Quote Originally Posted by Hanna View Post
Anyone other than me finding the tipping culture a bit intimidating? I wouldn't know when/how/how much to tip - in the places I've lived it is rarely necessary to tip.

For Lampada and everyone else who moved to the USA from Europe - how did you learn how to tip? How long did it take until you knew how much to tip where, and how to do it...?
Having lived in the US my whole life, I'll share what I feel about this (hope I am not intruding). If you go to a coffee shop, ice cream parlor, sandwich shop, etc. and see a "tip" jar on the counter you are not expected to tip by any means. In fact, most people just use it to dump loose change. However, some people will tip because of the friendly customer service they received.

However, when you go to a restaurant it is quite different. The majority of the restaurant staff makes lower than minimum wage - usually about three dollars per hour less. Depending where you are in the US, how much you tip changes. Where I live, it is (usually) customary to tip about 18% of the total bill.