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Tipping in France
Jan. 18th, 2008 01:53 pmAs I mentioned before, I just finished reading Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell, a semi-autobiographic book about living the poor life, published in 1933. He was in Paris in 1929 and found work as a plongeur, a kitchen assistant/dishwasher.
Now here's my question: he describes quite thoroughly the rankings and wages of everyone on the restaurant staff, from chefs to plongeurs. And in several places he very explicitly talks about how waiters are paid only by tips:
"You are not paid wages, you depend on tips—ten per cent of the bill, and a commission from the wine companies on champagne corks."
"At some cafes on the Grand Boulevard there is so much money to be made that the waiters actually pay the patron for their employment."
"He would be getting our services almost free, for waiters are paid no wages, and though he would have to pay me, he would not be feeding me till the restaurant opened."
But sometime in the last 75 years, something dramatically changed. Now we have service compris and well paid waiters. What happened? When did it change? What caused the change?
Edit: I'm talking about tipping in France, not the U.S. In France these days, service is included in the price of the meal ,and the waiters are paid an appropriate wage. Tipping is strictly optional, although they've come to expect it from American tourists, but most French people don't, or just round up to the nearest euro. Or so I'm told, repeatedly and authoritatively.
Now here's my question: he describes quite thoroughly the rankings and wages of everyone on the restaurant staff, from chefs to plongeurs. And in several places he very explicitly talks about how waiters are paid only by tips:
"You are not paid wages, you depend on tips—ten per cent of the bill, and a commission from the wine companies on champagne corks."
"At some cafes on the Grand Boulevard there is so much money to be made that the waiters actually pay the patron for their employment."
"He would be getting our services almost free, for waiters are paid no wages, and though he would have to pay me, he would not be feeding me till the restaurant opened."
But sometime in the last 75 years, something dramatically changed. Now we have service compris and well paid waiters. What happened? When did it change? What caused the change?
Edit: I'm talking about tipping in France, not the U.S. In France these days, service is included in the price of the meal ,and the waiters are paid an appropriate wage. Tipping is strictly optional, although they've come to expect it from American tourists, but most French people don't, or just round up to the nearest euro. Or so I'm told, repeatedly and authoritatively.
