First time I went to Japan I left a tip on a table and restaurant personnel chased after me to give me back my money.
Odd this happened at all, cos I was with my Japanese wife.
This was my experience in the non touristy areas of Bangkok. I tried to tip our waiter the equivalent of a few dollars and I remember pretty vividly the waiter backing up and putting his hands out to say no. My fiancé ended up explaining to me that tipping wasn't really a thing they did there.
Except he also said his Japanese wife was with him during the Japan incident. The only possible conclusion here is that she's some kind of quantum anomaly that can exist in two places simultaneously. A useful skill to have.
I think that also shows the honesty and morales of that employee. Even though restaurants in the US will pretend to encourage those types of values for wait staff, the tip system makes it a every man for himself type of mentality
Yeah. I left like 200 yen at a restaurant and didn't wait for the change cause I was in a hurry. They chased me down too to give me my change back. I felt so bad.
Run after someone for 200 yen... Thought of this situation I walked into... I remember going to a supermarket in Greece for two tiny things that in total cost like a euro or two. A guy walked up to the cash register, looked at what I was buying and made a gesture like:"Oh get out of here, you come to my register with 2 bucks in stuff? Go away!" lol
I had this same experience. My first time in Japan I went out to eat with a group of friends. They offered to pay but didn’t leave a tip. I’ve always been raised that “if someone else pays for you, you can at least leave a tip”. I was the last one to leave the table so nobody saw me drop a couple thousand yen. Halfway down the block we hear the server yelling and chasing us down with the money. They all turned to me like “DID YOU LEAVE A TIP?! DON’T DO THAT!!”
You don’t understand the concept of self employment (your painter you paid directly) and employment (the server who gets paid by the restaurant that employs them and who you pay for the service)?
The middle ground is paying a decent wage and getting a few extra bucks if clients appreciate the service. Being dependent on an implied system of tipping which is semi voluntary is just a humiliating practice.
Leaving a tip is an insult because it means your boss doesn't pay you enough.
That's the reason I tipped once (despite being European).
We were like 6 (2+4) customers in a slow day and the owner accepted a 12 table that had made no reservation and obv overworked the ONE waiter having to serve everybody at once. All that time the boss was showing impatience at being forced to put another table instead of... no idea what they were doing, I'll guess slacking off.
That poor waiter got a huge tip, was surprised because he was bad. "It's a miracle we even got service tonight in the situation your boss put you."
The guy got the message and took the tip with pleasure. Hope it gave a lesson to the young man, the food was good but the entire evening I felt guilty for going there that day.
Africa is quite the opposite when going on holiday.
Especially Safari agencies/lodges provide the guests with a note about how much every guide, driver, lodge, etc should be tipped. And it ain't small money! We're talking 20$ per couple per night spent at a lodge. 15$ per couple per day to driver/guide...
So basically, the company/lodge owners rely on the tourists to pay the employees' salaries in tips.
This is because of a history of primarily Americans going to these countries and normalising tipping culture. Especially because what seems like a small amount to someone from the US can be significant to local people. Distorted the economy around tourism.
It really, really bothers me and I find it so rude!
I am inclined to just tip whatever I feel comfortable but I guess then it wouldn't be fair towards the staff that depends on our tips.
I mean, I would never ever tip these sums anywhere else.
Last time we went on a safari, we spent 1500$ on tips alone. That's insane
I hate that tipping culture is making its way to the UK, it’s so awkward when they have the lil screen and like I just paid £8 for a drink and the bill is telling me they’ve taken service charge so what is this dessert of social pressure you’re bringing me
I ran into this when a tattoo artist from Seoul came to the US as a guest artist for a few days. Got a small piece from her that was pricier than most, but I loved her work so I went for it. She seemed confused when I paid with tip.
It didnt hit me until the car ride home that I hadn’t needed to tip and that she charged what she expected to make… (which tip culture for tattoos even in the US makes zero sense to me because they freaking set their own price!)
No vato, la parte donde dices q los coreanos piensan q tipping es "perdiendo cara". Los coreanos no lo hacen simplemente por que no es una parte de su cultura. 글구 고깃집/바 알바생들 장점중하나가 가끔씩 손님들 티핑하는거임.
Not paying your employees in America is the end goal for most businesses. Every mom and pop to corporation I know would love to not pay the employees anything and just buy them lunch once a week and expect that too be enough compensation
Thank you for the insight from the Land of Late-Stage Capitalism, a bone-fide 3rd world shithole, but some places take pride in paying people a living wage.
Sure so don't tip in South Korea. Don't tip in places where that's not the culture. If you come to the US, tip. Because your bosses don't actually pay you enough.
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u/Madrugada2010 Aug 28 '24 edited Aug 28 '24
I lived in South Korea for two years, and here's the rule of tipping - there isn't any.
Leaving a tip is an insult because it means your boss doesn't pay you enough. It's "face loss" to both the employer and the staff.
I like that way better.