Luckily I have been to the US before and dutifully, before we left, printed out the Trip Advisor Guide To Tipping. It's a six page document! Lurking within those pages are pitfalls galore for the unwary. The main problem is how much to tip. Different degrees of servitude require different degrees of tip. And this is where it gets tricky. As I mentioned, Trip Advisor are a help but clues to the extent of their usefulness are in not only their name but the word 'Guide'. The Final Decision is yours.
Of course this all impacts on the service you get from those that serve. Unlike the UK when on occasion you are treated like dog turd on the bottom of a shoe, as soon as you enter a bar or restaurant your 'host' or 'server' is on you like a rash. And it doesn't matter how many times you thank them, they will always respond with 'you're welcome'. It leaves you with the feeling that they actually not only want to be your bestest friend, but would also like to take you home with them, introduce you to their parents and leave you a consideration in their will. But get it wrong and your name is on The Blacklist, ever so slightly embarrassing if the restaurant happens to be part of the hotel in which you are staying and where you eat breakfast and occasionally prop up the bar. Like us.
One day we forgot to leave the DAILY tip for the maid. Trip Advisor was useful here. Don't wait for the end of your stay to leave a tip, it's a daily event because your maid might change daily. As we cautiously opened our room door that evening and pulled down the bed linen, I had an uncomfortable feeling that a horse head or worse, as left by Merlin's cat when he went away too often over a short period, would greet me. I needn't have worried all was well, but I left double the next day.
And then there was the cheery fellow who poured us our free Happy Hour wine and served our canopies on a nightly basis. He always made sure our glasses were full. He helped us with our bags. He was a good chap. He was on minimum wage. And I forgot to tip him before we left. What retribution might follow? As we made our way home tonight storm clouds were gathering above us in the humid skies, the weather forecasters predicted a storm which would be proceeding slowly up the East Coast tomorrow. As we are going in the same direction in the morning, I fear the worst. And it's all my fault.
TUESDAY 12th. DAY 5 ........THE CHASE
Today the heavens opened, and the taxi we were travelling in to Union Station narrowly avoided an accident when an oncoming car turned across in front. The Curse Of The Missed Tip was well and truly upon us. Then there was a traffic jam of cars for the station itself and we were unable to make a dash for it due to the torrents around us. I swear that some of the rain was hitting the ground and bouncing up. After two days of glorious weather during which we well and truly explored Washington's wide avenues with their enforced low rise offices, museums and apartments, we had started to get a familiarity with the place. We could walk to the White House without asking the way, we could catch a Trolley from our nearest stop and we knew how to get there too. We knew where the good eating places were and most importantly, we knew how to be back at our hotel perfectly in time for Happy Hour, and that from most parts of the city.
But depart we had to and under slate grey skies and pouring rain we boarded the 11.02 to New York City.
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