Luxe Beat Magazine NOVEMBER 2014 | Página 42

Global Etiquette G Tipping In Restau Alison J. Stein wrote, “The word ‘tip’ started to be commonly used for a gratuity around the 1700s in England, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, although Cornell University professor Michael Lind found evidence of a craftsman asking a customer for ‘tinkgeld’ envelopes in rooms for the housekeeping staff for people to know to leave tips. We do, but I will tell you that guests from Australia, UK, Switzerland, Japan, and many other countries will not. They are not being cheap, but in their countries the workers are doing their job at a livable wage. or ‘drink money’ in German, for apprentice dating back to 1509, so the practice emerged before its current name.” In general, Americans tip more that most and do not pay attention to local customs. That is a mistake. Both my husband Norm and I tip well, but we pay attention to what the customs are where we are traveling. I know some of this was covered in my column on “Gifting,” but general tipping is somewhat different. What set me off was Marriott announcing they were going to be putting In this article, we are going to focus on restaurants; otherwise it would be pages and pages. Even throughout the US, tipping is not standard. In New York, it is usually 20%+, based on the quality of service. Other states, it is 15 to 20%. Buffets are generally 10 to 12%. The tip makes up a good portion of the wait staffs’ income. In small establishments where the bill is not astronomical, we try to leave the tip in cash. If service has been horrible, leave less, but when and if I do that, I write a note on the back of the check as to why. In some more expensive restaurants in larger cities, there are so many lines for tips it seems just too much. I do not want to tip the maître d’ who seated me, server, assistant server, bus boy, PHOTOS BY MARALYN D. HILL C overing tipping is a daunting subject that varies around the world. If you do the wrong thing, it is far from appreciated—but what is wrong and what is right is a challenge. 42