can you tip cows?
Of course you can!!!
Oh, sorry…I thought you said “tup”.
BroonAlternative
Tips or not, if you are waiting for a handful of coins back, you’re probably being cheap.
[quote=“marboulette”]Do you tip in Taiwan?
I tip sometimes, but I’m not sure if it’s expected. A pizza delivery guy once told me that he wasn’t allowed to take tips. He would not take it. I still tip the pizza guy. Actually, I tip the pizza guy more than anyone else (about 25%). I mean… He risks his life bringing me my pizza. Literally.
I also tip taxi drivers sometimes. As for restaurants and pubs, I only tip in restaurants that offer western style service and I rarely tip when buying a beer. It’s enough paying three times what the beer is worth as it is.
Am I being a cheapo? Am I tipping too much? Or does that sound adequate for Taiwan?[/quote]
I tip as you do, and about as much. I am especially appreciative of the taxi drivers and pizza guys, since I have friends in Australia (and one brother), who have worked these jobs and I know how demanding those jobs are and how little they tend to pay. I think the taxi drivers and pizza guys could do with a little love.
[quote=“Fortigurn”][quote=“marboulette”]Do you tip in Taiwan?
I tip sometimes, but I’m not sure if it’s expected. A pizza delivery guy once told me that he wasn’t allowed to take tips. He would not take it. I still tip the pizza guy. Actually, I tip the pizza guy more than anyone else (about 25%). I mean… He risks his life bringing me my pizza. Literally.
I also tip taxi drivers sometimes. As for restaurants and pubs, I only tip in restaurants that offer western style service and I rarely tip when buying a beer. It’s enough paying three times what the beer is worth as it is.
Am I being a cheapo? Am I tipping too much? Or does that sound adequate for Taiwan?[/quote]
I tip as you do, and about as much. I am especially appreciative of the taxi drivers and pizza guys, since I have friends in Australia (and one brother), who have worked these jobs and I know how demanding those jobs are and how little they tend to pay. I think the taxi drivers and pizza guys could do with a little love.[/quote]
I’ve done both of those jobs, too, but I don’t order pizza.
However, I often let the taxi dude keep the 10 or 20 NT change that’s coming back, especially if he was cool, took the best possible route, and didn’t try and fuck me by slowing to a fucking crawl if he thought the light up ahead was going to turn red, I fuckin hate that.
Edgar Allen, you’re often in Honkers, here’s a handy cultural tip.
The first bar tending gig I ever had, three of the dining room waiters were brothers from Hong Kong who also owned a pretty prosperous takeaway, they’d do a shift waiting tables where I worked and then go work the takeout joint.
Bringing the fams over from HK, you know.
Anyways, I can’t remember all their names, but there was a Hong and Chin, I’m pretty sure.
(Sorry, I just spaced out remembering how fuckin awesome their takeout was…battered butterfly prawns with bacon and pineapple inside…mmmmm, prawns :homer: )
Sorry, back to the story, I’d be making drinks for these dudes, and they were pretty hardcore, they’d been in the game for quite a while, so they didn’t fuck around much.
And often, one would come to get his drinks, and I’d be like “Hey Chin, how’s it going?”
And he’d mutter something under his breath and shake his head.
After a few times, I asked one of the other bro’s what he was saying, and he told me it was “Pan Hai”.
I asked what that meant, and he said “Pan” was “cheap” and “Hai” was, well, BroonAnatomy knows, as does, no doubt, HGC and a few others.
Sorry, I don’t mean to be a cunt about-oops, well, there you go…
Anyways, this was basically restaurant code, if you will, for complaining about tight fuckwads who don’t tip.
So now, EA, you know what they’re all calling you every time you go out.
Given my ongoing love affair with all things Canto they can call me what they friggin’ like in theor stupid gibberish and I simply won;t bat an eye.
I’m a tipper, but in the Aussie round out the bill, hates pocket change sort of way.
One particular pet peeve here in Hk is the bloody cabbies and their stupid friggin’ meters that seem to tick over from a nice round figure to some weird crap number with cents right about the point you want to get out, say going from HK$19.10 to HK$20.60, for eg, and forcing you to rummage through your pocket for change. What shits me is that they always expect you to round up this number but never let you round down. Give them the exact coins in cents and they glare at you like you just dropped a turd in their hand, which is what I try and do on a regular basis (exact change not turds, although . . . ).
Alright, fuggit, I’m on rant mode. I hate HK taxi drivers with a vengeance. Their cars stink, they stink, can’t drive to save themselves and are the rudest pricks on the planet. These days they all speak some Mandarin, but of course in that mangled godawful Canto accent. A typical conversation will go along the ines of; “Oh, you speaky goodly Mando for gweilo” to which I’ll reply “there’s is nothing I fear on heaven and earth like a Canto speaking Mandarin” “tian bu pa di bu pa, zhi pa Guangdong ren shuo putonghua”, or my other favourite: “I’d rather hear two people from Ningbo fighting than listen to Cantos talk about love.”
