That story made me laugh. I work in a pretty upscale cocktail bar in the Uk; I get £6.50 an hour, which is pretty fucking good for bar work, and I get tips on top of that. A lot of places have a 'tip jar', where every tip gets registered and split among the staff, but we disregard that. I am always friendly, have a bit of a chat and treat customers well, and if they wanna give me a few quid to get a beer after my shift, then I've earned it; not Bob Smith there whose ignoring customers and sucking from the beer tap.

On a saturday I can make £25 in tips, and we are on comission for any membership cards we sell (£4 from each sale). I've made +£200 a month from pushing membership sales.

Customary tipping is ridiculous. I know why its done - I get that, but I just think its ridiculous.