Why do Americans tip at restaurants but not in other countries?
I just got back from Europe where nobody tipped at restaurants and the service was fine. In America, servers get mad if you don't tip 15-20%. Why can't restaurants just pay their workers a real wage? I heard servers make like $2/hour without tips. How did this system start? Are any restaurants moving away from tipping?
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3 Answers
I think kindness goes a long way here. Whatever the 'right' answer is, you can usually find it by treating people the way you'd want to be treated. That old rule still works better than any complicated theory.
Honestly I think people overthink stuff like this. Just do what feels right to you and don't worry so much about what other people think. At the end of the day you have to live your own life, not theirs.
I used to have a strong opinion on this and then I lived in another part of the country for a few years and completely changed my mind. Travel does that. What seems obvious where you grew up isn't obvious everywhere.
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