Goddamn. Why do HK Cantos smell so friggin’ bad?
HG
Just curious.
How much of the tip money gets reported for tax purposes? Say that waiter in New York pulls in $100,000/year. . . How much do you think he reports?
What percentage of the American population can accurately figure out what 15 % of $48.39 is? And if you had an average restaurant meal for $48.39, but you only had $5, and $10-dollar bills, what would you do?
How does the move to credit card use over the past decades affect having proper change? It seems like a lot of Americans use checks or credit cards for almost everything.
How confusing is it for foreigners in N. America, when they get a mixed drink at the bar? . . . a bottle of beer at a table?
Do most waiters, bell hops, taxi drivers, and customers like the tipping system?
I understand that it’s nice to reward exceptional service, but I think employees can be rewarded with raises, promotions, better time slots, more tables, more time off, (and continued employment 
) for most jobs.
I prefer Taiwan’s system. It’s just easier.
[quote=“zender”]What percentage of the American population can accurately figure out what 15 % of $48.39 is? And if you had an average restaurant meal for $48.39, but you only had $5, and $10-dollar bills, what would you do?
[/quote]
You can easily work out 10% by moving the decimal point.
10% is $4.84 or about $5. Add that to the bill and round up to the nearest $5 ($55 giving 14%) or nearest $10 ($60 giving 24%) tip depending on how good it is. You can do this in your head easily.
And yeah, I’m a geek.
Hey! I can work out 10 percent in a snap! And, unlike many Americans, I can even figure out 15 percent in about a second. But I’m not asking about what I already know about (ME). I’m asking about your average American.
Play along with me for a minute.
Think about 10 Americans that you know.
Get a firm picture in your mind.
Got it?
OK?
How many of those ten have a college education?
If the answer is two or three, you’re thinking about typical Americans.
If you’re like other college educated people, who tend to hang out with other college edjumucated people, you’re probably shooting too high . . . thinking of 8 out of ten with a B.S. degree.
Now remember that (by definition) half of the people are dumber than average. These people have to figure out a bill now and then, too.
How well do you think they’ll do on our little test?
I don’t think I’M a geek, but don’t ask anyone else.
The restaurant reports to the government based on a 15% tip assumption, and the servers are expected to do the same.
Different methods:
- Use pen and paper, or a calculator.
- Estimate.
- Move the decimal place over, then add half as much again.
- If the tax is 5%, triple it. If 7.5%, double it. The tax will be shown on the receipt.
- Use a tip card. You can buy these at bookstores like Barnes & Noble. They have totals, with 15% and 20% tip amounts shown in adjacent columns.
Give them $60. When they bring you your change, take 4.35 (or thereabouts) for yourself and leave the rest.
The restaurant will give you a credit card receipt with the price and a blank line to write in your tip. Then you total them up on the final line.
Standard tip: $1 per drink. Easy.
I agree. I’d like to see the Australian system implemented in the US. The employer should pay the servers for the job they do; anything extra is a gratuity for exceptional service, not because it’s expected.
Yeah, but you’re smart (Chris and King Zog).
Any idiots out there?
[quote=“zender”]Hey! I can work out 10 percent in a snap! And, unlike many Americans, I can even figure out 15 percent in about a second. But I’m not asking about what I already know about (ME). I’m asking about your average American.
Play along with me for a minute.
Think about 10 Americans that you know.
Get a firm picture in your mind.
Got it?
OK?
How many of those ten have a college education?
If the answer is two or three, you’re thinking about typical Americans.
If you’re like other college educated people, who tend to hang out with other college edjumucated people, you’re probably shooting too high . . . thinking of 8 out of ten with a B.S. degree.
Now remember that (by definition) half of the people are dumber than average. These people have to figure out a bill now and then, too.
How well do you think they’ll do on our little test?
I don’t think I’m a geek, but don’t ask anyone else.[/quote]
Hmmph. I’ve always found graduates to be least able to handle situations like this, at least in Europe. Literally the less education you have, the more chance you will get this sort of thing right. Because the actual rule is fuzzier and more human than “tip at x%”. Most people have a gut feeling for how to round up various bills to leave a tip appropriate to the culture they grew up in.
Even odder, arts grads seem better at it than engineers and engineers are better at it than physicists. I tried to test with mathematicians but they babbled nonsense and refused to eat anything.
People on the left of this diagram get it right.
xkcd.com/435/
Maybe.
