I Am Very Tall

Happy Easter, everybody. I've been a bit busy recently and have fallen off the blog-train for a bit. Nothing thoughtful today, just highlights from an Esquire article on tipping, a subject that I've always thought was a little weird. Here we go:

UNITED STATES

In a restaurant, a tip of 15 percent for good service is still the norm, while many give 20 percent for superior service. And don't tip the wine steward, unless he has performed exceptional services, like choosing several wines for a multi-course meal or decanting old vintages.

Is this true in New York, or am I just a really nice tipper? Well, according to Epicurious, it's pretty much a local thing:

Back when I was waiting tables, it was taken as a given that certain types of customers tipped better than others. New Yorkers, for example, always sent back plates, needed more bread, called for seconds and thirds on their iced teas, etc., but left at least 18 to 20 percent, if not more. Southerners, on the other hand, didn't run you and generally liked to chat, but regularly gave you 12 percent or less. Midwesterners were less thrifty than Southerners but also often less friendly. Men tipped better than women. Getting a guy on a first date was a godsend. Getting a table full of high-school kids (who invariably only ordered french fries and bottomless coffees and made a mess of the sugar packets and ketchup) was valid reason to start a ruckus with the host. And don't get me started on Europeans. I found that servers generally held the same ideas about who tipped best and worst whether they were slinging hash in North Carolina or running bowls of bouillabaisse in Greenwich Village.