Tipping in the USA

This one's for the Aussies.

Being a foreigner in Australia, I get asked a fair few questions about how things work in the US. One of the most popular questions involves tipping.  There is no tipping in Australia.  Growing up with it, tipping is not something I think about whilst in the states; it's just something you do.  It wasn't until my last year of university when I went out with people from Australia and saw they really had no idea how much money to leave/when they should do so that I realized tipping really is a confusing thing.  

To start things off, yes, tipping is expected in a lot of situations in the United States.  There is no formal penalty for not leaving a tip but it's highly frowned upon and you will for sure be hated by the person who provided you the service.  You'll also appear really cheap.  If you're not going to tip, you should not be going to a place where tipping is customary. Being from a different country is not an excuse to forgo tipping.

Where/who are you supposed to tip
The general rule is anyone who provides you a direct service should be tipped. 

Who/common places where you tip:

• Servers at sit-down restaurants
• Bartenders
• Bellhops
• Taxi drivers
• Shuttle Drivers
• Guides (tour, outdoor, etc.)
• Tattoo artists
• Food delivery drivers
• Movers

Who/common places where you do not tip:

• Fast food/coffee/take away (there may be a jar that says "tips" which you can drop spare coins into but it's definitely not expected)
• Fuel pump attendants (only a New Jersey and Oregon thing)
• Grocery/retail stores
• Package deliveries

Who/common places where you could tip but don't "have to":

• Hairdressers
• Housekeeping at hotels
• Repairman
• Postman (during the holidays)

How much do are you supposed to tip?  

This really depends on the service provided to you.  Since restaurants are the most common, let's use them as an example.

What seem to be the most accepted guidelines for tip amounts are:

Incredibly exceptional service: 20% of the total bill 

Good service: 15% of the total bill

Not good service: 10% of the total bill

Terrible service: the only time it's sort of acceptable to not leave anything (some people will leave $0.01 as a bit of a slap in the face)

It's customary at bars to tip $1 per drink.  If it's a fancy cocktail, $2.

*Pro-tip: To figure out 20%, double the bill total and move the decimal over 1 place to the left.  Adjust from there.

How do you leave the tip?  

If you're paying with card, the receipt will have a line where you write in how much you want to give the server or there will be an option on the screen if no receipt is printed (e.g. iPad point of sale).  You then add the tip amount with the bill amount and write the total.  If paying in cash, there are 2 ways.  You can give the server an amount greater than the bill and tell them to "keep the change" or you can leave the tip on the table after the server has processed your payment.

What's the deal with tipping?  

Why has this become the norm in the states?  Well unfortunately the main reason is a lot of people don't get paid enough money to live and these employees rely on tips to buy food and pay rent for the month.  In some states, servers are paid roughly $2-3 per hour.  If they don't get tips, there is no chance they could make any sort of living wage. There's a law that says if these people don't make at least minimum wage in tips per hour, the employer must meet the federal minimum wage.  However, apparently if a boss has to do that, they often times will punish an employee by cutting their future shifts.  How this system is legal, I have no idea.

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Game of Thrones season 6 starts tomorrow.  Get psyched.

That's all for now.  Bye.

Eating and Drinking Adelaide

I've had the chance to go to a lot of different restaurants/bars over the last two weeks and I've got nothing else to write about so let's do a little recap:

Last week Liam invited me for a bit of a Sunday session at this place called The Alma.  It's about 45 seconds walk away from my old house but I never made it over when I was living in the area.  The people watching was great and as the afternoon started to become evening, it got even better.

Afterwards we headed into town and chowed down on some delicious Chinese food near the Central Markets/Chinatown followed by fancy dessert at St. Louis.  We ended the night with a classy glass of red wine at Mother Vine.  Happy birthday, Liam.

Fast forward to this week, I met up with my workmate Sam at the Schnithouse where we partook in a few pints. The Hofbrauhaus pint glasses were a nice throwback to Germany but almost nothing can match the beer in Munich.

A little while later we walked next door to Brklyn which was having it's opening night and where my friend Kieran works.  Kieran made us up some delicious drinks and good times were had.  The whole place is an awesome concept with a deli, radio station, and soon to be open barbershop all on the same floor as the bar. 

On Saturday, I got up nice and early and headed up to Bonython Park to work at the first ever Nutella Palooza. Scroll got invited to be a vendor at what the organizers called "Australia's first Nutella festival."  The day started off fairly relaxed as we were getting prepped but once the gates opened, a horde of people came pouring into the park.  We were making ice cream not stop for the entire 8 hours and by the end we were all ready to collapse.  People apparently waited in our line for over 45 minutes (which, of course, is worth it).  One thing I read said there were over 20,000 people who attended so it was a bit hectic. The festival was only a one day thing and since we were so busy I never got the chance to walk around (or take pictures) but it seemed like a good time.  

I was wearing a CSU shirt on the tram back to my house and these two girls asked if I went there.  I said I graduated a few years ago and they told me they were in Adelaide on exchange from CSU.  Small world.  Go Rams.

That's all for now.  Bye.

And completely random side note:  I just noticed that the little notifications icon on Facebook here shows Australia/Asia instead of North/South America.  Figured I should share.

Life in Australia

Alright, I'll be honest.  I was saving this post for a lot later but forgot to write something for this week and had already started on this so you're getting it now.

