Last 18 March I received this email (I have received it three times) which you will read in the next paragraph. The 3 April it will be a year since I live in New York. I have “not” gotten used to the wild world of tips, that explains this meritocratic society and where “make money” regulates everything. There is no poetry in this text, there are facts. American decline is this absurd bubble of crazy prices. Please read the example in the last paragraph., where a financial company includes a tip for them in a donation campaign!
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If any of our doctors have changed your life for the better, help us recognize it on Doctor's Day, the 30 March, with your thank you donation.
It's from a Manhattan hospital where I go for knee problems.. I am going to give information about what I have paid for a routine medical visit.. It's not even the most expensive, is the most ridiculous: 500 invoice dollars (pay my insurance in a 80%) for going to a filthy basement on the Upper East Side to consult with a guy who didn't have a computer, took notes by hand, I weighed you on a weight scale, and he had a secretariat shared with other doctors in an apartment where each one had a small room. In comparative terms, That whole place was an outpatient clinic in Madrid in the years 80. Compared to private medicine in Bangkok, where I lived before NY, the jump back was a century.
I have asked Chatgpt what average salary for a traumatologist here. He tells me that the average below it ranges between 300.000 and 500.000 dollars annually. from there, up.
That professional profile writes to me to request a tip for doing his well-paid job..
There's another one. I returned to NY from a friend's wedding in Mexico. 14 December. On the counter in the entrance hall of our Manhattan building there were some sheets with the faces of all the workers in the building.. It is a skyscraper 50 plants. They work almost 30 People. And there they were all, with their faces and names. Many of them were the first time we saw them after six months living there.. They congratulate you on the holidays and ask you for the bonus.
I have never seen, and I have lived in different countries, houses worse and more expensive than in this city.
Other Italian friends who live in a nice tower in Midtown told us that each building employee puts an envelope under the door congratulating them on the holidays.. How much did you pay last year?? "Almost 1500 dollars”. We did a calculation. The lowest acceptable bonus is considered between 50 dollars and 100. That's for the hard-working troop. Those at reception are considered polite to leave between 100 and 200. The supervisor, at least between 200 and 300. In some of those old buildings of more than 50 plants there are employees, we calculate, that can be carried, at least, 40.000 dollars in that bonus. The equivalent of a correct annual salary of many people in Spain or Italy.
I have never seen, and I have lived in different countries, houses worse and more expensive than in this city. If in Maputo, Mozambique, something was approaching, but it was due to the very low supply of properties in good condition compared to the high demand.
“If lately they ask you for tips more frequently, you are not alone. According to a Pew Research Center survey published in November 2023, the 72 % of Americans agree that tipping is now expected in more places than five years ago. Social media is full of stories of customers being asked to tip for all types of transactions where it was not customary before.: buy office furniture, use self-serviceor or even pay for lunch at a self-checkout box”, points out an article from Federal Research Bank of Richmond.
In restaurants, The gratification ranges between 18% and 30%. Then, Most places indicate that if the table has five or six people, add the 20% tipping is mandatory, not voluntary. Under what concept does a table of six cause more work than one of four and one of two?? And why is the tip a percentage of the final price of the bill?? Does the waiter or the cook work harder to bring a bottle of wine from 60 dollars or 200? For bringing a plate of lobster that costs 80 than a salad that costs 22?
But you have to reward yourself at the pharmacy, where you go with your products to the counter and when paying you are asked to add a tip; In the taxi, where it is considered acceptable to give the 20%; in my Uzbek hair salon, where there is a sign even over the mirror telling you that tips can no longer be left with a card, but in cash, and they have installed a small ATM so that no one has the excuse of saying that they do not have loose; in grocery stores, where you can buy a little of everything and they are open until late; in fast food, where they heat up a slice of ready-made pizza for you and you take it home…
He moved to the United States where, after the Civil War, thousands of African-American workers stopped being slaves and the businessmen, instead of paying them a salary, paid them with tips. (bribes) of clients
How did tips come about?? They were born in Europe. Some sources speak of old Rome, and others from England and France, where the nobles gave money for service as a gesture of their greatness. This was transferred to the United States where after the Civil War thousands of African American workers stopped being slaves and the businessmen, instead of paying them a salary, paid them with tips. (bribes) of clients. That happened with train employees who depended almost exclusively on the generosity of passengers to survive..
Ie, the tip was not a plus, It was a salary that the businessman avoided. At the beginning of the 20th century, an attempt was made to prohibit, even in some states they did, but the pressure from the restaurant sector ended up being imposed throughout the United States. Today not only does it not end, but it expands and moves to sectors where asking for it is grotesque.
There are very funny examples like that of a guy who reports on Reddit that he went to a self-service ice cream machine.. He took his container, your frozen yogurt was made, he put his toppings, weighed it, He paid a machine and the tip button came out. “Do I tip myself?? I did the 99% of work”, complaint.
The last example is the unbeatable tip. A father explains that his young daughter collects donations for the school band. His father-in-law 80 years, and 20 U.S. dollars, and the website that processed the collection added 2 of commissions and 5 own dollars for themselves. “I find it absolutely outrageous that a website intended to raise funds for schools defaults to a tip of the 20 % ABOVE THEIR OWN COMMISSIONS! Why holy hell would I want to tip a random website like this??”, writes the American citizen in a Reddit forum called “end tipping”.
And I understand what happens because everything, absolutely everything, It has to do with "make money". Much, as much as possible, the concept or the reason does not matter…
I promise to write a piece about renting apartments soon.. Things happen so surreal that I suppose some who are not from here will think they are hyperbole.
