Why don't service industries just charge more for their product and give their workers better wages? I would much rather go to a restaurant like that. What you buy is what you pay for and that's that. The culture of tipping just sounds like an excuse for restaurant owners to pay awful hourly rates and make the diners cough up extra so workers can pay their bills. It just seems a bit screwed up from my perspective. Tipping is actually frowned upon out here and seen as an insult if offered. I quickly adopted that mentality which seems so natural to me now.

It's not that I'm cheap as I would happily pay more for my meal in the knowledge that those workers are getting a minimum standard of living. But the culture of tipping just seems a bit unsual to me and on going home next year I was just wondering how far it all goes.