Florida Advice

[General Mannerheim]

Hi guys, thank you for responding to my post I am overwhelmed with the responses!

It looks like some really good advice and is making me even more excited about my holiday.

Thanks again for the time and effort in replying. I will let you know how I get on when I get back.

Cheers guys

gay

[LeeRoyBrown]

Good work on the deal, mate. But if at all possible hire a car and get out of Orlando. Florida's a lovely state - we've got an offer in on a house there, in Sarasota - but Orlando's far from the best of it. And America is, as a rule, completely unusable without your own vee-hickle. It's difficult for the British/Old European mind to comprehend quite how unwelcoming it is. Bill Bryson's written about his amazement at being unable to go from one mall to the its next door neighbour on foot, and it's true. The majority of the country has been built since internal combustion, and it shows.

Above all, and as Bobo said, read up. Get to the library, order other books from them. Print out all relevant corners of the internet, such as Rough Guides/Lonely Planet.

Oh and be prepared to be VERY confused about the American culture of tipping. I can't even start to explain it.

Prepare to be boggled by the massive food portions. I guarantee you will over-order your first meal. These people throw away 25% of their food and appear not to mind, but this makes budget dining very possible. So if the wait staff are pushy, trying to up the bill knowing that ups their percentage tip, stand your ground and say no thanks, that'll do for now, if we're hungry later we'll order some more.

Enjoy the States. It's a mad experience. And get back and see different states, because they can be as different as Wales and Portugal. I can't recommend northern California highly enough, but I'm falling for the best of Florida, having been over there a few times while hunting for the four-bedroom pool house I can afford over there because I haven't bought so much as a two-bed shit-hole in London.

Hate to be a pain but what is the tipping system like over there? There is a big fuss made about it, are you to tip everything??

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Oh and be prepared to be VERY confused about the American culture of tipping. I can't even start to explain it.

Hate to be a pain but what is the tipping system like over there? There is a big fuss made about it, are you to tip everything??

I'd better let a local explain it. I WILL get it wrong.

[General Mannerheim]

anyone who provides a service really, except cops.

you dont need to tip if your paying for something over a counter or bar, just if someone brings you the cheque, or they hold their hand out! he tricky bit is weighing up how much to give em - i never know if im being too generous or a total tightwad, but i dont let it worry me too much either way. also, these days we pay more with debit cards and carry less cash anyway, so its impossible to tip. its just tuff titties.

a lot of places automatically add service on to the bill anyway, if they do this its easy.

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

Tipping etiquette also varies according to where you are in the States. For example in New York a tip of double the sales tax is considered about right (worked out around 16% last time I was there). As a rule of thumb don't give less than 10% unless service was truly awful, 15% - 20% is fine. If you don't give anything in a restaurant it is likely that you would get chased down the street!

If you are in a busy bar and paying as you go at the bar rather than a tab then it is worth tipping a dollar here and there as it will ensure you don't have to wait to get served. In some cases it might get you a 'free drink' or two as well.

As the general said, pretty much anyone that provides a service...that includes taxi drivers, hair dressers and hotel staff. A couple of dollars is usually considered ok.

I can recommend using one of the diners for your breakfast each morning. They're cheap and you get enough to keep you going for the rest of the week. Tip the waitress and she'll look after you almost like your mum would!

Watch out for dodgy taxi touts at the airport. Unless it says taxi on the side or roof of the car and it has the obligatory license and charge information in the back then don't take it. Usually they drive fairly nice cars and they charge you about triple for the privelige...

Oh yeah, American beer is shite so stick to the spirits or wine

[Bruce Rioja]

When it comes to handing out tips I tend to stop at nothing!

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

When you arrive at the airport to fly home, if you check your bags at the roadside as soon as you get off the shuttle-bus, tip them at least $10. If you check them inside the building at the, er, check-in, don't tip at all, or they'll look at you like you've shat in their shoe. Work that one out. I suppose it's how they survive without our in-built class system: tip those you feel superior to.

I like the general's rule about not tipping if you get served over a counter. That makes sense. Not a bar, thouigh, always tip at least a dollar per drink. Meanwhile if you buy food from a breakfast diner over a counter rather than with table service, you tip, but not directly - you put it in the tip jar.

See what I mean? It's the last thing you need with a hangover and a partner who always thinks you've got it wrong.

[Montreal Wanderer]

Oh and be prepared to be VERY confused about the American culture of tipping. I can't even start to explain it.

Hate to be a pain but what is the tipping system like over there? There is a big fuss made about it, are you to tip everything??

One would normally tip on receiving a service such as table service in a restaurant or bar that involved a waiter/waitress. However, if the service is really bad there is no need to tip. One tips cab drivers, but not if they drive miles out of the way! One tips if you are going back to the same place and want to continue to get good service. Tips are in the order of 10-15%. However, some places have a service charge included on the bill so watch for it. You don't tip public servants - that is called bribery.

[Bruce Rioja]

Do these people not draw a wage? I refuse to get drawn into this whole tipping malarky. Tell me how much something's going to cost me, in full, and that's that. Expecting to be tipped is little more than legalised scrounging.

[Montreal Wanderer]

Do these people not draw a wage? I refuse to get drawn into this whole tipping malarky. Tell me how much something's going to cost me, in full, and that's that. Expecting to be tipped is little more than legalised scrounging.

Not sure I agree here, Bruce. The wage drawn is always very low (for waitresses, etc.) and they rely on tips for a reasonable income. From our perspective the system is supposed to ensure we get good and pleasant service if the service provider relies on getting a tip. If they were paid a reasonable salary, the cost of the service would go up to compensate. Therefore the tipping culture gives us the chance to discriminate between good and bad service. Where the pourboise is included we have no such discretion.

