チップについて
これはこのポストにコメントとして投稿しようと思っていたが、長過ぎて出来なかった。で、チップの話をある英会話で一回やったことを思い出して、何か面白い記事になるかなぁと思った。長い間に日本語で書いていないから、ちょっと分かり難いところがあるはずだ。さて、我慢して続けようか。
This was originally meant to be a comment for this post, but it became too long, so I couldn’t post it. Plus, I remembered attempting to talk about tips at an Eikaiwa (adult English class) once, and thought it might turn into an interesting article. I’ve not written in Japanese for a long time, so there are likely a bunch of places that are difficult to understand. Anyhoo, let’s buckle down and dive right in.
For the full text and an English translation, follow the link.
これは複雑だなぁ。チップのTIPはT.I.P.S.（To Insure Proper Service）からの言葉なんだ。つまり、普通より良い体験ができるように上乗せを払う。でも、現代には違う理由になったよ。経済的な理由も礼儀的な理由もある。売上税はアメリカの州によって変わるんだ。それに、チップを貰えれば、もっと安い最低賃金になる。これを考えると、激励じゃなくてチップは必要となる。やっぱり、貰わなかったら生活できないし。
フレンズはニューヨーク州で起こる番組だ。ニューヨーク州では売上税は8.375%だ。で、チップを貰う労働者の最低賃金は州の法律で$3.85毎時だ。（チップを貰わない労働者の最低賃金は$7.15毎時だ。）ニューヨーク大都市に住むのは結構高いんだよ。それと、レストランの材料や地代とかも結構高いんだ。でも、ウェーターの最低賃金も他の州と比べれば高い。ということで、チップは他の州と比べったらそんなに要らなくて、もっと安いかなぁ（総計じゃなくて、勘定の百分率が）。
私のサウス・カロライナ州では売上税が6.0%だ。アメリカ人はよく「安っ！」と言う。（でも、日本では5%だから、日本人が喜ばない。）最低賃金についての州の法律は無いので、全国の法律で自動的に定まっている。（国の法律によって、チップを貰う労働者の最低賃金は$2.12毎時で、貰わない労働者の最低賃金は$5.85毎時だ。）ところで、合衆国の州の最低賃金の法律と連邦的な法律を比べる地図はここにある。 とにかく、サウス・カロライナ州は大体田舎何だから、住むのがニューヨーク州と比べて安い。けど、最低賃金も安い。それにサウス・カロライナ州の人々の丁寧な性格が有名だ。（すみません、自慢していないけど、そうと見えるかもね。ハハハ。ただの事実だ。）これらの理由で、サウス・カロライナ州で私は普通に18~20%のチップを払う。割合に高いだろう。
ニューヨーク大都市に行った時に私は本当に驚いたよ。自分の癖で払い過ぎてね。難しいだよ！アメリカ人もよく迷う。最低賃金や売上税や地域の生計費などを考えずに払う人もいる。最近、私の友達がこういうカードを財布に入れてどこでも持って行っている。やっぱりインターネットでもこの「どうやって正しくチップを上乗せするか」という会話が続けている。 面白い。ハハハ。あなたはどう思う？どうやって決める？経済的に決める？礼儀的に決める？それとも両方を熟考して決める？コメントへどうぞ！
This is pretty complicated. The word “tip” originally comes from T.I.P.S. (or To Insure Proper Service). In other words, you would pay extra in order to guarantee an above average experience. However, in modern times the reasoning has changed. There are economic reasons as well as etiquette-based reasons for giving tips. Sales tax changes from state to state in America. Also, minimum wage changes if you’re a worker who receives tips – it gets even lower. If you think about this, gratuities are no longer incentives, they are necessities for many people. You can’t really have much of a living without them.
Friends is a show that takes place in New York City, in the state of New York. The sales tax is 8.375% there. According to state law, the minimum wage for workers who earn tips is $3.85 per hour. (For workers who do not rely on tips, the minimum wage is $7.15 per hour.) Living in New York City is pretty expensive. Also, ingredients and rent cost the restaurant a lot of money. However, the minimum wage for waiting staff is higher than that of other states. Taking that into account, tips aren’t as necessary, so perhaps they should be lower than they would be elsewhere? (Not in total amount, but in percentage of the bill.)
In my home state, South Carolina, the sales tax is 6.0%. Americans frequently say “That’s cheap!” (Japan’s sales tax is 5.0%, so Japanese people don’t really rejoice over it or anything.) There is no state law governing minimum wage, so it defaults to the federal rate. (The Federal minimum wage law says that workers who receive tips should be paid no less than $2.12 per hour, and those who do not receive tips should be paid no less than $5.85 per hour.) By the way, you can see an interesting map that compares state’s minimum wage laws to the national laws here. Anyway, South Carolina is mostly countryside, so living there is far cheaper than living in New York. But, the minimum wage is also lower. In addition, South Carolinians have something of a reputation for being hospitable and generous. (Sorry, that sounds like I’m being boastful. Ha ha ha. I’m just stating a fact.) Due to these reasons, in South Carolina, I tend to pay between 18 and 20% as tip. That’s relatively high, I imagine.
I was pretty surprised when I went to New York City. I kept overpaying due to my customary method for calculating tip. It’s really hard to sort it all out! Even American people have trouble with it. There are people who don’t think at all about things like regional cost of living, sales tax and minimum wage when paying. Lately, my friends have been keeping this kind of card in their wallets, and taking them everywhere they go. And predictably, the conversation about how to properly pay tips has moved to and continued on the internet. Interesting. Ha ha ha. So what do you think? How do you decide how much to pay? Economically? Manners? Do you take both under consideration when deciding? Feel free to leave a comment!
