Aubie... when was the last time you went to the bathroom in a semi-public place (eg a restaurant) in Europe? There is often a little old lady sitting outside who tidies the bathroom after it's been used... and there is a plate for tips. While this isn't endemic throughout Europe, it certainly is common - and a little unnerving the first time one encounters it!

As for tipping croupiers - my younger brother worked as a croupier in Victoria Falls. There, too, they split the tips. He didn't like the tip-sharing idea either, - but if you decide on principle not to tip your croupier however good they may be, you are punishing them, not their employers, who certainly aren't going to increase their wages. My brother's employer paid him a living (but not great) wage, and he used his share of the tip point to indulge his passion for cycling - his newest racing bike is a product of tips like yours.

The rationale the management gave my brother for pooling tips, (other than tax reasons), was that tips were pooled with those from another, less trendy hotel, & shared among all the croupiers - they didn't want to penalise the croupiers who worked in the less fashionable hotel.

I agree that in much of North America tips have come to be expected/demanded, and I don't like that either. When I choose not to tip I make certain that the 'service' staff know the reason for my decision.

Aubie... when was the last time you went to the bathroom in a semi-public place (eg a restaurant) in Europe? There is often a little old lady sitting outside who tidies the bathroom after it's been used... and there is a plate for tips. While this isn't endemic throughout Europe, it certainly is common - and a little unnerving the first time one encounters it!

As for tipping croupiers - my younger brother worked as a croupier in Victoria Falls. There, too, they split the tips. He didn't like the tip-sharing idea either, - but if you decide on principle not to tip your croupier however good they may be, you are punishing them, not their employers, who certainly aren't going to increase their wages. My brother's employer paid him a living (but not great) wage, and he used his share of the tip point to indulge his passion for cycling - his newest racing bike is a product of tips like yours.

The rationale the management gave my brother for pooling tips, (other than tax reasons), was that tips were pooled with those from another, less trendy hotel, & shared among all the croupiers - they didn't want to penalise the croupiers who worked in the less fashionable hotel.

I agree that in much of North America tips have come to be expected/demanded, and I don't like that either. When I choose not to tip I make certain that the 'service' staff know the reason for my decision.

When I am overseas and the service is exceptional, then I will leave some extra money in cash. In Shanghai, the waiter at the restaurant seemed confused but I ran out
before he could ask why (He spent the time explaining the menu, giving my friend and I
tips and getting around and helped up beat the lines at the Rail station to get train tickets. College student, English better than some Americans.)

Aubie: I did not know that the casino workers
have to SPLIT the tips. I tip the blackjack
dealer based on how friendly he/she is and if
they can put up with my occassional memory
lapses about Blackjack rules.

But tipping should be an option. One comedy
club tacked on a 15 percent tip and the waitress was nasty. I sat there and refused to pay the bill unless the tip was completely
taken off. I was not laughing.

BUT MATT... you have me rolling with some of
your entries today. I'll post the Motel Six
entry next. CATMAN

Omni alert!!

Aubie... I salute your approach to dining/tipping as well. You too have me
dying in laughter too, today.

Matt: Your Motel Six adventure reminded me of an incident last year in teh greatest state in the nation, Texas, where my friends
and I pulled into a Motel Six looking for rooms. My buddy Steve joked to the desk clerk that I was upset that Motel Six didn't
give frequent flyer miles and suites. The
desk guy (Who looked like one of those
wrestlers) said he didn't know what country
I was from but if I wanted the "special" room I could sleep in his pickup truck with his
dog. It was two days to my birthday and I told my friends I didn't want to get killed.

Still Motel Six can have a ff program. It
can be partners with Southwest and Denny's.

My friends call me pretentious (sp?) and say
I need to bring myself to reality by flying
SOuthwest, eating at Denny's and Staying at
Motel Six. I told them maybe one day when
I have a drink or two and feel adventurous.
CATMAN

baobab, yes, I dislike the European restroom tipping! In Belgium, where I often visit, it isn't really tipping, it is more of a mandatory fee to visit the restroom. I always wash my hands before eating and after too, so that means at least 2 trips to the washroom. I think that the tipping or fee for use restrooms maybe discourages good hygiene. I also dislike the charging for water! As far as I know, at U.S. restaurants, both drinking water and washrooms must be supplied at no charge.

As for punishing employees...well...when a person applies for a job where a substantial part of the wage comes from tips, they figure that when decided whether the wage is sufficient. If people stopped getting tips, the they would expect companies to pay higher wages or they would look elsewhere for better wages. Since many people don't want to punish employees, I think that the company must be one to make the move. Maybe we should start a consumer revolt? However, still, if I know in advance the employee cannot keep their tip, I don't feel obligated to supply their wage just because the company won't pay. Why not turn over the tips to the company and let them keep the tips, but pay a decent set wage? ..we are really doing that now, just that the wage is determined on a day-to-day basis.

boabob...my spell checker tried to substitute "baboon" for your name *LOL*

Well, Aubie, baobabs & baboons can often be found in the same places.... you'll have to 'add' my name to your dictionary.

Perhaps a way to look at the split-tip deal is that 'your' person is getting a share of the money that you tip them - and they also get a share of the other tips, too, so it should even out in the end. At least where my brother works, management don't take the tips, they just divvy them up. In a sense this is fairer to the backroom people - how else can you tip the chef? (And in situations like these, when one person consistently gets low/no tips, the others in the pool make certain that s/he starts making an effort!)