I must say that the last time I was in the States, I was given the incorrect change twice in the first three days.
If you (remember, you only have 5s and 10s) pay for a $48.39-meal with 6 tens (you said you’d pay $60), I’m guessing some waiters will be confused. Half of them would probably slip a tenner in their pocket, thinking that YOU"D thought you’d only paid $50.
Then you’re screwed.
I take back what I said about you (Chris) bein’ so darn smart.
King Zog . . . HE’S smart!
[quote=“zender”]Maybe.
I must say that the last time I was in the States, I was given the incorrect change twice in the first three days.
If you (remember, you only have 5s and 10s) pay for a $48.39-meal with 6 tens (you said you’d pay $60), I’m guessing some waiters will be confused. Half of them would probably slip a tenner in their pocket, thinking that YOU"D thought you’d only paid $50.
Then you’re screwed.[/quote]
Balls.
Jesus, have you people ever eaten anywhere that didn’t have a drive thru window???
It’s perfectly ordinary for the customer to ask for change for the extra tenner when he pays, the waitress knows it’s so he can tip, and, accordingly, she’s most happy to oblige.
Taxes: When you do your taxes, it’s expected that you will claim a certain percent of your salary as tips, if you give a reasonable number, the gov’t plays along and accepts it. If you don’t, then they come down with a high hard one.
And if one doesn’t like the system, stick to Taco Bell and pick up a six-pack at 7-11 to take back to the campsite where you’ll be staying.
Because choosing to patronize places where tipping is standard, but choosing NOT to tip because of some bullshit moral stance is ass.
:discodance:
Thanks for the sig.
The Chief,
I’m only saying I PREFER the system that is simpler.
If I want to buy something, I’ll pay for it . . . service and all.
When I buy my groceries, I don’t want to have to decide how well the cashier rung 'em up, how well the bag boy packed ‘em, and then tip them both accordingly. Just ring up the fuckin’ damage, and let’s say the transaction is OVER!
I’ll be on my way, and you can tend to the next customer.
No one is saying we should stiff the poor tax-dodging waiter (Let’s call him “Joe the Waiter”) in New York that makes $100,000 and claims that he makes $35,000.
I have very little in the way of morals, but the way you belittled camping, drinking beer and Taco Bell in the same post, tells me that yours are no better. :no-no:
Taiwan NEEDS Taco Bell
[quote=“zender”]The Chief,
I’m only saying I PREFER the system that is simpler.
If I want to buy something, I’ll pay for it . . . service and all.
When I buy my groceries, I don’t want to have to decide how well the cashier rung 'em up, how well the bag boy packed ‘em, and then tip them both accordingly. Just ring up the fuckin’ damage, and let’s say the transaction is OVER!
I’ll be on my way, and you can tend to the next customer.
No one is saying we should stiff the poor tax-dodging waiter in New York that makes $100,000 and claims that he makes $35,000.
I have very little in the way of morals, but the way you belittled camping, drinking beer and Taco Bell in the same post, tells me that yours are no better. :no-no:
Taiwan NEEDS Taco Bell[/quote]
Yeah, sorry.
For once, I post WITHOUT the intention of starting a scrap, and it comes out all aggro.
Bad habits.
Believe me, for every bartender in Manhattan who’s raking in the Benjaminos, there’s 500 poor bastards who go home at the end of shift having earned not much more than they would’ve at Mickey’s. They, I’m sure, commiserate with your dissatisfaction and would like nothing better than to just get fucking PAID.
I have frequently counted myself among their number.
Oh, and everyone here who knows me is currently doing this: :roflmao: at the notion of me belittling the notion of a six-pack under the stars.
And Taco Bell is substantially more than I normally spend on a meal, I’ll have you know.
Could be worse, we could living on a fucking boat in Mexico…
living on a fucking boat in Mexico…
is my dream come true!
Maybe the boat I’M thinkin’ of is bigger than the one YOU were thinkin’ of.
[quote=“the chief”].
It’s perfectly ordinary for the customer to ask for change for the extra tenner when he pays, the waitress knows it’s so he can tip, and, accordingly, she’s most happy to oblige.[/quote]Absolutely. And chances are the server will bring you back two fives instead of one ten to make sure that you can still tip in case you’re not willing to tip a whole 10+ bucks.
[quote]Jesus, have you people ever eaten anywhere that didn’t have a drive thru window???[/quote]I have, but by the time I get to the campsite, the food is cold. Drive thru is much faster.
marboulette
marboulette said,
“by the time I get to the campsite, the food is cold.”
:beatnik:
The trick is to use that rubber band they give you with your bien-dang to strap the meal to the exhaust pipe on your scooter.
And that’s the last tip you’re gettin’ from ME.