Hi,
Just read your article on tipping in Manhattan.
I”ve just returned from 20 years of living in Chicago, got out of Dodge just left before the bad Sheriff took over.
I dont normally do this, write to Journalists, but I dont believe that a saloon manager called you because you didn’t tip a stylist.Sorry but it doesn’t ring true to me at all.
Just saying…its just not the America I lived in.
I love your work and your Husbands, love actually is the modern Christmas classic.
Now realize that I sound like a complete knob, but I felt the need to call you on it.
If it happened I apologize but honestlyI dontthink it did.
Appreciate you letting me know how you feel. The truth is… it was true. On my children’s lives. And I was with a friend when it happened so I even have a witness! She rang… asked me if I had been happy with the treatment…. I said I had loved it… she said ‘oh it’s just you didn’t leave a tip’. I said ‘but I only had a card and you said tips were only in cash and I had no cash so I apologized that I couldn’t leave a tip’. She said ‘yes I know’.
Would love to say it wasn’t the America I know either… but actually the tipping culture in our part of Manhattan was really extreme. There was a manicure place a block from our house which I went to occasionally. First time there I asked if I could add a tip onto my credit card for the lady and she said ‘no only cash’. I said I didn’t have any so she pointed to the cash machine in the corner. I went to use it but my card was rejected by it. I told the lady and she said ‘try it again’. I tried it again and it still wouldn’t deliver. So she told me to go to the cash machine at the bank in the next block. It was a bit like that everywhere.
And I fear it is coming to the U.K. Too… the other day I was checking out of a hotel in Oxford and was asked if I would like to leave a tip on top of my room bill.
Emma Freud 
Hi,
Just read your article on tipping in Manhattan.
I”ve just returned from 20 years of living in Chicago, got out of Dodge just left before the bad Sheriff took over.
I dont normally do this, write to Journalists, but I dont believe that a saloon manager called you because you didn’t tip a stylist.Sorry but it doesn’t ring true to me at all.
Just saying…its just not the America I lived in.
I love your work and your Husbands, love actually is the modern Christmas classic.
Now realize that I sound like a complete knob, but I felt the need to call you on it.
If it happened I apologize but honestlyI dontthink it did.
Brian DOlan
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Appreciate you letting me know how you feel. The truth is… it was true. On my children’s lives. And I was with a friend when it happened so I even have a witness! She rang… asked me if I had been happy with the treatment…. I said I had loved it… she said ‘oh it’s just you didn’t leave a tip’. I said ‘but I only had a card and you said tips were only in cash and I had no cash so I apologized that I couldn’t leave a tip’. She said ‘yes I know’.
Would love to say it wasn’t the America I know either… but actually the tipping culture in our part of Manhattan was really extreme. There was a manicure place a block from our house which I went to occasionally. First time there I asked if I could add a tip onto my credit card for the lady and she said ‘no only cash’. I said I didn’t have any so she pointed to the cash machine in the corner. I went to use it but my card was rejected by it. I told the lady and she said ‘try it again’. I tried it again and it still wouldn’t deliver. So she told me to go to the cash machine at the bank in the next block. It was a bit like that everywhere.
And I fear it is coming to the U.K. Too… the other day I was checking out of a hotel in Oxford and was asked if I would like to leave a tip on top of my room bill.
Anyway… thanks for caring enough to write.
X
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