We don't have tipping here. It isn't illegal, just not customary. Every time I've been to the USA I've found the practice horribly confusing. I couldn't get used to remembering that there was going to be this whole extra amount I had to pay everywhere I went, or really get a handle on how much it was supposed to be. You take a shuttle bus from the airport, you pay the fare and then you have to give the driver some random amount of money. You get to the hotel, you have to give the guy who took your bag upstairs some random amount of money EVEN THOUGH YOU TRIED TO TAKE THE BAG UPSTAIRS YOURSELF. I understand the idea behind tipping, but it is unbelievably difficult for a tourist from a non-tipping country.

Tipping in New Zealand is usually from American tourists. If service staff get a tip from anybody else, it is usually a sign that they have done something *spectacularly* out of the ordinary for the client. Like, er, I don't know. As Dave said, how much *is* there for a waiter to do? I've been to some very good restaurants -- notably, one where we made a booking after having been there once before, about a year previously, and on arrival the waiter KNEW OUR NAMES AND SAID IT WAS GOOD TO SEE US AGAIN, having presumably looked up all the reservations for that night and compared them to a list of previous customers. The service at this place was beyond belief: the room appeared to be entirely empty of waiters, but there must have been at least one waiter watching every single customer at all times, because as soon as you even started THINKING you might like another drink, one would appear instantly and magically at your side. They apparently had a telepaths-only hiring policy. The service was as good as service GETS. Did it cross my mind to tip? Nope.

I received a tip once (while working in a bar) mostly because I stood there nodding and smiling politely while an extremely drunk and/or stoned guy harangued me for what felt like six hours about a) how he was John McEnroe the famous tennis player but he usually didn't tell people about it because everyone hates John McEnroe, b) how there are no good single gay men anymore, c) the story of some random person (I never quite figured out what this was about) who had just had an operation of some sort. When he eventually staggered off to harangue somebody else I said "Goodnight, Mr McEnroe" -- my sole contribution to the monologue -- and he was so overwhelmed that I recognised him that he gave me $20.

I refused it, but he kept insisting, so in the end I took it. $20 is about twice what the job pays per hour, so it was pretty embarrassing.

Sir Ian McKellen was talking about NZ in a speech at a pre-Oscars dinner the other day, and apparently he said something about how he tipped a taxi driver and the taxi driver insisted that he halve the amount. I think McKellen thought that was weird, but I know how the taxi driver felt. It's uncomfortable being given random amounts of free money by somebody you are ALREADY getting paid to do whatever you just did for them.