You're so American!

[Saphan]

10 minutes ago, LaosLover said:

In a no service charge place, I give 10%.

 

When I lived in Kyoto, there was a goofball myth that Japanese servers would chase you down the street to return a tip. Suffice it to say that this never happened a single time in the history of the universe.

 

I'll put a snooty, easily insulted som tum pounder in the same unicorn category. 

60 secs after leaving the staff have forgotten you and started washing the plates. Nobody is insulted.

[pgrahmm]

53 minutes ago, Saphan said:

Like France and Italy?

On a trip to Paris, my wife & I stopped at a nice outdoor / indoor cafe like they have for lunch....The waiters we're almost stereotypical in dress and manner.....The meal was nice and we were getting ready to leave..... I'd already paid & given a nice tip, however my wife didn't want the coin change as we were flying out and counted, stacked it nicely at the center of our table as a nice gesture to leave for our waiter.....

He came to our table, looked at the change, picked it up and flung it across the table.....He then took his stereotypical movie like poofy waiter self, turned on his heals and stalked away.....

My (Thai) wife was wide eyed astonished as I was half laughing & half ticked off....She looked at me and all she could think of to say was "that's perfectly good money".....

I laughed, but felt bad for her at the same time as she genuinely thought she was doing something very nice for this other person....

She does not tip in Thailand (very rarely if a birthday or celebration)....

I can still envision the shock & look on her face....

Edited February 3, 2023 by pgrahmm

[Saphan]

1 minute ago, pgrahmm said:

On a trip to Paris, my wife & I stopped at a nice outdoor / indoor cafe like they have for lunch....The waiters we're almost stereotypical in dress and manner.....The meal was nice and we were getting ready to leave..... I'd already paid & given a nice tip, however my wife didn't want the coin change and counted, stacked it nicely at the center of our table as a nice gesture to leave for our waiter.....

He came to our table, looked at the change, picked it up and flung it across the table.....He then took his stereotypical movie like poofy waiter self, turned on his heals and stalked away.....

My (Thai) wife was wide eyed astonished as I was half laughing & half ticked off....She looked at me and all she could think of to say was "that's perfectly good money".....

I laughed, but felt bad for her at the same time as she genuinely thought she was doing something very nice for this other person....

She does not tip in Thailand (very rarely if a birthday or celebration)....

I can still envision the shock & look on her face....

Did you pick up the coins? 

[pgrahmm]

15 minutes ago, Saphan said:

Did you pick up the coins? 

I don't really remember, she might have....I was starting to get <deleted> off because of the treatment.....More for how she was feeling wounded.....

I kind of think she might have..... It was all strewn across the table....

Edited February 3, 2023 by pgrahmm

[Mac Mickmanus]

1 minute ago, pgrahmm said:

I don't really remember, she might have....I was starting to get <deleted> off because of the treatment.....More for how she was feeling wounded.....

I kind of think she might have..... It was all strewn across the table....

You should have gone to the cashier and asked for the real tip to be returned 

[Saphan]

Just now, Mac Mickmanus said:

You should have gone to the cashier and asked for the real tip to be returned 

Yes I agree. Every last cent.

[Saphan]

Also ask to see the manager and make a complaint. Tell the manager the waiter should be fired.

[pgrahmm]

7 minutes ago, Saphan said:

Also ask to see the manager and make a complaint. Tell the manager the waiter should be fired.

It did cast a pall for a short time on our last half day, visiting local markets....

It made everything look & feel a little different.....

Edited February 3, 2023 by pgrahmm

[Mac Mickmanus]

23 minutes ago, pgrahmm said:

On a trip to Paris, my wife & I stopped at a nice outdoor / indoor cafe like they have for lunch....The waiters we're almost stereotypical in dress and manner.....The meal was nice and we were getting ready to leave..... I'd already paid & given a nice tip, however my wife didn't want the

I was in a McDonalds in Thailand and a young American teenager bought a McDonalds and he got seven Baht back in change from the cashier , cashier being a middle aged man .

  The American kid  picked the seven Baht up, and proudly said the the cashier "This my friend is for you" and handed the seven Baht over to him , he seemed to be expecting the cashier to be overjoyed and thankful for the 7 Baht

[Saphan]

1 minute ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

I was in a McDonalds in Thailand and a young American teenager bought a McDonalds and he got seven Baht back in change from the cashier , cashier being a middle aged man .

  The American kid  picked the seven Baht up, and proudly said the the cashier "This my friend is for you" and handed the seven Baht over to him , he seemed to be expecting the cashier to be overjoyed and thankful for the 7 Baht

Another 7 tips buys a beer.

[Mac Mickmanus]

3 minutes ago, Saphan said:

Another 7 tips buys a beer.

The cashier didn't accept the tip  

[pgrahmm]

4 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

I was in a McDonalds in Thailand and a young American teenager bought a McDonalds and he got seven Baht back in change from the cashier , cashier being a middle aged man .

  The American kid  picked the seven Baht up, and proudly said the the cashier "This my friend is for you" and handed the seven Baht over to him , he seemed to be expecting the cashier to be overjoyed and thankful for the 7 Baht

To bad they don't have those money for orphans, dogs, causes, etc on the counter like they do in the US....The cashier could've just dropped it in there....

Some of the antics of others can just take a smile away.....  

[Isaan sailor]

2 hours ago, Jingthing said:

The way American tourists tip has corrupted so many places in the world so I wouldn't call it a positive side.

I see tip boxes at Immigration and at Amazon.  No doubt other places in LoS have them.

[LaosLover]

......So we had grab delivery from the justly famous Ginger Kitchen restaurant and it came to 880 baht. Tossed the delivery guy 1,000 baht. 

 

Will some English person be carrying a grudge forever about that like the McDonald's story -in which an implausibly overly effusive tipping quote seems to be over-egging the pudding?

[Mac Mickmanus]

5 minutes ago, LaosLover said:

......So we had grab delivery from the justly famous Ginger Kitchen restaurant and it came to 880 baht. Tossed the delivery guy 1,000 baht. 

 

Will some English person be carrying a grudge forever about that like the McDonald's story -in which an implausibly overly effusive tipping quote seems to be over-egging the pudding?

Oh right, so you don't just tip 10 Baht on 40 Baht meals, you also tip 120 Baht on 880 Baht meals as well .

   Your social standing has just gone up a few notches and you have "saved face" 

[LaosLover]

10 baht on a 40 baht meal is a 25% tip. That's Manhattan rates.

 

So for two of us, that's 20 baht. That's a green coconut for somebody. Only a westerner is tipping in a plastic stool kind of restaurant.

 

Like the other guy said 6 times, it's a round it up calculation. If I don't have a 50 baht bill for that 40 baht meal, 3 twenties left at the till is by no means out of the question.

 

I'm more interested in your view that ME tipping is somehow hurting YOU,  in some kind of karmic long run of "spoiling the locals". English people are always telling me this. I need an actual example.

 

I read a sociology text about Thai village life and the drift was that stuff just comes and goes for them and they're lighter than us in the ongoing expectations department. They're happy for my princely 10 baht to drop from the sky, they don't connect it to you at all. Only you alone do.

 

 

[Maybole]

Short ankle length trousers!