractiveness/friendliness of bartender, drunken-ness and current poverty-feeling index.

Also, any complicated (martini etc) drink should get a dollar. I usually only tip $.50 for subsequent beers.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 18:45 (twenty-two years ago)

There's nothing complicated about a Long Island Iced Tea!

They're not hard to make, they just require handling a lot of different bottles, etc. It takes twice as long to make one as it does to make, like , a rum and coke. The bartender could be off helping someone else and getting that guy's tip.

― Jody Beth Rosen, Wednesday, 16 October 2002 18:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Its about a buck a drink in Canada too despite our bartenders making a minimum double that of our southern neighbours.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 19:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh and from recent experiences, don't ask in America if they have Interact, apparently thats Canadian only thingy.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 19:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, now I have to ask: what the hell is Interact?

― Nick A., Wednesday, 16 October 2002 19:17 (twenty-two years ago)

i tip 50% on the first drink to make friends and ensure strong mixed drinks. then it's a dollar a drink, or 50-75 cents if i have a bunch of change to get rid of. if they're charging 4.25 or some silly price for a cocktail, i'm not gonna pocket the quarters and dig out another dollar bill.

― boxcubed (boxcubed), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 19:20 (twenty-two years ago)

What should one do about tipping in hotels, then?

How much should one tip the guy who takes your bags up to the room (or out to the cab)?

Should one tip the concierge if they give you a bit of information?

The maid who cleans your room? (& how do you do that if you never see her?)

― In a funk about tipping (Mooro), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 19:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Interac. Bank debit card used for purchases here. If your bank card says Interac on the back of it you can use it to buy things here. It's in the States, too, but I don't think they've bothered to name it anything annoying like Interac.

― Bryan (Bryan), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 19:24 (twenty-two years ago)

In Canada. Sorry.

― Bryan (Bryan), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 19:25 (twenty-two years ago)

a dollar a drink is surely correct and well known? otoh more than a dollar a drink seems insane.

― toby (tsg20), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 19:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Interact is like your wierd Visa/bankcard hybrids. Basically using your bankcard you use on ATMS to buy things like your VISA but the money comes straight from your bank account. No bills, no interest charges from hell.
Its simmilar to Starbucks cards but good almost everywhere (except Starbucks).

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 19:31 (twenty-two years ago)

re hotels: don't let them touch your bags, no, and no. Alternately stay at the motel 6.

― Kris (aqueduct), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 19:41 (twenty-two years ago)

here Interact is the high school community service club, which is totally useless information.

― Maria (Maria), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 19:42 (twenty-two years ago)

i found it embarrassing that my european friends all bought about 50,000 abercrombie and fitch tshirts each while they were here. also, they were obsessed with hooters resturants.
of course, im not speaking for the entire european community, but these were the primary intrests of the bunac kiddies i worked with this summer.

― amy (amy), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 20:14 (twenty-two years ago)

(p.s. Europeans: Houston Street in New York is pronounced "How-stun" not "Hyoo-stun")

― felicity (felicity), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 20:18 (twenty-two years ago)

I tip bartenders much more than cab drivers. Cabbies I'll typically round up the fare and, if they drove well, add a dollar. Say the fare was $5.60 I'll give them $7. That's if the ride was uneventful and they didn't try to take some weird route while I'm drunk and passing out (Which they often try to do! Watch them!). With a bartender you are tipping not only for that transaction, but to ensure future transactions go smoothly, particulary if you plan to be a regular. But with a cabbie, if you tip badly then some dude gets pissed and speeds off and that's the end of it. However: with car services it's a different kind of thing. In those cases, I always tip well since I end up using the same two or three Brooklyn car services regularly (Eastern, International and Mexicali for those keeping score). This is in hopes that on Friday nights when I (again) drunkenly call for a cab (I only take cabs when I'm drunk) they will remember my address and know that I am A Good Tipper and thus worth picking up sometime in the next hour rather than the next 12 hours. This is how I look at it anyway.

And this entire post is interesting to... not even me!

― Yancey (ystrickler), Wednesday, 16 October 2002 20:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Skipping 333 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

[Mike W said:] Wait, I have one more embarrassing thing I fully intend to do next time I am in the US: assume the below is true:

[extract from linked article:] skipping around (...) making puns with their Byron under one arm and a pot of marmalade under the other.

Oh I hope you do this!

― The Vintner's Lipogram (OleM), Thursday, 19 January 2006 12:17 (nineteen years ago)

I tip the pizza delivery guy a pound, provided I have the change. They do deliver quite promptly, whether that is due to the tipping I don't know. I think I do because I'm worried if I don't they will spit in the pizza!

