Is 'out of control' US tipping culture spreading overseas? |
Is 'out of control' US tipping culture spreading overseas?
The debate about tipping culture in the US has reignited in recent years, with social media posts about waiting staff angry that they haven't been left enough money going viral. Is this increased pressure to tip, and to do so generously, now spreading around the world?
Lillian Price thinks that tipping in the US is "out of control". "It's too much," she says.
"You might just be grabbing something to go, and you are expected to tip," says the animal care worker who lives in Philadelphia.
Price, who says she tips 15% in table-service restaurants, adds: "If somewhere is providing a service, that's fine, but I don't see why you need to tip in other places, or worse still, that they expect one. It's for any little thing… when do we stop giving tips?"
Price's policy of tipping 15% in a restaurant might seem generous to many people, but in certain cities in the US it could very well result in a frosty response from a waiter or waitress. In places like New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago 20% is now more often expected.
For Kate Santos, a waitress who works at Sanger Hall, a bar in Queens, New York, tips are an essential part of her income.
"Servers in New York make $11 (£8.18) an hour, so basically I make my salary off tips," she says. "If people don't tip, it's a bad day for me. In New York, there's an unspoken rule that you tip 20% minimum and if the tip is less, then people think it's terrible."
While tipping culture is ingrained in the US, 2,000 miles (3,220km) away in Iceland it was historically unheard of. But things have now changed, led by a big increase in American visitor numbers.
In 2010, 50,810 Americans went to Iceland, according to official Icelandic data. By last year this had soared to 660,114, and many simply wish to tip.
A spokeswoman for Efling Union, the second-largest union in Iceland, says........