Tipping point nears as gratuities grate on diners

Payment devices are sucking the last vestiges of civility out of the dining-out experience for many restaurant guests. (Image: Blake Wisz/Unsplash)

Bloomberg

Sun, 26 May 2024

By Howard Chua-Eoan I live with tipping trauma.After I received my first paycheck at my first full-time job – back in New York in 1984 – I treated my parents to dinner in Flushing, Queens, where we lived. That Cantonese banquet hall – buzzy, clattering parties scattered among lazy-susan tables – is long gone, replaced by a succession of other Asian eateries. I’ve even forgotten the restaurant’s name. But the aftermath of the dinner is indelible.In my nervousness over spending my hard-earned mon...

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