Having A Reason To Be A Douche Is No Excuse At All.
Last night sucked for tips. Absolutely sucked. I mean, it’s Saturday night and I usually pull in about 80-100 bucks depending on how busy it is. Not last night. I left the restaurant with 48 dollars in my hand. Why, you ask? Because all my tables were full of French people. Why is it Europeans have to suck when it comes to tipping? My manager Yuki supplied the answer:
Yuki: “Because they don’t have a tipping system in Europe.”
Me: “Seriously?”
Yuki: “Seriously.”
Well that answers that. But do I care? Hell no! Hey, when I go to England, do I drive on the right side of the road? Nope. And when you Europeans come over to America, you don’t drive on the left side of the road, do you?
I say that if you’re gonna be bringing your tipping heritage, the least you could do is also bring your “driving on the left side of the road” heritage. Because then we would know who you are and run you off the road before you come into our restaurants and tip us less than 10 percent.
September 19th, 2006 at 12:19
Ha, you are such an idiot. If you knew what you americans do over here in Europe you would not complain about not tipping. you are the worst tourists so shut your mouth!!!
September 19th, 2006 at 1:47
From Italy, huh? I heard you guys are 0-2 in World Wars. Care to make it 0-3?
September 20th, 2006 at 5:40
I think its hilarious how Europeans complain about Americans being disrespectful but when they come here they don’t follow our traditions like tipping. Serving someone and not getting tipped is great, I love making minimum wage.
September 20th, 2006 at 6:15
easy now boy, i see your point except there are only very fer countries in the world that drive on the right side, that is England and Japan
September 20th, 2006 at 8:48
Ryan yoo have every reason to vent. Nick obvously doesn’t know how it feels to work a nine hour shift and get paid 2.00 an hour. TIPS ARE IMPORTANT! AND RESPECTFUL! Thats just how we do…besdies a lot of tourists prob. go over to Europe and don’t know traditions overseas and tip servers. So really they are getting a deal…Im so tired of hearing about American toursits being shitty….It has become an ongoing stereotype that truuly should be done away with…I have definitely served some uptight rude Europeans…human are humans…It doesnt matter what language is spoken…
September 21st, 2006 at 7:59
I stumbled across your site…and it is beyond the truth. I’ve learned to never expect more than 10% from Euros. Which may be there custom, but as others have said, do a little research, look into local custons!! My favorite are verbal tips! They tell you you are fabulous, leave a comment card saying everythign was perfect, and about a 7% tip! Its nice to hear you are fabulous every once in a while…but put your money where your mouth is!!
September 21st, 2006 at 9:59
Yeah, so if you normally bring home 80 to 100 bucks in tips for a Saturday… you’re spoiled. Waiters and Waitresses make way to much money for the skill of work the do. So as far as I am concerned…. STOP COMPLAINING… because if you worked at my restaurant, I would pay you 7 bucks an hour, and I would disallow tips. I’m relaying one message… GET AN EDUCATION.
September 21st, 2006 at 10:32
You are obviously one dumb fuck. Saturdays are the only days to make money. Do you know how much money we make Sunday thru Thursday? Nothing. We get paid less than a dollar an hour on our paycheck. And personally, I’m going to college right now while working four-five nights a week. Hope you’re not a Business major David because NO ONE will want to work for you. Asshole.
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:51
Did you read what I wrote? I would pay you minimum wage… which is exactly what you are worth
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:00
Yea, dude. I read what you wrote. Congratulations, you’re literate.
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:02
P.S. It’s pretty obvious I’m not the only one that feels this way. Why don’t you check out what Logan, Erin and Ashley had to say. Also, it says here that according to your email, you’re from Rice. Are you just trying to vent your frustration from getting completely dominated by Texas last week?
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:25
Haha, nice mention about Rice. I actually don’t really care that we lost… I knew we would. I know that you aren’t the only one that feels that way, I’m not dumb. I just think that waiters and waitresses should make minimum wage, just like the rest of the unskilled labor workers.
