Non-Americans who have been to the US.. What is the weirdest thing about America that Americans don't realize is weird?

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Being overly fake nice because you want a tip. Tbh I'd be more inclined to tip you if you left me alone and stopped talking to me.
The whole tipping thing in USA is weird. Everyone wants a tip, it's entirely random (as a non-American) how much tip to give. Just pay your staff a wage they can actually live on ffs.
- As an American I agree it's fucking weird. Tips should be for exceptional service and not an obligation.
- There's actually a loose set of rules to it. Im not sure where the specific numbers came from, but 22% of the bill as a tip is considered "excellent service", 18% or so is considered "mid" or "acceptable" service, and anything below that is a sliding scale of how bad you think they did. 0% is either you being rude and/or saying "i dont believe in tips", but giving a $0.01 tip is basically saying "fuck you, you piece of shit," (because fishing out a penny or writing it in takes more effort than opting out).
  
  Those numbers used to be 12, 15 and 18. They've increased, but I'm not sure why, since they're percentages. They keep up with increased food prices automatically. Not sure why tip growth has outpaced food prices.
  
  It may also be my region. Its always been this way for me for at least the last 15 years or so.
  Now, those squarepay terminals that suggest 30% tips or similar can eat rocks.
  
  Yeah but how do you consult those rules? How often are they updated? How do you get notified of updates?
  The fact that there are no answers to these questions and therefore everyone is working with mismatching rule sets makes the whole thing useless. You can be totally well meaning and still piss off a server because somehow you don’t know what the currently acceptable magic number is.
  I recently visited the states for the first time in a decade and didn’t find out until afterwards that 15% is now considered by some people to be “low”. Sorry everyone who I tipped, I shafted you without realizing it. 🤷‍♂️
  
  We don't even get this memo. I thought it was still 15, 18, and 20. And I'm wholey against mandatory tipping, but always do so because I don't want the underpaid staff to starve. I have enough friends in food service who can barely pay their rent with multiple roommates.
  
  Depends where you are, but I think a lot of times they're happy just to get anything.
- Parts of Greece apparently also do tips. Is that new? Seems like it's leeching into Europe :/

689 comments