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Thursday, 19 January 2006 12:27 (nineteen years ago)

tell me about some more things that are in their infancy, here, please, suzy

― RJG (RJG), Thursday, 19 January 2006 12:27 (nineteen years ago)

Ask where the toilet is.

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Thursday, 19 January 2006 12:34 (nineteen years ago)

having goats cheese on bagels

― terry lennox. (gareth), Thursday, 19 January 2006 12:38 (nineteen years ago)

Ask where the toilet is.

you'd be less embarrassed if they shat themselves in a restaurant?

― the kit! (g-kit), Thursday, 19 January 2006 12:39 (nineteen years ago)

RJG: yer maw.

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 19 January 2006 12:41 (nineteen years ago)

how embarrassing

― RJG (RJG), Thursday, 19 January 2006 12:46 (nineteen years ago)

Dud: Drive-thru's that have that styrofoam cup taped to the window for tips.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 19 January 2006 15:58 (nineteen years ago)

Stay for 2 and a half years.

― adamrl (nordicskilla), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:07 (nineteen years ago)

Boy is my face red.

― adamrl (nordicskilla), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:07 (nineteen years ago)

Dud: Drive-thru's that have that styrofoam cup taped to the window for tips.

Who does this?!

― truck-patch pixel farmer (my crop froze in the field) (Rock Hardy), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:11 (nineteen years ago)

How much does one tip these days at medical marijuana clubs?

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:12 (nineteen years ago)

There's one right by my house! It's a dollar per joint, obviously.

― adamrl (nordicskilla), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:12 (nineteen years ago)

What about per bud vaporized? Still a buck?

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:16 (nineteen years ago)

Europeans are useful at Century 21 though - they clear out all the ugly denim, leather jackets and florid shirts, making shopping easier for Americans.

― paulhw (paulhw), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:16 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.sanfranmag.com/home/view_story/1165/

― adamrl (nordicskilla), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:17 (nineteen years ago)

I walk by the Vapor Room on Haight all the time. It's not as nice as Mr. Green's purports to be.

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:20 (nineteen years ago)

The places I've seen with the styrofoam tip cup taped to the drive-thru are usually those coffee places that seem to have been built inside an old photo*mat. You'll also sometimes see them at those sno*cone places that sit on wooden pallets in the parking lot of Kroger.

Our new favorite drive-thru Mexican place has one of these. However, until they start putting more than two scoops of brown rice in our dinner and stop freaking out at the sight of our dog, NO TIP.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:53 (nineteen years ago)

adam is emo phillips

― POOP BITCH (Mandee), Thursday, 19 January 2006 18:00 (nineteen years ago)

[The Vintner's Lipogram said:]
[Mike W said:] Wait, I have one more embarrassing thing I fully intend to do next time I am in the US: assume the below is true:
[extract from linked article:] skipping around [Oxford] making puns with their Byron under one arm and a pot of marmalade under the other.

Oh I hope you do this!

Hilariously, I live and work at the University of Oxford and my officemate gave me a pot of marmalade she'd made only yesterday. So replace "skipping" with "cycling" and "makking puns" with "swearing", and you've basically got me down pat.

― Mike W (caek), Thursday, 19 January 2006 20:45 (nineteen years ago)

"Pardon me, but would you happen to know where the toilet is?"
"I'm guessing it's in the bathroom."

― nabisco (nabisco), Thursday, 19 January 2006 20:47 (nineteen years ago)

adam is emo phillips

I am?

― adamrl (nordicskilla), Thursday, 19 January 2006 20:48 (nineteen years ago)

'I say. This bathroom of which you speak. It contains no bath whatsoever.'

I love that 'toilet' is 'dirty' in the U.S. when it was orginally a euphemism itself.

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 19 January 2006 21:26 (nineteen years ago)

It's not so much "dirty" as over-specific. If "where's the bathroom" seems silly, what with there not being a bath, then it might be similarly silly to go to the "toilet" in order to use a sink, mirror, or urinal.

When I was in London I asked after the "restroom" and Suzy asked if I was going to take a nap in there.

― nabisco (nabisco), Thursday, 19 January 2006 21:30 (nineteen years ago)

But Suzy's from Minnesota!

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 19 January 2006 21:31 (nineteen years ago)

In Minnesota they say "ice closet." In Colorado we say "semi-private hygiene center."

― nabisco (nabisco), Thursday, 19 January 2006 21:32 (nineteen years ago)

just ask where the shitter is. the comeback "why, are you going to shit there?" is a no go. so to speak.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Thursday, 19 January 2006 21:35 (nineteen years ago)

though, that depends on whether you are referring to the toilet as a device, or as a room containing a device

you might ask where the telephone is, and it may be in a room with other things in, like tables,

― terry lennox. (gareth), Thursday, 19 January 2006 21:38 (nineteen years ago)

where is the toilet?

well, clive, its in the bathroom, at the top of the stairs, 2nd on your right

― terry lennox. (gareth), Thursday, 19 January 2006 21:39 (nineteen years ago)

when i'm in france i ask about the toilet as metaphor.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Thursday, 19 January 2006 21:40 (nineteen years ago)

It's not so much "dirty" as over-specific

Only in U.S. English usage. In British English (as in French for that matter) it also refers to the room where the toilet is.

