A little TIP if you come to Chile...

Once upon a time, I was a waitress at a little Italian restaurant in Madison, WI called Porta Bella. Now as a waitress, most of your income is generated through tips, although legally, your employer is supposed to pay you a base hourly rate. The longer you waitressed, the more likely you were to assess potential customers according to what percentage of a tip you thought they would leave for your services. Foreigners were notoriously cheap tippers and everyone always dreaded being sat the table of people foreign to the U.S. You were lucky if they left you 10%.

I considered myself to be a good tipper way before I ever became a waitress. Sure, 15% is considered a standard U.S. tip, but for most people who wait tables, at least at more upscale places, 15% isn’t all that great. At a young age, my dad taught me always to tip 20%. If the service was just so terrible that you felt 20% was too much, then go with the standard 15%, but this was only reserved for very rare occasions. When I finally started waiting tables, I gained a greater appreciation for good tippers which only continued to reflect in tips I left for fellow servers on rare occasion I myself went out to eat. Let’s face it, if you have the money to spend going out to dinner, you ought to have the money for a decent tip.

I’ve been out for meals a few times here in Santiago, and standard rate of tipping around these parts is 10%. I feel like such a cheapskate only tipping 10%, but at the same time I don’t want to overstep any cultural boundaries. After all, I’m trying to assimilate to the culture, not draw any more attention to myself as a foreigner than I already do. And I surely do not want to offend anyone, so I comply with Chilean standards.

However, what they lack in tips for waiters and waitresses, they make up for in the most unusual places, namely the grocery store. I have slowly come to find out that it is custom here to tip your friendly grocery store baggers. In fact, one person even told me that people who bag groceries don’t even get any base hourly rate or salary. Their sole income is that of tips. Well, wouldn’t you know, the only two times I’ve been to the grocery store, I didn’t tip them. Not one cent. I just grabbed my bags, smiled and said gracias.

Now I’m that foreign asshole.