God tips so why not you?
Posted on January 30, 2007 by Steve
Filed Under Ramblings, User Postings |
I have just returned from a holiday in America and am now a little closer to understanding capitalism, USA style.
The TV seems to have as many evangelists as A list “celebs”; but both have one thing in common. With an unnerving but blatantly honest “in your face” approach, they make it clear that what counts is MONEY. Money in their pockets - preferably from yours.
Give money to God (via the TV evangelical) and you will be saved - from what, to what or by what is unspecified - that costs extra!
Taking their cue from this religious message “service providers” are quite open about their expectation that the fare you paid, the meal you ordered from a priced menu, or the tour you booked, ditto, is only a starting point for “full value” payment.
In Miami they helpfully add this moral blackmail to the bill. “A service charge of 15-18% has been added to the bill for your convenience” is so blatant a piece of self serving nonsense that one begins to see why Blair et al go to the States so often - trade training in spin no doubt.
Moreover, if you have the temerity to dismiss the tip by deleting it from the bill or by omitting a (hefty) tip when none is included, then you will know what the ancient Greeks meant when they were rabbiting on about the Harpies.
In New York the approach is slightly more subtle - “We have have not added a gratuity but suggest the following for your guidance:
Average service 15%
Superior service 18%
Excellent service 20%”
Er, excuse me, but isn’t it about time that we travellers collectively stood up to this blackmail? Having been charged $8 for a small beer I can’t see why I should pay a further $1.20 for the superior service I received when the waitress plonked it down on the table in front of me without the benefit of a glass.
The blackmail starts with the guide books which explain that tips are factored into service providers’ wages, i.e. the employer pays slave rates for long hours, charges customers top rates for indifferent food, averagely prepared, or for tour buses which used to have suspension but are all right now, and then expect us to part with even more dosh to compensate the waiter/tour guide or driver for the fact that the employer won’t pay them a living wage.
I don’t feel the need to tip the flight attendant or pilot on my flight, so why should I feel the need to tip a tour guide or bus driver, museum guide or waiter?
Why do I care? because the UK has been injected with the American disease and what is normal there now will soon be the norm here. You have been warned, the UK is a Godless society we are told, but he is on his way, and when he gets here the tipping will start.
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