I used to live in a flat here in S.F. that had separate toilet and sink/shower rooms. We called the toilet room the water closet and the bathing room the bathroom, but that's just us.

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 19 January 2006 21:45 (nineteen years ago)

"where's the ladies'?"

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 19 January 2006 21:47 (nineteen years ago)

one of our exchange French lecturers always blasts really awful dance music from the grad student computer lab two doors away from my office. that's not embarassing, though, just fucking annoying. although i guess her choice of music is embarassing -- she seems to love that remixed bryan adams pumped-up-dance-mix track - "baby you're all that i want, when i'm lyin here in your arms, isn't it hard to believe, we're in heaveeeen!"

― killy (baby lenin pin), Thursday, 19 January 2006 21:48 (nineteen years ago)

whither the loo, sirrah?

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Thursday, 19 January 2006 21:53 (nineteen years ago)

I love that 'toilet' is 'dirty' in the U.S. when it was orginally a euphemism itself.

I agree. It was weird to see TOILET ---> on a sign in the Sydney Airport. May as well just put SHIT BOX ---> up there.

Also weird to hear flights to "Saigon" being announced over the P.A.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 19 January 2006 21:56 (nineteen years ago)

well, clive

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, 19 January 2006 21:58 (nineteen years ago)

Beg pardon, can you direct me to the micturatorium?

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 19 January 2006 22:03 (nineteen years ago)

Y'all realise that originally toilette meant washcloth and the later took on the sense of a dressing table or vanity and only then later as a euphemism of the already euphemistic lieu d'aisance (whence, probably, our 'restroom').

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 19 January 2006 22:10 (nineteen years ago)

well, clive

― calderdale in the 70s (gareth), Thursday, 19 January 2006 22:20 (nineteen years ago)

I usually say, "I need a shit. Alright here?" and point to the floor. They then tell me where the room is found, and we avoid all the wailing and gnashing of teeth about what civilized people call it.

― Mike W (caek), Thursday, 19 January 2006 22:44 (nineteen years ago)

"Pardon me, but would you happen to know where the toilet is?"

Was this supposed to sound posh, nabisco? Cause no one posh and British would say "pardon me" or "toilet". V.Non-U!

― Alba (Alba), Thursday, 19 January 2006 22:46 (nineteen years ago)

I had never until now associated Alba with Nancy Mitford, but, hey, there's a first time for everything.

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 19 January 2006 22:54 (nineteen years ago)

It was mostly just supposed to sound like someone asking where the bathroom was.

― nabisco (nabisco), Thursday, 19 January 2006 23:05 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/25/dining/25note.html?th&emc=th

I think you might need to log in but it does cover a few of the points mentioned above about wages etc in a lighthearted manner.

― Kv_nol (Kv_nol), Wednesday, 25 January 2006 12:52 (nineteen years ago)

CONFUSE "INTER" AND "INTRA"

OH WAIT AMERICANS DO THIS TOO!

― A BOLD QUAHOG (ex machina), Wednesday, 25 January 2006 12:54 (nineteen years ago)

"Pardon me, but would you happen to know where the toilet is?"

Saying "Pardon me" sooooooooooo American!

― Vicious Cop Kills Gentle Fool (Dada), Wednesday, 25 January 2006 13:12 (nineteen years ago)

(my way of telegraphing 'poor service' to the server is to immediately settle the cheque brought with 'please bring the change' and then going straight to 15 per cent, but I very rarely have to)

are you saying that you still tip 15% for BAD service? Why?

The main problem I have with the tip system is i) the amount you tip seems to be endlessly increasing ii) I suck at mental arithmathic, and am always afraid that I will think I am being really generous when in fact I have tipped at 7.6% iii) I really don't like the "hi I am your new best friend, give me money" shite that seems to go with North American tipping.

the best waiting staff are in Eastern Europe. Here is your food. Shut up. No, we don't want your tip.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Wednesday, 25 January 2006 17:40 (nineteen years ago)

Saying "Pardon me" sooooooooooo American!

Hmm.

http://www.uniquetrans.com/Mustard5-250.JPG

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 25 January 2006 17:44 (nineteen years ago)

I looooved the East Coast Grill, which did seem like a bit of a madhouse for a waiter.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 25 January 2006 17:49 (nineteen years ago)

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