>>>>Here, at the end of the meal the server usually says, "Can I bring you anything else?" I'm tempted to reply, "No, absolutely nothing". Then, when she brings the bill, I would say, "But you said you weren't going to bring me anything else!".
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>>>I managed to confuse a few people in the US by spreading my hands wide, like a bragging angler, while saying "so long" on departure.
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>>I'm sure they (the minimum wage serving staff) admired you all for turning normal social pleasantries into some sort of sarcastic linguistic exercise
>
>Are you serious? I was a waitress for years and pleasant natured customers were the best customers to have... Don't your waiters/waitresses get tips over there or is it like most of Europe where the tip is included in the bill? It was difficult for me to not tip when I was in Europe - it's how we show our appreciation for great service (or even not so great service when you can tell the waiter is really trying or maybe just having a difficult time) Being a waitress can be very stressful and exhausting, a little humor helps.
>
>On my first day of waitressing I dropped blueberry pancakes on a customer by accident. The gentleman's face almost turned blue. He was so angry but he stayed. When he left, he dropped a tip large enough to pay 1/4 of my rent on the table (maybe he thought I was going to be fired :o) The customers from Europe were interesting to have for discourse, but no one wanted them in their section, because they always either didn't leave a tip at all, or computed it to exactly 15%.

Tipping is a minefield.

One thing I don't like is when the amount is left blank on the slip so you can fill in a tip amount and its then deducted from you card. I prefer to tip cash.

Also I feel too many places use tips as an excuse to offer low rates of pay and how is the tip money split up (front of house, kitchen manager etc).

I think a lot of people tip at 12 or 15% here. But then 12 or 15 % of what. If its an expensive place its quite a lot of money. Also on the continent a lot of places add service to the bill anyway.