Sunday, September 26, 2010
WHAT?!?!?! NO TIP?!?!?
We learned in class that in some cultures it is customary not to tip. Working at The Palm restaurant in New York City, one of the worlds most diverse and tourist cities, I've had a few encounters with these cultures. I can remember one time very clearly. A family of 6 came in to have dinner one night. I don't know exactly where they were from, but their heavy accents gave it away that they were not from the U.S. They were extremely nice, funny, personable...all of the above. When they ordered, it was wine, lobster, steak, vegetables, and potatoes galore. After that, they ordered one of almost every dessert we had to offer. Of course coffee and tea for everyone as well. When it was time to pay the bill, the whole family thanked me over and over again and said everything was to perfection including the service. The bill was just under $1,000. Mentally calculating the 20% tip which is customary for us here in the United states, I thought i would be walking away with $200 cash from them. They got up and left and as I picked up the bill and looked at the tip, there was no number amount written in... just a big smiley face that said "THANKS!"
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What a funny story! When we learned in class about the customs of not tipping in certain cultures, I thought good for me, I can save some money in these countries. I never even considered that when they come to the US they would bring their customs with them. It seems like they are extremely nice people (and big spenders!) and had they known about American tipping practices, they would have left you a generous tip. But hey, take it as a compliment, had they tipped you, it would have been the equivalent of them insulting you!
ReplyDeleteThis is funny and at the same time very sad story. Yes, in some countries there are no tips. Even in the country where I was born, Moldova, around 10 or 15 years ago people didn't pay any tips but not now.
ReplyDeleteHahaha I love "The Palm," great restaurant!!! The story is understandable though, when I go to the other countries in Europe I always tip and wondered why the waiters and staff were always over my shoulder to make sure that everything was perfect and attended too. While I was in Albania the same exact thing was happening and didn't realize why until my cousin, a native, told me that no one tips in that country. Plus when I tipped, it was considered relatively large to what they got paid anyway. The average household income is $15,000 a year so it is not hard to look impressive there lol. Belgium has the same thing where they are not accustomed too. I am sympathetic to your story though, I used to be a waiter at a couple of places and would be pissed if I got a bad tip in general, forget about NOTHING. Especially when your working at a place like "The Palm," you were probably rubbing your hands together waiting for that $200 and BAM, you got hit with a thank you and a smiley face. as they say, it's the thought that counts. I also think tourist use that as an excuse not to leave anything, they should know that they have to leave something? Anyway "The Palm" should do like "Peter Luger's and automatically add that 20% gratuity, no confusions!!
ReplyDeleteHAHAHA this is a great story. Perhaps they were from Switzerland? Tipping varies highly everywhere you go but I suppose in a fine dining restaurant like yours it would be reasonable to expect tips. In chinese restaurants, workers there expect at most, $1 tip per person at the table and don't follow the 15-20% rate that people use everywhere they go. I guess that is one major difference we see in the culture of our dining experiences. Next time, perhaps you can stand at the table and and continuously smile until the customer hands you out a tip? haha okay maybe not that's pretty creepy
ReplyDeleteHiyaaa Ashley,
ReplyDeleteJust like all the comments posted before mine--this is such a funny and great story. It's unfortunate that you didn't get the large tip you were expecting BUT look at the bright side...you were able to use the story as an example of a culture shock for class and share the experience with all of us (yay).
I also thought it would be custom to avoid tipping in their own country, never did it cross my mind they would bring their custom to the US?!?!? If it's rude not to tip in their county then the double standard would be it's rude NOT to tip in our country haha but i'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say they just didn't know any better.
p.s. AFRICA WAS AWESOME! thanks for your comment, hope you have the opportunity to visit one day = )
Hi! Ashley. Thanks for your comment.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your story, I think they just not behave to tip in U.S. Maybe they don't need to tip in their courties. But, most bills will show the recommended tips amount, I think they will tip if they were notified.
I think people need to know more about the culture of countries before they travel, then they will have more fun in the tour.
wish you luck ^^
I understand how some cultures find it offensive to tip, however, once entering another culture you (the migrating individual) needs to adapt to the socially accepted rules. So although they don't find it acceptable to tip where they come from, by them being here in America they need to adapt to our culture where it is common custom to leave a tip....just my opinion
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this great story! It made me laugh, but I understand how upsetting it was for you. I work in service industry as well and all the money I make is the tip that I get from customers. But I also understand that some cultures find tipping very offensive. And based on this (and other) examples I realize that you need to do some research before you decide to go to a foreign country and find out about their culture, habits and customs in order to blend in and not offend anyone.
ReplyDeletein our country, we don't pay tips, actually it is kind of rude to give tips to workers because in koean culture, if we pay tips to them it is considered that we are in high postion.
ReplyDelete