>>>>>>>>>My American aunt gave me a $2 bill, in a wee presentation cardboard wallet, when I was a kid, saying "Take care of this. These are rare and it might be worth something in the future." I think I still have it somewhere. What's the score? Are they rare? Was she BSing me?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Yes, they're rare. Nobody uses them regularly. We have a small pile of them here that someone gave one of the kids for a gift, but otherwise, I haven't seen any in years and years.
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>>>>>>>>Tamar
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>We don't see any around anymore either. Of course, we went with one and two dollar coins, but the province of Alberta pretty much got rid of two dollar bills many many years ago. They were still legal tender in Alberta, of course, but nobody wanted them. The inane reason was that they were considered to be bad luck. Maybe that's also why they started disappearing in the U.S.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>The U.S. is considering getting rid of pennies. For one thing they cost more than a penny to make.
>>>>>
>>>>>They're considering it here too. But a lot of people are afraid that everything will be rounded up and end up costing more.
>>>>>
>>>>>I had a friend who played for Canada's national basketball team back in the 60s. he went to Brazil for a tournament and knew nothing much about the monetary units. When a kid helped carry his bags up to his hotel room, he tipped the kid 5 cruzeiros. He said the look he got from the kid made his blood curdle. He found out later that in Brazil it cost 5 cruzeiros to make a one cruzeiro note. So I guess it would have been like tipping a kid 1 cent here.
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>>>>I had an opposite experience one summer working in London. I became a regular customer at an Italian restaurant at the end of an alley near the hotel. The food was good, not too expensive, and they always seemed happy to see me. I foolishly thought it was because of my wit and charm. It wasn't until near the end of the stay that I figured out I was tipping 15% on top of the tip that was already included in the bill (LOL).
>>>
>>>Not forgetting the fact that restaurant tipping is 10% over here! :-)
>>
>>I've always wondered about how people feel about this. Over here the rule of thumb is 15%, but I know many people who seem to want to treat the 15% as if it were a federal law. They meticulously calculate out 15% (it used to be easy here in Ontario when the gst and pst added up to 15%) and they never leave more and they never leave less. The service itself seems to mean nothing at all. If I get great service from someone who seems to really enjoy giving good service, I have no problem encouraging them by giving 20 or 25% depending on the bill itself (I try not to get crazy). If I get rotten service from someone who acts like they're doing me a favour, why would I leave any tip at all?
>
>I'm not sure about Canada but here waiters and waitresses have a percentage of their bills, I believe 7.5%, withheld as taxes. So if you tip them less than 7.5% they are paying to wait on you.

I checked with Lynn and she is unaware of any such system in Canada. She also says that with the types of tax evasions they see, worrying about a waiter who makes peanuts not reporting all his tips is waaaaaaayyyyy down the list of priorities.