www.CostaRicaTicas.com

The idea that we have to tip 15+% at a restaurant is pure crap. I hate feeling like I have to. no matter what. Has anybody not tipped at all at a restaurant? I'm talking about a sit down place with waiters, not Dunkin Donuts or a pizza place (I'd never tip a counter employee).

I have thought about not tipping a few times for shitty service but I don't have the stones to do it. This is in the US. In CR, a 10% tip is included. I only tip above that for exceptional service. Standard service gets the standard tip.

The old way was--for very good service, tip of about 20% plus a penny; for bad service, just that penny. Not sure if modern servers understand these subtleties. BTW that "25% mandatory tip" story seems to to have acquired a life of its own--the article makes clear that this was only an idea posited by some servers and nothing more. Also the law most places deliberately excludes fast-food joints from being considered restaurants.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED