:lol

My mom went out to dinner last night with an older neighbor of hers who is really, really into going out to restaurants.

She's very hard to please and has strict criteria...when she orders iced tea, they have to telepathically know to bring her a bowl of lemon wedges on the side, otherwise it's a "bad waitress". :\ They can't play the background music at more than a whisper because then people couldn't hear her talk. :| And they need to be all right with her holding the table for up to 4 hours if that's how long she wants to sit there. :shocked She goes out to lunch 5 times a week and dinner almost as often, so I'm sure all the area restaurant people know her by now.

Anyway, last night she managed to set her menu on fire on the table candle, then loudly complained that the music (a live musician at a grand piano) was too loud and needed to be turned down. When informed that the live musician wasn't going to play more quietly so she could be heard, she got mad and insisted that they be moved into a private dining area away from the piano.

I'm pretty glad I missed that one.

edit: She has an outdated "tip card" to calculate tip, and she follows it to a penny, literally. I have seen her count out dimes, nickels and pennies to leave $1.32 or whatever.

One thing I hate about dining with people from overseas is that they insist on leaving a tip. We don't tip in this country - I already paid for the meal why am I paying more?! I have to leave it for the waiter/ress? Their boss pays them! They have a wage!

Why?! Americans, stop invading us with your McDonalds and your culture of tipping! The restaurants are catching on and now they are starting to expect it. This is against what this country stands for.

It's just what Americans are used to. When my family's in America, we tip. When we're in Europe (especially if it's a small inn or something where the proprietor is also the server, where it's insulting) we generally follow the local rules. But here, servers expect a tip and have for a long time. It's built into their wage structure...I believe some actually receive less than minimum wage, and depend on tips to make a livable income.

Normally, in the States, I leave a 20% tip if the person has done a fairly good job. I've had some abysmal service and left some small tips accordingly, but I don't do it often. $1.32 would just be insulting to a waiter, and then you risk something happening to your food next time.

For the record, I hate McDonald's and haven't been to one in about 15 years. And that time it wasn't my idea.

Are you saying that you have to tip at McDonalds?

waiters/waitresses are exempt from our minimum wage laws, most of them only get paid like $2/hour so the tips make up the majority of their salary. that's why we tip.

and i'm fairly certain that tips aren't allowed at fastfood chains.

I always tip the restroom attendant at McDonalds for providing me with a freshly warmed moist towel. Very refreshing.

This is insanity.

So if I go to the US to visit, which I will one day, will I be allowed to leave without tipping? How is it enforced? Now that I know that it is more of a communal wage rather than one based on a employee/employer structure, I would feel bad not leaving a huge tip anyway.

Anyone been to the type of restaurant that tells you to pay whatever you think the meal was worth? Apparantly they do very well from themselves because guilt is a strong emotion, and people love to feel good about themselves.

There is no enforcement. You dont HAVE to tip. You can get up and walk out with just paying your bill. As a tourist you probably wont have a problem with it. Regulars will get a nice side of spit with their next order though.

the entire system is crap, a single cute waitress can make more in one night than all of her coworkers combined. it'd be nice if restaurants just paid waiters a normal rate and didn't allow tipping.

True. They just need to do away with the gratuity system. If you are worried about quality of service hire some managers that actually pay attention to their wait staff.

And not a one worth reading. :(
Don't worry, Lass. I'll tip you. I'll tip you all night long. :(

When you get up to 11,000 posts, you might just get your editing privileges back.

Ha, do I also get a postcount reset? :(
Need more of this please. :)
I thought that thread was creepy before I posted in it. :(

In the US, they don't have a wage. The average is just over $3 an hour and all tips have to be reported and taxed. When I worked at a local restaurant, the person training me got a paycheck for negative 22 cents due to the taxes from her tips.

In other words, shut up

Yeah, we'll shut up about thinking waiters are hard working employees that deserve a salary that conforms to minimum wage.

he just didn't know how it works here, it'd be hard to understand if you only saw it from outside the US.

and while we're out changing the way the world works, let's all agree to kill the fags, stop being racist, and appreciate classical music

i don't log in to the internet to be reasonable.

The last McDonald's I went to was in Verona, Italy. It was completely unlike any McDonald's I knew. A server with white gloves tonged your salad into the styrofoam container and handed it to you. I've got a picture of it somewhere...when I find it I'll edit this and add it.

What do they call a quarter pounder in Italy?

Today I put on underwear that was 8 sizes too big for me, and it caught on my thighs.

Uh oh.

:oao

no idea, my dad always ordered us unpleasantly large amounts of Chicken mcnuggets :(

That isn't how THE WORLD works. Just your part of it.

It is a pretty good part overall, though. :(

Yes it is. America is part of the world. Ants being hill enthusiasts is also part of how the world works, you fgt.

The first thing they teach you in AA is to accept the things you cannot change. Then they teach you how to smoke to cope with your other addictions.

oh, fuck it, I'll just stick it here.