But I don't think that tips should be considered to be part of one's salary.

The rest room attendant with outstretched palm is not restricted to Europe, although it is almost a standard fixture there. I've run into in several places in the US, usually in upscale hotels. In a couple of places, I've found that the attendants were not hotel employees. Instead, they were independent contractors who were actually paying the hotel for permission to work the washroom. There must have been enough folks who just wouldn't or couldn't walk passed that outstretched hand (or skip the hand washing) to make it worthwhile.

Lots of wealthy European tourists stay in those hotels, philforest - they probably consider it to be normal!

Well, I'm a little late for Catman's post about TEXAS and Motel 6. But here goes, anyway. Catman, everyone in TEXAS knows that Motel 6 "Leaves the light on for you", so, there is no room in the budget for WN segments. but you could use your Amex Card and get a few points. Now, Denny's is a different story. They take the Amex Card also, but what you have to do before going to Denny's is spend the night at Billy Bob's in Fort Worth drinking beer(Shiner Bock or Lone Star) and line dancing and get smashed.
Then you go to Denny's.

Now, about tipping the washroom attendant. You know, down here in TEXAS, Momma taught us to not go to the bathroom on ourselves, so really, there is no need to wash your hands afterward, and therefore, no tipping!!!

Concerning croupiers splitting tips reminds me of an incident from my younger days. I happened to be at a casino in Bad Kissingen (beautiful place, by the way), and was chatting with a person who claimed to be a manager of the casino. Somehow we got on the tips for table croupiers, and he mentioned that they were split across all the tables. When I inquired as to why, he said that some thought an expert croupier could affect the play of the game (roulette wheel) by when and how he released the ball, and the requirement to split tips was intended to reduce the likelihood that he would favor a high-tipping player by "throwing" him more luck (since he would get only a small amount of any added tips).

At the time I accepted this uncritically, probably because I figured the underlying premise was true (i.e., that a croupier could affect the game if he was good enough), but later I began wondering. If the croupier was *that* good, the greater evil would be that he would "deal" with a player for cash under the table - e.g., afterwards - than for "tips".

Still, as they say, "ben trovato".

OK, not to get gross here, but...a friend of my who works at CDCP (center for disease control and prevention) always points out to me that the convention of washing hands AFTER urination is backward.

She explains that urine is sterile and that your privates, covered by clothes all day are relatively germ free and clean. Your hands, however, are constantly exposed to filth, germs and other nastiness through normal daily activity, and particularly from shaking hands with others.

So it makes far more sense, she claims, to wash your hands BEFORE urinating (and, presumably, touching your privates), rather than after. She claims this is more important for women than men, but that it makes more sense for everyone than washing your hands after its too late...

It may seem gross and silly, but as we all know, no one is exposed to more germs than frquent fliers, so whatever we can do to control the spread of disease, well, that's or ff duty!!

And I won't even ask for a tip for that piece of advice! (Although if this doesn't qualify me for the next emmit/nancy/roberto OMNI award, then nothing will)!!!

Matt, Quite to the contrary about the award.
I, too, have heard that advice from many people. You also do not get the award because the post is very intelligible, spelling is correct, for the most part(you
spelled urination correctly), it makes good sense. So, NO AWARDS!!!!

So I guess we should wash our hands before and after using the restroom.

Or you could just carry wet wipes/that instant hand cleanser (I forget the name, but think it's a softsoap product), & avoid the little old lady entirely.

I always wondered about washing hands & then having to open the restroom door afterwards - who knows if the people who opened the door before you bothered washing theirs? Not to mention touching the taps (faucets) to turn them off - surely there are germs on those from dirty hands too.

Not that I'm overly uptight about these things. I saw a poster about how to wash your hands in a Memphis restroom a few years ago, & it set me thinking... according to the poster you should use a paper towel to shield your lovely clean hands from the germ-bearing taps.

I like the fully automated airport restrooms where you don't have to touch a thing. The self-flushing toilets do make me a bit nervous though....

IN the ol tom's eyes, Matt, Jaws, Aubie and
Baobab will share the newly created "Lion
Roars" award for going off the topic but
putting postings in clear, understandable
English. Congratulations!

Getting BACK on the topic, I remember a year
ago when I left my favorite Brooks Brothers
navy blue Blazer at the EWR security checkin (I stopped to fish out my wallent, put the jacket on a table and walked off because I was afraid of making my buddy Billy the cab
driver wait longer than he had to.)

Did not realize I lost it for several hours
until I had to get the dry cleaning together.
Went back to the airport and Hester foudn it
and gave it to Lost and Found. Got the Jacket and offer Hester ten dollars for going to the trouble of being honest. She refused
the tip, refused an offer of a coke, free
movie tickets saying "I will get my reward
from the LORD." And it's against our policy
to take tips.

The other tip story: the cab driver was surprised I gave him an 80 cents tip. I normally round off the fare to the closer dollar amount and add a little for courteous
service. He said it was his first tip in the
six hours he worked.

Yes, some may disagree about tipping the cabbie but I figure its a few cents and most
try.

Now lets save Health 101 to Dr. Koops site! And I ALWAYS WASH! CATMAN