Tipping. Why is it done? | The curious origin of this custom

In our life there are very deep-rooted customs that we do not know very well where they come from, but they are there and we continue to comply with them. This is precisely the case of custom of tipping , which we want to talk about in the following Supercurioso article.

We are all supposed to know when and how much to tip but, in reality, there are situations that leave us a bit confused and we end up not knowing how much is enough or, on the contrary, when it is too much. Do you have to tip before any service? Only if we have been satisfied? We will try to answer these questions.

The origin of tipping

Subscribe to our Youtube | Win an Amazon 100 $ card
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and enjoy the best video trivia. Also, every month, we raffle a $ 100 Amazon card among the most active subscribers. Do you want to be you? Click and Subscribe Now

Tipping

Since the beginning of time or, better said, Since the exchange of services for money was invented, the tip has played an important role in the process , sometimes, as an element of power (you can feel really powerful if you leave that stingy friend wrong, overtaking you to leave some tips, after having divided the account to pay between the two).

It is believed that the origin of this ritual is in the taverns of the England of the seventeenth century, when customers slipped money over the bar to the waiter, to make sure they were served quickly. Soon that custom became popular in taverns and other establishments, as a way to be served better and faster.

Being a custom of the big cities, it became the way to show that a person knew the world and had traveled throughout the continents and they were refined and of good class. In this way, the richest people, the rich, converted the lower class, the working and working, servile and financially dependent, since the amount was at the mercy of the rich.

How to know when to tip and how much

At present, this custom still exists, however, it is not always the same. It varies depending on the country, and even the service, and it is often difficult to know the exact rules of how to act in each case.

It is clear that customs are not the same in each country, and you may find that depending on which places to tip is even a sign of bad manners, even when you exceed it.

Therefore, it is best to apply the saying of the Spanish proverb "Wherever you were, do what you saw." As it is difficult to know 100% the customs of each country, many of the travel websites offer advice on the subject. One of those guides is Tips on tipping (A global guide to gratuity etiquette). Published in 2011, by journalists Carole French and Reg Butler, and was made based on a survey conducted on the infobae.com portal. It is quite useful for, as we said, know what to do in each country and in front of any situation.

According to this guide, for example, the percentage that should be left in restaurants is between 15% and 20%, unless it is expressly stated that tips are not accepted, as is the case with McDonalds.

Following what the guide says, we should know that a sector where we usually make mistakes is in the hotels, specifically with the cleaning service. According to this guide, we should leave for cleaning service about € 5 per day but it is also important to leave a note with the money stating that this money is for cleaning service. You can also take advantage of that note to give some indication about something in particular that you do not want them to touch or, on the contrary, about something that you want them to clean in depth.

Tipping 1

As for the airport, which is usually another area where you usually tip, you should know that, according to this guide, the right thing to do is give € 2 for the first suitcase and one for each of the additional suitcases.

For aesthetic services, such as doing a manicure, a tip of about 15% is stipulated (as long as you are not one of those people taken from the Guinness Record book that they may have nails more than 10 cm in length , Some even meters!).

Another service where we usually tip is in taxis, how much is enough? In this case it will depend on the number of people who have climbed into the vehicle and have benefited from the race but, as a general rule, it is usually around 10% of the total price charged by the taxi driver.

As you can see, there are many "rules" when it comes to tipping, depending on the sector, the service and even the country. It is very positive that there are specialized guides that advise us in each case on how to act, do not you think?

What do you think about tipping? Do you usually be generous and always leave a tip or are you one of those who make the lazy not to leave? Explain your experience! We will be happy to read you!


Loading ..

Recent Posts

Loading ..