I've been living in Australia for almost 5 months now and throughout that time have noticed some interesting things about everyday life.  Seeing as I've lived roughly 23 years in the US, obviously my comparisons are mainly to life there.

The Interesting:

• Alcohol here is expensive.  Whereas in the States you will 100% be saving money if you drink at your house, going out for a drink in Australia can cost about the same as it would to drink at home. Alcohol is highly taxed here which means the prices are substantially higher.  It's slightly confusing but here is an article from a few years ago that sums up the taxes nicely.
• You know when you see those special price tags at the grocery store that say "2 for $10?"  In the States, if you only buy one of those items, it will be $5.  In Australia, you only get the discount if you buy both. Get only one and it will be $6-7.
• Most rent payments in Australia occur every week as opposed to once a month.
• Payday is not on a set day (i.e. the 15th and 30th).  It's up to the employer when/how often employees get paid.  At my first job I got paid weekly and at the current it's every fortnight.
• Granted I've only had 2 jobs but I have yet to do a job interview in Australia.  Job trials seem to be more the norm (at least in the service industry).  Trial shifts are used to assess if the person is capable enough to do the job. These can either be paid or unpaid (although most are supposed to be paid).
• As opposed to paying every month, most utilities here are paid every 3 months.
• At least at the jobs I've had, clocking in/out of work is done by recording on paper versus an electronic system (although I know people who do use an electronic system).
• Stores and restaurants tend to close pretty early (at least in Adelaide).  It is rare to see a place open past 9. That said, bars and clubs stay open until at least 3am if not much later.
• I remember this from when I was here in July and working at the club, the song "Wonderwall" by Oasis is played a lot late at night at clubs.
• The only place to get alcohol is a bottle-o.  Grocery stores/servos do not sell it.
• Hardly anyone uses a tumble dryer for clothes.  I've actually only seen one house that owns a dryer.  Most people line/hang dry their clothes.
• I've gotten more used to it but 18 year olds are legally allowed to drink.
• Traffic cameras are everywhere.  Many are permanent fixtures but there are also portable speed cameras all over the place and they all actually work. 
• Labor laws.  There's a bunch of workers rights laws but they don't seem to be monitored/enforced that well.  A former coworker of mine who had previously worked at a very well known company said she got paid about $10/hour which is about half of the national minimum wage.  

The Good:

• Voting in Australia is compulsory; citizens are required to vote or they face a fine.
• All part and full time jobs put money into what is known as a super fund.  From my understanding, this is essentially a retirement fund.  The employer pays percentage (in addition to normal wages) into an individuals super account.  At age 65, an individual can access their retirement fund.  This means people are saving for retirement starting with their first part time job.
• Cigarette packs here have horrifying images on them in an attempt to prevent smoking.  Not sure if this works very well because it seems like a fair amount of people smoke but it is a nice addition.
• Most things banking wise here are very simple.  Transferring money to someone's account can happen almost instantly.  Paying with a card is incredibly fast using features like PayWave.
• Gumtree is Australia's version of Craigslist and it works very well.  Although I've only used Craigslist a few times, it always seems to be full of scams/people who flake out. People on Gumtree actually respond quickly and are legit (for the most part).
• People are normally incredibly polite.  Even when upset, most still have manors.  It's actually a little hard for me to take angry people seriously because of this.
• This is not Australia wide but is practiced in Adelaide.  For transit tickets, they have peak and off peak times.  Peak times are standard commuting hours and Saturdays. Off peak is everything else. Travelling on public transit during off peak is incredibly cheap.  The regular adult fare is $1.91 off peak and that gets you unlimited rides for 2 hours.
• A fair few bars have events known as "Sunday Sessions" which are basically just another excuse to go out on a Sunday afternoon.
• Self service checkouts at supermarkets are fast.  In the US, every time you scan something that annoying woman says "please place the item in the bag" and then pauses for what feels like an eternity.  Australian's don't have time for that and self checkout is way smoother.
• Wages here are amazing.  I did a post related to this a few weeks ago.  

A wild emu from last week

The Not So Nice:

• This is probably a thing that happens everywhere but I've noticed it more here.  Bars and clubs over serve alcohol a lot.  Almost every time I go out I see someone who is noticeably intoxicated and yet they're still being served.  Once while I was working at the club I had to get a security guard to help a guy leave since he was pretty much passing out standing up.  The security guard had passed by the person about 20 seconds prior.
• At least in Adelaide, people are horrible at walking on sidewalks.  I absolutely love living here and most the people are great but I just want to scream every time I'm walking somewhere.  There will always be someone walking in the middle of the sidewalk who then goes from one side to the other just as you're trying to pass them. Then there's the groups of 2+ people who somehow manage to take up the entire sidewalk leaving no passing room and maintain the pace of a snail.
• Flies.  Oh dear God the flies.  Yes, there are the normal houseflies which are annoying but then there are the bush flies.  Bush flies could possibly be more annoying than mosquitoes.  These little flies go straight for your face and will not stop.  You swat them away, they come back 2 seconds later.  And they always go for the face. Apparently trying to swat them away is called the "Aussie Salute."

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Not a whole lot new going on but some quick updates from the past week:

• I'm absolutely loving my new place.  The location is great, the house is nice, and my housemates are awesome.
• Had a work party on Monday which was both fun and hilarious.

That's all for now.  Bye.