i dont enjoy eating out anymore,..i feel the price one pays is pricey enough and to expect an expected tip on top of this !!,..i dont feel the service in most places is value for money & dont care how they serve as long as they get their tip!!.,i,m against it

claire, calgary, canada

I think tipping should be expected as a right of poor people like waiters. Perhaps a fixed tip rather than proportional to the size of the bill. However, this is rather unfair to the average person compared to a multibillionaire !!!

Bill Rafter, Los Angeles, USA

To get a good realistic view of tipping, you should watch the 3rd rock from the sun episode in which the tipping culture is widely explored and actually makes alot of sense!

Jenni, Derry, Ireland

If you can't afford to tip, you can't afford the service either.

Tom Hayden, nyc, usa

The author overstated the tipping culture in the US. Yes, it is bad, but the amounts given and the breadth of it is not reality. For example, the line about if you have a lawn, you have a gardener? No.

Karen, Sun Prairie, USA

I don't know where you heard that teachers get cash tips.
Not true.
If a parent wants to give a gift to the teacher, it's more in the form of getting some supplies for the school room.
I have put two kids through school and have never heard of anyone giving cash to a teacher. It's unheard of.

Sandra, Chicago, USA

If people are so hard up, what are they doing going out for dinner and getting taxis in the first place?

sharon, brighton, uk

I waited tables for years. I actually averaged about $15 an hour with tips. That doesn't includthe 2.13 an hour that is your wage. Waiting tables is still a great job for those without a good education. I'd make about $500 a week. The average ticket was about $12.

Didi, Conway,

Never forget my visit to a restaurant 15 years ago, that's still there, on Ken High Street. The waitress was terrible. We didn't pay the "optional service charge." Upon leaving the owner shouted at us, "If you can't afford it, get out."

Restaurant owners just don't get it.

James, London, UK

Cash tips for teachers! Uncommon! Check your facts, Ms. Seib! I've taught in public school in the US for over 10 years and have NEVER gotten more than a card, and my kids love me! It's very unethical for teachers to accept more than a token card or bit of candy from students, much less cash.

alice, salado/lowestoft, TxUS/UK

Tipping is for exceptional service, a "thank you" for work well done. It is not your obligation, as a customer already paying for a service, to supplement a worker's wage deficiency. US federal law sets a minimum wage. If you agreed to work for less, the consequences are yours.

M, Seattle, USA

Its about time the service industries in the US and elsewhere paid a proper wage for the job being done and not rely on tips. There are plenty of people who are not in a position to receive tips yet they are still expected to do their job.

Richard, Torrevieja, Spain

Another good reason to live in Australia - no tipping expected! And no so-called service charges, either.

mykl, Kangaroo Point,

The US 'Tipping' system is all wrong. Good, polite, friendly service should be included in the price. The tip would be the customer coming back again!

Neil, Frankfurt, Germany

Tony from Islington must have been very lucky - service here is often sullen and rude even with the big tip!!

Bill Atkins, Rehoboth Beach, USA

Hard times are worst for people on low wages so we should tip more than we usually do.

Ali , London,

I adore bars and restaurants in the US; because they work for a tip, the service is brilliant. I'd hate for it to become sullen and rude like the UK, where tips are just often added to the bill automtically.

Tony, Islington, London, UK

Some people wait tables because they do not have the qualifications/experience to get a job where they do not have to rely on tips in order to pay the rent. "They can get another job" - in a time of such high unemployment rates, I am grateful to have a job in the first place.

Linda, London,

Waiters voluntarily work as waiters, there's no slavery. If they don't like the wage, they can find another job. When they blatantly expect a tip, it really puts people off.

Katie, London,

when you get bad service in us your still expected to leave a tip! I didnt leave one a few weeks ago because the service was non existant - then the waitress turned rude - the restaurant has lost a customer for ever - who loses the most here? Im all for tipping for great service.

james, cirencester, uk

One reason for the "tip culture" in the US is that most people have had the experience of working in a "service" job sometime, if only in their youth. This includes traditional wealthy families who send their teenagers to wait tables at places like Martha's Vineyard.

David Null, Claremont, CA, USA

Most waiters in the US make between 4 and 5 dollars an hour, which is significantly below minimum wage. The rest of the pay is expected to come from the tips from each table the waiter works. So no matter how tough a year its been for you, by not tipping the expected amount, you hurt the wait staff

Drew, Ossining, NY, USA

As a native New Yorker I have to chime in and say both comemnts are incorrect as well as the article. The average New Yorker is very generous and realizes that waiters and hairdressers make minimum wage so they try and give them a decent tip to top off their wage.

Katie, NYC,

I left a Holiday gift for my newspaper delivery person in the newspaper box where he is supposed to deposit my daily newspaper. He threw the paper on the driveway and so missed the gift. I then gave it to someone providing better service. Sorry, Newspaperperson!

Corrinne , Cool, USA

It is sad that we still expect the best for ourselves but save on the tip to the lowest paid people.Instead of cutting back on the dinner we cut back on the tip.

Andy O'Donnell, Sacramento, CA .USA.

This tipping culture is a big & tiring nusiance for foreigner's visiting USA. It would be much better if the price simply reflected the total service costs.

While visiting Washington, I half expected George W to be sticking a tip jar out of the fence, when we went to view the White House.

Firo, HongKong, HK

I so dislike the tip culture. It's really old fashion&unfair 4all. Why can't all costs (and the salary of employees is 1) be included in the final price, together with taxes? In US all prices are shown without, it's such a rip off society... and I agree that many graduates earn less than a waiter!!

Francesca, Verona, Italy

I agree that tipping is out of control in the US, it is ridiculous that 15-20% extra is expected on top of the bill. But you have to roll with the punches because the service industry there is poorly regulated and with no guarantee of a proper wage those people depend on gratuities.The system sucks

tril h, Dublin,

The spread of American tipping culture to countries like Ireland makes for strange times. Waiters have a guaranteed wage PLUS tips of 10%+ per cover, so here in Dublin i know lots of people who've been making €35-40K a year as waitstaff, should society be paying more to food servers than graduates?

tril h, Dublin,

I think the author of this article must get her information on tipping from only her wealthy contacts. The USA is not full of wealthy people. The average American does not tip as this article suggests. Most people have to budget for Christmas and can't afford this kind of tipping.

Bob, Eatonton, USA

I want to know why there is always a tip jar on the counter when I pick up take-out. What extra service do I get? Unlike in the UK, where it's often a lower price for take-out, I pay full menu price, but use no dishes, silverware, etc. Tipping in the US is definitely out of control.

Shari, Dallas, USA

Employers should be made to pay a fair wage for the proper delivery of what ever service they are trying to sell. Why is a service charge added to some bills? surely service is part of what is being sold in the first place.

Derek Nesbit, York, England

Recently in a restaurant in new york, my bill came to $60 and I paid with two $50s, i.e. gave the guy $100.

He asked, upon receipt of said $100, "Can I get you some change for that?". Yes, I bloody well do want my $40 change, do you expect a 67% tip mate?

Tipping in the US is out of control

rm, singapore, singapore

Mmmm. I tip waitresses & waiters 15-20% of the bill; I know they work hard & their regular paycheck is less than minimum wage. But nothing extra at Christmas. But otherwise, just a few dollars at xmas for the newspaper delivery person: bad hrs, low pay, frequent bad weather, & I love my a.m. paper

Carol, Parker, USA