Honestly, I would rather get up and get my own food quickly, then wait on some waiter to bring it to me slowly and pay 15% more for it. So..congratulations to all you waiters and waitresses, you are scamming the public out of their money with a completely useless job.
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:50
Then here’s an idea: Don’t go to restaurants.
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:54
Here’s another… go to a cafe
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:12
Flagler?
sums it up
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:38
Whatever, just ignore me. Sometimes I get flustered when I realize that you get paid so much. I know you work hard, and you get paid, I just work hard too, and I don’t get paid, and its a very thankless job. So, although I still don’t understand why waiters and waitress don’t get paid just a simple hourly wage, I don’t mean to take my frustration out on everyone here. I worked over ten hours a day at an internet company, writing code for a huge program, and never once came back with even close to 100 bucks. So, sorry for sounding like an asshole, it just frustrates me the way things work, trust me, I know your job is hard, and I personally, wouldn’t want to do it.
September 22nd, 2006 at 5:55
Personally, I’m a business major. I realize that better paid employees are happier and do better work. Being a waiter/waitress is a bitch and I know this because I’m a cook and I have to hear about all the shit they have to go through because of people like David who think they can walk all over them because they “get paid so well”. Kudos to you David. Great. You’re in that group that the rest of us call “Elitist” just because we’re not all blessed with having shit handed to us. Why don’t you bust your balls working a real job instead of punching on a keyboard all day?
Unskilled labor my ass…go fuck yourself man…and attacking that guy’s school? Listen cocksmoker, not everyone is blessed with the financial ability to go to Rice. I’m going to Emory and I don’t throw that in people’s faces. Flager’s a good school so eat shit man. Might not be good enough for you pompous fucks but it’s good enough for the rest of us. Why don’t you fuck off?
September 24th, 2006 at 3:01
Waiters bring me food….I tip them 20-25%. I go home. David sucks dick.
September 24th, 2006 at 5:53
haha, this is great. David, you do realize you completely contradicted yourself don’t you? you say how easy a server’s job is for the money he/she makes and whine because you don’t make that much, then you say that you know a waitressing job is hard but that you woudln’t want to do it. Well, then shut your damn mouth! If you’d never want to be a server, then stop whining and work your desk job.
September 25th, 2006 at 1:01
This is one of the best blogs I have read, thumbs up. I was a bus boy for a couple years so I got 5.25 an hour + tips, which was usually $30-40 on weekends. Waiters do work hard. They don’t get paid that much and it really pisses me off when people don’t leave tips. David you are really ignorant for saying that they get paid too much. Whenever I eat at restaurants I pay the whole bill and when my girlfriend says she wants to help pay for it I say she can leave the tip. Then since she feels bad about not paying for the meal, she leaves a huge tip, usually 25-35%. I think that works well because I feel good for not making her pay, she feels good for paying a little, and the waiter feels good for getting a huge tip.
I think everybody needs to work at a restaurant and a grocery store (I’m currently a cashier at Kroger) at least once in their lifetime, so that they know what it feels to be in the employee’s shoes. I think there’s even more retarded people at grocery stores than at restaurants.
September 25th, 2006 at 7:51
So just to clear things up. In Europe most restaurants include the tip on the bill. If you have a guy who doesn’t leave a tip at all then that was probly the reason, I dunno about the bad tippers, maybe you just suck. I worked for tips for a couple years so don’t think I’m a big hypocrite, but it always pisses me off when I hear people bitching because someone didn’t leave them a tip. It’s a tip. It is what you get as a courtesy from someone that isn’t mandatory. If it was mandatory it would be included on the menu. Yea, it’s nice to bring home extra cash in your pocket. But if someone serves me shitty I have no problems with walking away from the table and just leaving the coins they brought back, be nicer next time asshole. If a waiter does a decent job, not to good not too bad i’ll leave 15% because, once again, it’s a tip. They aren’t garunteed it. If you want a garunteed wage find a job that pays well instead. Work hard, be nice, and you’ll get your due. And finally, no one has even considered that the guy who wrote this story was an asshole who mixed up orders and was having a smoke break while the peoples food got greasy under a heat lamp.
