Ok, so last night, I went out with my friends Peter, Barbara and their friends Matias & Jess. We went to this super chill Cocktail House for some drinks. At the end, we were paying our bill and mine was $5.90 so I gave $11.00 so I would get a 5 and $.10 back instead of a bunch of change. So I give her the money and she gives me the five and I#m thinking to myself "where's my 10 cents?". So I ask her for it and she kinda looks at me like "seriously?" but then she gives it to me and moves on.
This wasn't a normal bar. It was a nice place where you sit down and she waits on tables as a waitress would in a restaurant. I was going to leave $1 on the table for her... much nicer than 10 cents!! Anyhow, when she left, my friend told me that it was totally rude for me to ask for my change and that normally, they just round up and that is the tip. For example, If I owed $4.60, I would give $5 and let her keep the change.
I don't know why I haven't come across this yet, but I hadn't (probably because I haven't been eating in too many restaurants on my visit). I vaguely remember my friend Andrea telling me about this round-up rule... but in that moment, I had forgotten. Then I asked my friend Peter why he told me this in front of our friends (mostly because I was embarrased). When correcting me, he had started off with "I know this is the American way..." so in his mind, he was explaining to the friends that I wasn't trying to be rude, but instead was just doing what was normal to me but at the same time he was correcting me.
Anyhow, it's all good now. Matias, Jess and Barbara don't think I am rude... and hopefully the waitress enjoyed her buck more than the dime. I doubt this will be my last mistake...
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