Dammit. When you come and dine in to eat at a restaurant and you're from America, I expect that you know what tipping is. That means that when you bring in your foreign family members from Germany and they grab the bill, you are expected to inform them of tipping etiquette in America. Europe is not a tipping culture as much as the US is, so they make a good living wage, not the rock bottom wage servers get tipped here.
So when you don't check on your foreign friend to make sure they tipped appropriately on GREAT service (moreso than I usually do so I could be accommodating), and they leave me $3 on an $86 with a big smile on their face, I hate you just as much as them. But at least they might not know any better. YOU do.
Aloha
2 weeks ago
I agree with you. Leaving $3 is not enough. At least in the States there are tipping guidelines. I have been to countries that even with exceptional service the server gets stiffed and I am mortified at the person paying the bill so I leave more money so they server at least does not hate me!
ReplyDeleteWell, there are tipping guidelines in Germany, too... I'm German, and I'd like to give that guy a good kick to the shin! In Germany, you should give 10% for good service (read: normal, no complaints, everything went smoothly). Tip more if you feel the server deserves it.
ReplyDeleteBut just as everywhere in the world, we got some idiots who don't understand the concept of tipping. (And please don't tell me every American does. I've waited on a number of them, and most of them were stiffing me; obviously they had heard that "they don't tip in Europe".)
An idiot in Germany will probably be the same idiot when dining in the U.S. - and vice versa.
Whenever I get to the States again, I will throw money at servers like crazy, hoping to if not erase, then at least soften the cliché.
Still, sorry for the money you lost.
Oh no, if there's anything this blog proves, it's that Americans don't all know tipping! But the Americans at this table seemed knowledgable and still let this happen. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteI think they know tipping but don't want to tip. They shouldn't dine out.
ReplyDelete