0913周四Culture：美国小费文化解说；历史、现象、和指导都在这里！

Tipping as we know it today started in Old Europe. Many Europeans started giving ‘tips’ around the 1500s to servers in bars.

At first, Americans didn’t like to tip. They thought tipping was old-fashioned. 

我们所理解的“小费”是在欧洲开始的。很多欧洲人在1500的时候左右开始给酒吧服务员小费。

一开始，美国人不喜欢给小费，觉得很老气、落后。

But that changed in the late 1800s, after slavery ended. Railroads decided to staff trains with freed slaves without really paying them. Instead, they started a system where the payment to the staff was given by the passenger. 

This system almost single-handedly started the black middle class in America, even though it would have been better and safer if the railroads just paid their staff.

可是1800世纪的时候就有变化了，美国奴隶制废除了以后。铁路公司决定要用解放的奴隶作为服务员，但是不愿意发工资，所以他们就让客人直接付钱给服务员。

这个系统基本上单独开启了美国社会中的黑人中产。。。虽然让然直接给服务员发工资是更好、更安全的选择。

Later, in the 1920s, tipping almost always happened between black and white Americans, and many white people didn’t want to feel pressured to tip black workers. 

So, up to six states even banned tipping.

然后1920的时候，现象就是小费基本上都是白人给到黑人的，而且很多白人就不想被强迫跟黑人接触，所以很多地方就禁止小费这件事，甚至6个州都完全禁止了。

But in the 30s, many restaurants couldn’t afford to pay their servers, so they asked customers to start tipping them instead. Tipping has been normal in American restaurants ever since.

In fact, the minimum wage is lower for servers, because servers are expected to make tips.

可是大概1930的时候，很多餐厅付不了服务员的工资，所以他们开始让客人给小费。从那时候到现在，美国餐厅一直都习惯小费。

其实，美国服务员的最低工资比其他行业还要低，就是因为大家都默认服务员可以拿小费。

Today, many people feel that tipping is unfair to both servers and customers. Sometimes, even if a server does a great job, customers just don’t tip very much, and that makes life hard for the servers. Also, many customers feel uncomfortable tipping or don’t know how much they should tip. 

The worst thing is, attractive servers make more average tips than other servers, even if they don’t do as good a job. That’s why many people today think we should quit tipping altogether and just add a “service charge” to the bill.

现在，很多人觉得小费对服务员和客人都很不公平。有时候，就算一个服务员做得很好，客人就不给小费，这样对服务员很困难。还有，有的客人给小费的时候感觉很尴尬或者不知道该怎么给。

最糟糕的是，长得好看的服务员总是会拿更高的平均小费，不管工作做得好还是不好。所以很多人都觉得最好不用给小费，在账单上直接加一个“服务费”即可。 

In the USA, there are two kinds of restaurants: fast food restaurants and sit-down restaurants. If you order your food at a counter, that’s a fast food restaurant, and you don’t have to tip anyone if you don’t want to. If you order your food while sitting at a table, that’s a sit-down restaurant, and you should tip the waiter about 15-20 percent of the bill. The easy way to calculate 15-20 percent is to look at the tax on the bill, which should be about 8 percent, then double it for your tip.

美国有两种餐厅：快餐和正餐。如果要在柜台点餐的话，就属于快餐，不用给任何小费。如果你先坐下，然后服务员过来让你点餐，那就是正餐，可以给15-20%小费。最容易的计算方法就是先看账单上的税点，应该是8%左右，然后加倍，就大概等于一个合理的小费。

For a taxi driver, you should tip 10-20 percent. I usually tip more if they help me with my suitcase and don’t smoke in the cab.

司机，可以给10-20%小费。如果他帮我拿行李也不抽烟，我平时会给偏多一点。

If you’re staying in a fancy hotel and someone helps you with your luggage, it’s customary to tip them one dollar per bag. For bartenders, you can tip about one dollar per drink.

如果你住在高端酒店的时候有工作人员帮你拿行李的话，传统就是一个包一块钱。调酒师，每杯酒一块钱就可以了。

Always, always, always remember to check the bill before you tip. If the bill says “Gratuity included,” that means you don’t have to tip at all.

每次，每次，每次都要记得先看账单再给小费。如果账单上说gratuity included，那你不用给小费了。