I never tip at Starbucks anyways...

Who in his right mind tips at Starbucks?

If I pay cash and have excess coin change, I'll drop the remains in the tip jar. That is about as far as I go when it comes to coffee shop tipping.

That's the extent of it for me as well. I generally use my Starbucks card though, so I don't tip.

Right on.

But that IS tipping! Why should I give them (and why should expect me to) my money, over and above the cost of the drink? Especially when so many Starbucks have the automated 'push a button' machines for the espresso drinks? They aren't even 'making' a drink, or expending any effort at all.

It may be an American thing, but in the UK, Eurozone, and Canada those coins can equal several dollars. I'm certainly not going to give them more than the inflated cost of a mediocre drink. I don't see any other chains I frequent doing this.

Does McDonald's have a begging jar on the counter in America?

I look at it as a way to dispose of loose change that I may not want.

McDonalds almost always has a "Ronald McDonald House" charity box for that purpose.

[QUOTE=exbayern;21298615]Personally, I find keeping the coins in my pocket (that are probably layered in some sort of influenza bug) more of a nuisance than it is worth.

Ditto, and something I appreciate in places like the US and Thailand where the smallest bill is a relatively low value -- it's easier to pitch quarters and smaller coins without having to pick out the high-value ones first.

I haven't used Canadian currency as an adult, but the worst alternative I've hit is Australia -- nothing smaller than a AU$5 note, AND the AU$2 coin is both too small on its own merits AND smaller than the AU$1 coin. I'm probably overemphasizing its diminution in my memory when I think of it as "roughly the size of a US dime" (US$0.10 coin for non-US folks unfamiliar with our terminology) but certainly not by that much.

Exactly the same in Canada.
($2 and $1 are fairly large, though.)
Australia is still worse IMO as many places surcharge for CC use, unlike Canada.

I remember they have CA$1/$2 coins, but haven't a clue what they look like or more importantly how large they are. A quick look on wikipedia shows what they look like, and that the $2 is bimetallic (seems always helps distinguish currency quickly! Wish the US would have considered it for the US$1 coin, but the new one had to be vending-machine compatible with the useless old SBA ones.)

Of the places I've gone regularly, the UK seems to do high-value coins best -- the 2-pound coin is bimetalic and honking huge, and the pound coin, while not huge, is physically solid enough and distinct enough to be difficult to mistake even fumbling in a pocket.

It's interesting that the same places who've adopted the newer and more durable polymer banknotes are mostly the same ones that have gotten rid of their lowest-denomination bill; the higher durability would seem to me to eliminate some of the advantage of going to coins for that.

So if the total is $3.10, and you pay with a $5, you throw away $0,90? That is definitely an American mentality. 2 Euro and 2 pound coins can add up very quickly.

A 2 Euro coin is almost identical in size to a Canadian toonie and a 2 pound coin (anywhere from 25 to 28 mm). They're all similar in look and size, so how can one say that the UK 'does it best'?!

Back to tipping, I'm certainly not about to freely give away my coins as a tip. I do like the McDonalds charity option as it is voluntary, but the whole mentality of coins being too difficult just astounds me. You're tipping people as a convenience to yourselves, for having provided no real service.

We don't have coins worth that much here; the half-dollar and dollar coins are not really in common circulation. On $3.10, I probably would not pitch back $0.90 as a tip (unlikely I'd tip at all), but at a counter service place on say, $9.10 I might well pitch back the full $0.90

OTOH, $3.68 is likely to get the remaining 32c pitched into a charity box or tip jar if they have one.

The 1-euro coin is close in size, and bimetalic. In a pocket invisibly, they feel the same. As compared to the Aussie $2 coin, though, they certainly don't feel like small change. (Japanese coins aren't super for that either, although the 500-yen coin, like the 5-CHF coin, is appropriately hefty.)

1 euro coin: 23.25x2.33mm, 7.5g
2 euro coin: 25.75x2.2mm, 8.4g

1 Pound coin: 22.5x3.15mm, 9.5g
2 Pound coin: 28.4x2.5mm, 12g

Much greater degree of differentiation between coins on the British system. Which is not to say the Euros are badly done; they're one of the better systems out there, and 1/2 euro coins are not readily confused with any of the smaller denominations (to my memory; I've spend a lot less time on the continent than in Australia, the UK, or various points in Asia)

When I lived in the city, I might well have given the loose coins to a beggar instead. *shrug*

Most Starbucks seem to have the idea of a "latte macchiato" rather than "cafe macchiato" . If they just hear "macchiato" you'll get the milky version.

Like you, I try to make my preference clear in those kind of places by asking for "espresso macchiato" and it's never misfired for me yet.

At least they've learned something from their bruising in Australia and now offer a half-decent flat white in the UK. They might have tip jars in the UK, can't say I've noticed. Our local coffee shop near work has a tip jar and I always chuck some change in there for the hardworking lasses who run it. But they bring you coffee out to you in proper cups (without rudely demanding your first name!), take orders by phone or text as you're walking towards the shop and all sorts of customer-friendly stuff like that.