Re: Tipping in restaurants

From: Diane Hodges (dhodges@ceo.cudenver.edu)
Date: Fri Aug 17 2001 - 23:25:14 PDT


this is fascinating!

i've been a waitress in several contexts - a donut stand in a suburban
mall, a cowboy bar in Calgary, a steak house (Calgary),

and in these situations , the tips were contingent upon our pay. if we
were paid minimum, it was assumed we'd make up the difference in tips: in
the donut stand, the tips were pitiful so the pay was better:
in the bar and steakhouse, the pay was worse but the tips were much
better...
 and the tips were contingent upon familiarity, no more no less. regulars
have always tipped more than wanderers-in;
men tip women more than women tip women,
drunks tip more than social drinkers,
and service is usually directed towards the tipping in all waitressing
situations. Americans are not as good tippers as Canadians, and in my
experience knowing waitresses (from everywhere, including NZ and
Australia; Europe, Africa, Caribbean), socialist economies produce better
tippers because of a shared sensibility in the cost of living.
socialist economies produce more of a community than the independent /
individual perspective advanced by so-called free capitalist/democratic
economy.
diane's 2 cents, two dimes for a tip on that 2 pennies of expense. ;)

"If you never try, you'll never be disappointed."
Homer Simpson

diane celia hodges
university of british columbia, centre for the study of curriculum and
instruction
vancouver, bc
mailing address: 46 broadview avenue, montreal, qc, H9R 3Z2



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