Originally Posted by Big D

I agree - but we aren't going to change it! To be honest i factor it into the cost of the meal, and i think i get much better service over here because they have to work for the tip (as a general rule). Its part of the culture so i embrace that. If i got bad service and/or the the food was expensive then i might have a different attitude

Originally Posted by Big D

I agree - but we aren't going to change it! To be honest i factor it into the cost of the meal, and i think i get much better service over here because they have to work for the tip (as a general rule). Its part of the culture so i embrace that. If i got bad service and/or the the food was expensive then i might have a different attitude

Originally Posted by antjen

hmm - perhaps, but tips at resturants are expected too much, i have been out with people before who even if the service sucks they still leave a tip as they feel they should. personaly if the service is bad, rather than leave no tip (as they would prob think dam tourists!) i leave behind 1 cent.

Ant

Originally Posted by rushman

So as a Brit in New York I guess I am going to be as popular as a cup of cold sick down there then!!

Originally Posted by Big D

Last week we were in a new restaurant and the waitress started mimicking our accents (badly) now i dont mind talking about the accent but this was plain rude. I think she realised the tip was in jeopardy pretty quickly!

Originally Posted by snowbunny

I admit that if I hear an English or Northern Irish accent, I can start to mimic it without realising (though same holds true for a Canadian accent). I'm not making fun, I'm just a natural mimic. There's a possibility she was not trying to offend.

Originally Posted by Angry White Pyjamas

Not that welcome me old china.

Actually we may grumble about the snowbirds here but they give us one thing: Zero state income tax due to all the cash they bring to the place. Thanks.

Originally Posted by snowbunny

Yeah, but loads of hospitals have to write off the difference between what Medicare pays and what they actually incur. Not to mention the rise in insurance rates from the elderly drivers.....

mixed blessings and all.

Originally Posted by Angry White Pyjamas

This is true. All insurance down here is monstrous thanks to a combination all the old dears and the hurricanes.

Originally Posted by snowbunny

We have snowbirds as well, though not nearly the numbers that Florida attracts. In fact, they are less likely to own a real home, but rather an RV and they don't pay nearly the property taxes -- though I suppose they chip in on the sales tax.

They provide most of the jobs to the poorest counties in the state (along the Mexican border). But I figure the days of snowbirds coming are numbered since most of us are going to have to work until we drop in our tracks.

Originally Posted by rushman

Your the expert on UK culture, you tell me.

Originally Posted by Dan725

Wow, this ones rolled on a bit!

All I was saying in the first place really was that in a country where many folk pride themselves on their hospitality, it all gones a bit Pete Tong in restaurants where it seems to be the accepted practice by many to leave your manners at the door, and pick them up on the way out again!

Originally Posted by Dan725

Wow, this ones rolled on a bit!

All I was saying in the first place really was that in a country where many folk pride themselves on their hospitality, it all gones a bit Pete Tong in restaurants where it seems to be the accepted practice by many to leave your manners at the door, and pick them up on the way out again!

Originally Posted by Sarah

Like I said in my post if you'd read it, I have never done this but my colleagues have.
Also despite the big, tiny, or average tip, no-one deserves to be treated like utter shite which is how some guests treat waitstaff.
I've seen one diner get up and start screaming "Hey you! Wheres my f--king coffee!" After it didn't arrive in 3 seconds flat, I've seen old women sneer and wave their walking sticks at staff because they don't like the view from their table and they want a different one that isn't available. I've had food spit at me, told to, "eat this f--king food myself," I've been felt up, hit on, told I have nice tits, big tits, nice hair, crappy hair, too many freckles, asked to bend down, asked if I have my own 800 number, asked why I don't have children yet, asked if I'm a lesbian, asked every 1.2 seconds if I'm Australian or Canadian, asked if they can have x,y and z for free and then usually given grief, dirty looks and a small tip if I say no. Oh and not forgetting my favorite, having someone click their fingers at you while shouting at you to come over when you're serving someone else.
Then at the end of it all, a woman, on the whole, will get less tips than a man.
As it seems you don't and have never worked in food service maybe one day your wife/sister/daughter will so you can experience all this vicariously through her.