Tipping in bars and restaurants (English version)

Are you in the habit of giving tips?

Do you hardly leave any? Many? Almost always? Never?

It is said in Spain that we Catalans, don´t usually give much...

To be honest I don´t know really! But perhaps It could be that since we are so used to pay for everything to the economy of this state called Spain, we don´t even feel like paying an extra...

In fact, (as one of our sayings say) "We can stand coming up to be cuckolds and also pay for the drink" (*1), but paying as well for the "tip"??!! ("You´talkin´to me ?"(*2)), For some that´s just to much for an instant...

Pondering now over this, I could talk about many years from now, when in one of my first jobs I had to deliver pizzas on a scootter by the Barcelona neighborhoods of "Horta, Carmel, Canyelles-Guineueta, and Nou Barris"...

Manytimes after bringing up the pizza ( A nice hot pizza!) into a beautiful villa or stately building, the person opening the door with either a twit face or a smile from ear to ear, would no way search into his poket for a coin.

On the other hand, in the numerous occasions bringing it into a humble working class family, almost always there was something given...And sometimes quite splendid!

After this job, I myself have work at many places in the hotel and catering industry...And since I´m quite conscious, of the toughness and the generally bad wages, I have always tried to be solidare at the time of tipping whereever I had a coffee or a meal.

And I guess that certainly this attitude is common among thw workers of the mentioned hotel & catering industry, seeing that they know better than anybody else what does their job involves!

However! After this statement, I would like to specify that I don´t sistematicly ALWAYS give tips, no matter what happens and no matter what the service or the value for money is, no I don´t!

So, If I don´t have any special complain, I try to give between 5 and 10% of the total amount...

And I give It because I want to, froom the freedom and good knowledge and free of any social or cultural pressure!

And why do I underline this? Some might think.

Because, just a few days ago I was thinking about the american and japanese models about this matter:

In the United States (Country where I had the pleasure to live and study for a whole year) the tip is obligatory...I mean, socially and culturally there´s a great pressure for tipping, and no matter how happy or unhappy you are with the service or the quality of the food or the possibly abbusive prices of the dishes, YOU MUST GIVE A TIP, and not the tip that you believe to be convinient...At least a minimum of 10 or 15%.


Legaly you are not forced to do it, but not doing it it´s very badly considered by coleagues and waiters...It´s almost as if you would directly spit on their faces!

Curious huh?

And well, in Japan (country that I have always admired) not only tips are not obligatory, but aren´t either ACCEPTED!

No matter how cheap or super-luxurious is the restaurant were you go, the tip will never be welcome, and the waiters and the people in general find this fine and as a normal thing.

They consider that their job and dutty is to cook a good meal and offer a good service to everybody, and for this purpose they are already paid the right price of the dishes themselves...And that´s it! Nothing else! That´s all!

What a cultural differences huh?

Americans put in a lot of effort to give you a good service in order to get good tipped from you...And the japanese simply put in a lot of effort to give you a good service because is their obligation...

In spite of allof this, in Catalonia and the Catalan Countries (Països Catalans) by extention, we have an intermediate system that consists on the right of everyone to give or not giving the amount of tip considered right according to everyone´s assessments and verdicts about many variables...

In the rest of the Spanish State they tend quite often to call us (The Catalans) "skinflints" or "tightwads", but in the next article we will annalize the different ways to pay the bill when you are going out with friends, according to the different countries where we might be...


Bye-ensis! To everybody-eenssis!

(*1): This Catalan saying means that "you might be aware that someone is discriminating you in someway or just cheating or robbing you (something bad anyway) But what you are definitely NOT going to accept is to be even be more stupid by "paying someone a drink" not as a literal meaning by as

PD: By the way! Last minutte news...

Yesterday I found out that in countries like Venezuela or some restaurants in Poland, the tip is already INCLUDED in the bill! So the concept or the meaning of the "tip" is totally distorted.