The older gentleman that was in the group asked me, very politely, if it was customary to tip the 'bar mate' every time they serviced you. I explained yes, if you are paying as you go. The party was currently running a tab, so I explained that he would just wait till the end.
As he explained to me, things are done very differently in the UK. They never tip the bartender. Their idea of a ‘tip’ is saying ‘and have one for yourself'. I thought this was something someone said as a come-on, but this is the polite/generous thing to do when drinking in London. (To me, it's cheap considering your bartender is probably already 'having one'!). I also found out that when having dinner in London, you may leave up to 10% for a tip. But you would leave nothing is you didn't like the food. Crazy! In the U.S. a 10% tip is like spitting in the waiter's face, and not tipping because the food is bad is just NOT acceptable. The server is not the chef, therefore shitty food is not their fault! Just send it back, if they respect their job they will fix it without a problem.
After explaining what is customary and appropriate, they seemed very receptive. The couples said the last thing they wanted was to faux pas in a foreign country. Which I definitely understand, but why aren’t all foreigners responding this way? Though, badly on my part I caught myself falling into old mental routines where I would say 'O fuck 'em, they won't tip me anyways.' But I was wrong. Not only did we have pleasant conversation, but they left me 22%! (I did give them two free drinks).
So as of now I am slightly optimistic in the foreigners that will be gracing me with their presence. And if they don't tip I think I’ll be able to say they aren’t mean, just ignorant!
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