This.
Originally Posted by
cbn42
The bottom line is that tipping should be a reward for something special. That is how it started off in the US and other countries. As soon as it becomes something that the staff (and their employers) see as an entitlement, it ceases to serve its original purpose and becomes a hassle and a burden.
I'm just back from lunch at a place I go to regularly, maybe twice a week. The waitress who served me knows me, I know her, we don't know each others' names but if we see each other out of the restaurant, we smile and say hello to each other.
I always drink the same thing, but my food order varies. She
always asks me "the usual?" and brings me my drink, then takes my meal order. She knows as if by telepathy when it's time for my second drink, so she walks past, looks at me and I nod.
Maybe one visit out of three, only one drink will appear on my bill when I've taken two.
I don't tip, nobody does in that place, and if I left any change they would probably chase me down the street because of my faux pas.
I enjoy going there, she clearly enjoys serving me and I'm happy knowing that she's paid a fair wage, and by taking my business there she's assured of her job.
So, when people try to tell me that you can't get the service you like in "countries like mine", I'm happy to smirk knowingly that they are wrong, and likely have rarely strayed far from the village that gave birth to them.