CHAT: currency [was Re: OT: the euro & 01.01.02]

Quoting Tristan Alexander McLeay <anstouh@...>:

> It may be odd, but when you do it every day, it's natural. Today, I
> bought a drink. Its price was $1.99. I paid $2.00 and got no change.
> I never expected any change.
I would expect such change as a matter of course.  Indeed, sometimes
when I expect 24 cents in return, the person at the counter gives
me a quarter, and I think nothing of it. That kind of thing is usual.

> (Note: in Australia, it is customary to not tip unless your service
> is more than outstanding. I have no idea whether you'd tip in a
> supermarket in America, though.)
America is very unusual in this respect. There was an article in
_The Economist_ last year that compared countries based on which
professions customarily receive tips for service.  America was
way above all the other industrialized nations, with something
like 40 professions that get tips, IIRC.  This has lead to
speculation along the lines that Americans try to make up for
their increasing inequity by being generous; _The Economist_
cast doubt on this, but I don't remember why.  (Perhaps because
Americans are typically more generous in giving to charities in
the general, which is certainly true relative to most European
countries; I don't know for sure.)

But Americans do not typically gives tips at the grocery store, no.

=====================================================================
Thomas Wier <trwier@...> <http://home.uchicago.edu/~trwier>

             "...koruphàs hetéras hetére:isi prosápto:n /
Dept. of Linguistics  mú:tho:n mè: teléein atrapòn mían..."
University of Chicago "To join together diverse peaks of thought /
1010 E. 59th Street   and not complete one road that has no turn"
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