Dilema

Monday, October 12th, 2009 at 8:25 pm

I always watched and thought porters were a kind of ‘juggling geniuses’. How is it that they can open the door of your car, you help with the groceries and still always have a hand to get the tip?

Hmm …?

Of course I would like to give tips like crazy out there and always be remembered by everyone, but as I’m not a celebrity billionaire, I’ve had to learn a few little rules of etiquette which I want to share with you because this matter has always been kind of a mystery to me and also a dilemma. Here in America I’ve learned it’s a very serious thing, for example:

If I do not get good service in a restaurant, do I still tip or not?

Usually the tips given here are basically 15 to 20% of the bill, in which case the right thing is to give just 12%. These employees are paid such little money by their own employers, you are doing them wrong by not tipping, because they are forced to depend on the clients’ money. If you do not give a tip, you deprive that person of a kind of ‘cultural agreement’ in additional wages, … which you know are super low.

Two wrongs don’t make a right.

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The right thing is to express your dissatisfaction by talking to the manager, but do not forget that the waiter/waitress was not the one who cooked for you, so don’t punish them when the bad service was the cook’s fault.

Another thing I noticed here in the USA, are the tip jars almost all the shops. Then there was the dilemma again: “Do I have to tip everybody?

No, no, no, these jars are for the kind of service that goes far beyond expectations.

For example, if you take the whole little league baseball team to the ice cream parlor and the employee gives extra topping to everybody, oh yeah, you should give a tip.

Another dilemma: Do I need to tip when I pick up a pizza at the pizza place myself? And the ones that say free delivery? How does that work?

Ok, this is how it works: The person who delivers the pizza, gets the tip, but the charge for the delivery goes to the restaurant. Just like I said above, if you pick up the pizza yourself, you do not need to tip, but if it is delivered to your house, the delivery person should receive 10% of your total bill. Another factor is the weather, if your pizza is warm and arrived on time as promised… especially if you usually make requests at the same restaurant.

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