Hey Folks!
I’ve been living abroad for over half my life in a country where tipping is not the norm. At most you would round up. 19€ bill? Here’s a 20, keep this change.
Going to the US soon to visit family and the whole idea of tipping makes me nervous. It seems there’s a lot of discussion about getting rid of tipping, but I don’t know how much has changed in this regard.
The system seems ridiculously unfair, and that extra expense in a country where everything is already so expensive really makes a difference.
So will AITA if I don’t tip? Is it really my personal responsibility to make sure my server is paid enough?
You’re right in that nobody can force you to tip, but it’s part of the unwritten rules for eating at a sit-down restaurant. By not tipping, you’ve said that you don’t care about the agreement you’ve made by sitting at the table.
It would be like saying “nobody can force you to stop cheating at Monopoly.” While technically true, you’d still be an asshole if you did it, because you’re breaking the unspoken agreement that you made when sitting down to play.