[Bruce Rioja]

I hear what you're saying, Monty, but likewise I'm not sure that I agree. How an employer can depend on the generosity of its customers in order that it bolsters its staffs wages is, to me, absolutely appalling.

My way of discriminating between good and bad service is to either re-visit the place or otherwise not to.

I expect good service as a matter of course, not as a direct result of paying a bribe.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I hear what you're saying, Monty, but likewise I'm not sure that I agree. How an employer can depend on the generosity of its customers in order that it bolsters its staffs wages is, to me, absolutely appalling.

My way of discriminating between good and bad service is to either re-visit the place or otherwise not to.

I expect good service as a matter of course, not as a direct result of paying a bribe.

Ethically, I completely agree.

However, those whom one tips often rely upon the tips because their basic wage is barely subsistence.

It's certainly stressful.

One other thing: as per over here, don't add tips to the bill and pay on plastic - leave cold hard cash, then the owner doesn't get control and the government doesn't get the tax (which it will give back to the people who broke the banking system). This means you'll need a wodge of ones and fives. What with US notes looking similar, I found it useful to keep "petty cash" in a different pocket or place to your spending money proper.

[TANGODANCER]

But wouldn't it all be so much simpler to just ask, as Bruce said, "How much?" be told and just pay. Let the others work out the why's and wherefore's and divvy up the spoils. Be much better all round. With minimum earnings now a law people only take jobs if the want to. Might sound a little cruel but how many of us do all sorts of extras without reward. We neither want or expect it. Financially, a job is either worth taking or it isn't. To have to rely on tips is the fault of the employer, not the customer,

[BWFC_Insane]

But wouldn't it all be so much simpler to just ask, as Bruce said, "How much?" be told and just pay. Let the others work out the why's and wherefore's and divvy up the spoils. Be much better all round. With minimum earnings now a law people only take jobs if the want to. Might sound a little cruel but how many of us do all sorts of extras without reward. We neither want or expect it. Financially, a job is either worth taking or it isn't. To have to rely on tips is the fault of the employer, not the customer,

TD its the way its been in the food service industry for just about ever. Especially in America.

The service you get in America is generall streets ahead of what you get here and thats because they rely on your tips. Worked for me while I was there as I'm happy to pay for good service and most of them work very hard for it.

Tipping over here can be irritating as often the service isn't worthy of much!

[TANGODANCER]

But wouldn't it all be so much simpler to just ask, as Bruce said, "How much?" be told and just pay. Let the others work out the why's and wherefore's and divvy up the spoils. Be much better all round. With minimum earnings now a law people only take jobs if the want to. Might sound a little cruel but how many of us do all sorts of extras without reward. We neither want or expect it. Financially, a job is either worth taking or it isn't. To have to rely on tips is the fault of the employer, not the customer,

TD its the way its been in the food service industry for just about ever. Especially in America.

The service you get in America is generall streets ahead of what you get here and thats because they rely on your tips. Worked for me while I was there as I'm happy to pay for good service and most of them work very hard for it.

Tipping over here can be irritating as often the service isn't worthy of much!

I take the points BWFCI and, despite my views, I always tip quite well. It's the establishment at fault, not the employees. Taxis are, at times, particularly irksome as so may of them say, when asked how much: "How much do you usually pay?" as if all your journeys and destinations are those you visit all the time. What happened to meters?

[BWFC_Insane]

But wouldn't it all be so much simpler to just ask, as Bruce said, "How much?" be told and just pay. Let the others work out the why's and wherefore's and divvy up the spoils. Be much better all round. With minimum earnings now a law people only take jobs if the want to. Might sound a little cruel but how many of us do all sorts of extras without reward. We neither want or expect it. Financially, a job is either worth taking or it isn't. To have to rely on tips is the fault of the employer, not the customer,

TD its the way its been in the food service industry for just about ever. Especially in America.

The service you get in America is generall streets ahead of what you get here and thats because they rely on your tips. Worked for me while I was there as I'm happy to pay for good service and most of them work very hard for it.

Tipping over here can be irritating as often the service isn't worthy of much!

I take the points BWFCI and, despite my views, I always tip quite well. It's the establishment at fault, not the employees. Taxis are, at times, particularly irksome as so may of them say, when asked how much: "How much do you usually pay?" as if all your journeys and destinations are those you visit all the time. What happened to meters?

Have never come across that TD. In the US tips are part of peoples wages. In this county many establishments use tips to make the waiters wages up to minimum wage, a practice that is being discouraged IIRC if not banned.

The system in the US works better IMO but it can be confusing. I'd only ever tip for good service but generally in the US service is cracking. In the UK you usually have some irritating over eager waiter or one that can't be arsed!

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

It's obvious that the tipping culture means there is every incentive to provide good service; I get that.

But I have to say that I find the whole atmosphere of financially-induced sycophancy pretty uncomfortable.


This discussion of American tipping etiquette often has this weird undertone of consequences if you get it wrong - would it really be a disaster if you didn't tip if you were pretty sure you would not be in that same establishment again (just for practical reasons, not poor food/service)?


Anyway, I'm not sure that the payment of waiters and waitresses by tips is much of an ethical issue when pretty much everybody involved knows the system and is happy to be a part of it.

However, I have encountered a system of payment by tips that I did think was pretty unethical.

http://www.the-wanderer.co.uk/boards/vi ... 518#299518

[mofgimmers]

I've learned one thing from all this.

I am never going to America.

[mofgimmers]

Tipping

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-qV9wVGb38

Classic.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I've learned one thing from all this.

I am never going to America.

You're missing out, Mof; it's a fascinating country full of good people, and the progenitor of much that is good in popular music.

But the tips irk.