[bluesdave]

You Yanks have created a real problem for us down here, with your blasted "tipping". :p We (Aussies), have a system where the restaurant, and bar staff are paid a reasonable wage (not great money, but OK), and any tips they receive are truly a gratuity. The staff do not (in theory), have to rely on tips. Forty years ago it was almost unheard of to leave a tip, except in very upmarket restaurants, but now it is almost expected of you, even if you are just buying a cappuccino and a muffin in a café. The staff's wages have continued to increase with inflation, but now we have the tips on top of it.

If it was dinner (evening meal), I will usually leave a small tip to round off the amount to the nearest $10, but anything more would only be justified by outstanding service and food quality. If I have been in a café for lunch, I usually don't tip at all.

As far as I know, tipping is pretty much restricted to the food and entertainment industries. If you get a guy in to prune your trees, you pay his bill only, and would not even think of tipping. The same goes for the carpet cleaner, your mechanic, just about anything else.

I have often wondered how much of the tips the staff actually see at the end of their shift. People just automatically pay a tip, and assume that their waiter/waitress will receive it. I guess that any restaurant that tries to pocket the tips will eventually never be able to hire decent staff, so it is probably OK.