Not tipping when the social expectation is not to tip is no big deal. But not tipping when it’s culturally expected of you is being a dick and that’s what I’m talking about.
I’ll stand behind my suggestion that you move here for a while. Even a short stay can be enlightening.
When I eat out while staying in the US, which happens every so often, “tipping” consists of writing an amount of money on top of the check amount, which nearly always I pay by credit card. Therefore, there is social interaction with the waiter after I’ve decided how much to tip. This is an effective deterrent against violating the cultural norm, and no moral calculation enters into it; I don’t enjoy being glared at by strangers, I mostly prefer my interactions to follow the expected script, so I tip.
I suppose things might be different if you pay in cash, but I can see other ways that things could be structured so as to enforce the norm: other diners can look at you and see whether you’re leaving a tip, for instance.
The specific case of tipping sounds as if it might be empirically testable: if you place people in situations where they are guaranteed to have zero further interaction with the waiter, and made aware of that fact, would they still leave a tip ?
Not tipping when the social expectation is not to tip is no big deal. But not tipping when it’s culturally expected of you is being a dick and that’s what I’m talking about.
I’ll stand behind my suggestion that you move here for a while. Even a short stay can be enlightening.
When I eat out while staying in the US, which happens every so often, “tipping” consists of writing an amount of money on top of the check amount, which nearly always I pay by credit card. Therefore, there is social interaction with the waiter after I’ve decided how much to tip. This is an effective deterrent against violating the cultural norm, and no moral calculation enters into it; I don’t enjoy being glared at by strangers, I mostly prefer my interactions to follow the expected script, so I tip.
I suppose things might be different if you pay in cash, but I can see other ways that things could be structured so as to enforce the norm: other diners can look at you and see whether you’re leaving a tip, for instance.
The specific case of tipping sounds as if it might be empirically testable: if you place people in situations where they are guaranteed to have zero further interaction with the waiter, and made aware of that fact, would they still leave a tip ?