September 25th, 2006 at 8:07
Is there something wrong with you? Can you survive off of $2/hour?? I know European servers get paid more than that! Come on. Just keeping this related to Europeans tipping….
What!? You assume that the tip is in the bill THERE, not here. WTF, why do you have to pay taxes?? That’s not on the menu!! No if the sevice is slackin…lets not pay taxes!!!
Everyone notice the times that these were posted…Ciff’s is at almost 8 am on the 25th, well here in good ‘ol Colorado the time is a little after 2 am also on the 25th. He is from Europe. SHUT UP!! But I do have one question. Do Europeans come to America realizing that they should tip servers?? Or they just that rude? Hum…look at the effing culture before you make an idiot of yourself! Ya, your smart. Don’t ever come to America…I wouldn’t want to serve you.
As a side: haha, i agree~~BEST blog ever! And…I think we finally shut David up!!
September 25th, 2006 at 8:09
What!! It says 8!! lol its 2 here!!! oops. that’s pretty weird! :S lol
September 25th, 2006 at 5:07
Hi.
Being from England I know all about us not tipping, especially having worked in a bar. It is getting better in Europe I think, but we get paid way more per hour. I used to get $15 or so an hour but hardly any tips, so it evens out about right. I was happy with that and if you guys make tips then thats great, everybody is happy and gets some money. That David fellow is a grade-A penis for saying that stuff; it may not be the hardest job in the world I agree, but having to deal with useless cunts like him means that being tipped makes the job that much better.
Oh and David, $7 an hour? I’d rather eat my own arsehole
September 25th, 2006 at 6:36
Finally. Someone from Europe backing me up.
September 26th, 2006 at 4:24
Hey retard…it says 8 on your post too…it was 2 AM in Iowa where I’m at…and if you’re gonna emote the use of ‘effing’ why don’t you just go for the gold and say fuck…we’re all adults here, I don’t think you’ll get sent to time out. And if we don’t look at the culture of Europe why are you so arrogant as to think that they study tipping policies of America before coming? That seems like an unreasonable request on your part, but maybe learning every tiny nuance of a culture is a prerequisite to getting a visa to that country now, I haven’t gone overseas in a while. Cute use of logic trying to catch someone…unfortunately it backfired and you look retarded.
September 26th, 2006 at 4:48
Actually Cliff, Jessica looks like she made a mistake that anybody would make, and you look like an asshole. Maybe you think saying “fuck” makes you cooler. Pretty cool to get angry at a girl and call her retarded, we can all tell what an upstanding gentleman you are.
September 26th, 2006 at 9:20
~And to Cliff, you don’t learn things about other countries before you go to them? Well, I come from a family that is VERY organized and we always try to RESPECT other countries (but also so we don’t look like dumb Americans) before traveling overseas my family learns all that we can about their culture. And this year at CSU I am in a Current World Problems class, I do care about world relations, and learning about others can only help. Go read a book.
Oh, by the way since I talked about my family and all, well my parents just moved to Iowa this summer. My dad took a City Manager position there, I would love to know where your from Cliff, just to see if the city is full of dumb asses like you or if they are far enough away from you. Hum??
xoxoxoxo
September 27th, 2006 at 8:19
Well ‘webby’ I didn’t really look at names before I responded to Jessica’s message. I would respond to a girl that calls me out the same way I would respond to a guy that calls me out. If someone calls bullshit on something I say what i feel…I would respond to a guy the same way i respond to a girl. I don’t believe in cutting slack just because someone happens to be a girl, and thanks for commenting on my gentlemaness from one post on a website. you don’t know anything about me except one paragraph so why don’t you hold judgement until you know more about me.
Jessica, I’m glad you try to respect countries but if you left a tip in a european country you would look foolish because it is already included in on the check. but regardless of how much you learn you will always look like a dumb american because you can’t learn every facet of european culture through a book. some things can only be learned through experience and I would imagine that you haven’t learned everything because that is impossible.
I live in Iowa City since you are interested. And I hope your dad will bring some common sense to the city council because this is a ridiculously liberal city, and being a conservative is hard, but I am always up for a reasonable discussion about ideals so i wish your dad the best of luck whatever town he is in. (PS I am not a dumbass no matter how much you wish it was true)
September 27th, 2006 at 9:00
Since when is the view of receiving money ‘foolish’??? If I was an European server that got tipped great by an American…well I would probably like them even more! I can see how the servers in Europe would think that Americans are a little silly if they didn’t know it wasn’t expected to be tipped, but I would more thankful by far.
It’s been good chating with you. Good points were brought up. That’s the first step in fixing this problem.
My parents live about an hour north of Des Moines.
I don’t feel the urge to take up more space on this blog, so if you want to chat more, i have a myspace:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=41974438
It’s been fun!!
xoxoxoxoxoxo
September 28th, 2006 at 10:41
Why are all you people bitching at each other rather than discuss the topics brought up by this website?
November 6th, 2006 at 9:42
I would like to say that not all Europeans are like that.
I don’t work out a percentage for my tips usually, however I’ve been told that I’m generous with them (recently this hasn’t been possible since I’m unemployed and completely broke, but that means I’m not eating out much/at all so it evens out), for example if I go to Ichiban near me (I’m in Scotland by the way) and buy lunch for myself I would usually leave a tip somewhere between £3 and £7 depending on how friendly the waiters were, how busy it was, how fast I got my meal. The typical lunch I would buy would come to about £13 or £14, so that’s fairly generous I think. (The higher end tips appear when I’m the only person there and the food is good, if business is slow then they kind of need it and I appreciate that.)
Oh, just so you don’t have to do it yourself, £1 is currently $1.89701, so it’s between $5.69 and $13.27 for a meal costing between $24.66 and $26.55
Just thought I should defend myself here. =P
November 17th, 2006 at 5:01
Hey, I don´t like living with minmum wage too but I don’t go to my costumers and force them to tip me… instead off the tip raise your prices 5 to 10 % and get a better wager!!!! duhhhh!!!!!!
in europe we expect to pay for the entire service, and includes waiter, undestand??? I don’t go around and ask for a 1Eur. Soda and then ask the waiter if 10 cents is good to pay him for the trouble, he’s already getting paid to do his job!!!!!!
if you want to earn more find a job that pays more, that’s usually what inteligent people do!!!!!
November 27th, 2006 at 1:41
France : in any restaurant a 15% service charge is included in the menu. it says “service compris 15%” so whatever you tip is a 15+% bonus. depending on restaurants, tips over those 15% may be only for waiters or shared with busboys.
Usually french people when travelling abroad believe those 15% are also included in the menu, the same way they think prices include VAT (16%-25% depending on UE countries).
when they learn about the differences between UE and US for pricing they usually adjust tipping (15+%). my personal rule when going to the US is rounded 20% tip for good service, rounded 25%-35% for very good.
May 26th, 2007 at 3:04
In Europe they drive on the same side of the street as they do in America. Its only different in the UK
Europeans do tip poorly though
August 4th, 2007 at 3:34
In Europe, generally speaking, waiting staff are paid a living wage.
Leaving a tip is optional, like a bonus for good service. A 10% tip would be considered a good tip.
Maybe it’s a hang over from all our lefty leaning socialist principles but a person should be paid a proper wage. People tell me this crazy idea would raise the price of my meal. So ?
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:29
Late reply, but still. The French are surly assholes. I live on the border and the French are the New Yorkers of Europe. Because tips are included, the waitstaff will either act like professionals, or they will act like assholes. Mostly the latter. Same in grocery stores, which I really do not understand.