The United States of America and tipping culture is absolutely ridiculous and I am going to say it from a place of love because I used to work in the restaurant industry before I joined the military so I understand the whole system I understand how people make their money and I understand how important tips are but baby the way tipping culture is set up right now in the United States is actually insane. Like I am a tipper I am a proud tipper I tip because I know what it feels like to depend on a good table or pray for a good shift or hope somebody does not disappear when the check hits the table. I get that part completely, but let me tell you what I am not going to do I am not going to pay for the food pay for the gratuity because it is already automatically added and then tip on top of the gratuity. I am not doing all of that. It is either or. Either the gratuity is already included or I leave a tip. It is not both baby. It is either or honey. It is either or. I keep saying it because people keep acting confused. Either or. Like be so serious why am I paying triple for the same meal. I pay for the food because that is mandatory. Cool. No problem. I pay for gratuity if it is already added. Cool. No problem again. But then you stare at me waiting for a tip on top of the gratuity like I am supposed to pretend that math does not exist. Like I am supposed to be a magician and pull more money out of a hat. No. Absolutely not. Tipping culture in the United States is getting out of hand. You cannot expect people to keep paying for the food then paying the automatic gratuity then paying another tip just for fun. No. It is either or. It is either gratuity or tip. It is not both. And honestly I think the United States needs to have a real conversation about this because every single time I travel out the country I never go through this. In other countries you pay for the food you pay for the experience you pay for whatever you ordered and that is it. It is simple. It is clean. It is common sense. You are not getting hit with six different things on the bottom of the receipt talking about suggested tip automatic service charge kitchen love fee chef appreciation fee water fee ice cube fee like baby what is going on. The moment you breathe inside a restaurant in the United States it is like boom here is a charge. Boom here is another charge. Boom here is 20 percent on top of the 20 percent you already paid. And if you do not tip on top of the gratuity people look at you like you did something wrong. Like no I actually paid everything you asked me to pay. You are not going to guilt trip me into giving even more. Because again I am a tipper. I love tipping. I appreciate good service. I know what the lifestyle is and I know how servers depend on it. But even as a proud tipper I am not tipping on top of an already added tip. That makes no sense. It is either gratuity or tip. It is either or honey. People are trying to make it seem like it is both and it is not. That is not how that works. I am glad we had this conversation because the amount of times I had to sit at a table and whisper to myself like Tanae do not let this annoy you but it is annoying. It is the principle. I pay for the food because that is how restaurants work. I pay the gratuity if it is sitting on my receipt because clearly you already made that decision for me. But what we are not doing is adding a bonus tip on top of the tip. That is where I draw the line. And the funniest part is when they flip the little tablet around talking about select your tip. Baby I already paid the tip that you forced on the receipt. I am not picking another percentage. Stop playing with me. Tipping culture got too bold. And honestly the United States needs to relax because it is getting out of hand. Either or honey. Either or. Either gratuity or tip. You do not get both. You do not get to double dip. You do not get to triple dip. I said what I said. - @travel.tanae