I’m not into tipping when I’ve visited the US, since I come from a country where servers are paid the equivalent of Fr. 20-30 ($24-43) an hour so there isn’t an obligation to tip them, but that’s the opposite in the US. Am I allowed to hand them large cash tips such as Fr. 1000 ($1236) or 500€ ($583)? It gets weirder: as apparently fast food places demand a tip, like really? It’s getting out of hand, what’s the point then?
We extended our “you have to tip because servers don’t get paid a real wage” logic beyond servers to all public facing work. The university aged people think it’s impolite not to tip when it’s available because they know those workers are underpaid and companies are happy to provide the option. Thus a new norm is born!