Believe you me. When our PM MMS went on a state trip to US, Barak Obama served him masala chai. While MMS savored the Chai, oblivious of the written in blood, American tradition, he forgot to tip Obama. The latter was so upset at this faux pas, that he decided to not support India on the nuclear deal.
What corruption is to some emerging geographies, tips are to the United States of America. Ingrained and institutionalized. In America they demand tips as though, they work for tips and not for the consideration / salary and tips are not really a form of gratuity, but right.
The idea of service is also extremely warped. An average American believes, service is all about yapping. Fellows waiting tables want to stand by your side and yap while I am sure you want to savor the food with folks. You pay for the food, but the yapper comes along. They may forget parts of the order, may not remember to bring the salt and pepper with the complimentary bread, but would like to stand by your side and discuss your day, weather and your clothes may be.
This time, at the Radisson Manhattan, on room service, the messed up my order, added 3 times the charges and having done all this, of their own, added a tip on the bill, and booked it on my room. Disgusting is all that I can say. But interestingly, I noticed it and got it reversed.
Taxi drivers also want to chat with you, and would like to be tipped for all the yapping that you could very well do without. Having done so, they believe - they have delivered a great deal of service - and deserve the extras which if you deny, they may get indignant. The all prevalent and ubiquitous tip culture becomes even more obvious when in the movie Tower Heist, the cast so presumptuously declares the Towers policy of no tips.
Landing back home from the great USA, sitting in the Meru cab, you get a shock when the guy returns rupee 1 to you should he be owing you.
No comments:
Post a Comment