>>>>>>>>>>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.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>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.
>>>>>
>>>>>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! :-)
>>>
>>>
>>>Where did you get that figure. We always tip at 15% (if good service) and try and leave the tip as cash and not included on the bill if paying by card. That way there's more chance of it going to the staff and not to the business.
>>
>>One of the reasons for including the tip is that when you tip in cash, only the waiter/waitress gets it. The other way, it is often pooled so that the people in the back - cooks, bottle washers, table cleaners, etc also get a piece of the action. Many of them are working just as hard as the waiter to give you good service.
>
>The article I read was about how some places use the tip money to also pay for breakages etc and charge an admin fee to the staff for passing on the tips.

I've heard about such things, but I think around here, those places tend to lose staff very quickly, and because of word of badmouth, I doubt they keep up the practice for too long.