So this is simply a story of my return from being overseas for 4 years while stationed in the U.K. When I got my new orders I was sent to be stationed near Las Vegas, but when you get orders you are given time for travel and you can of course take leave (vacation days) for any travel if you so wish. Well I had planned 30 days off for travel and for my own vacation as I wanted to travel back in the states since it was forever and I missed being home.

My wife and I decided to take our kids on a trip to Portland back in 2014 and visit the forests, the local eateries and shopping. After travelling 2 days from Las Vegas to Portland we get to our hotel and we are starving after eating nothing but microwaveable meals and chain fast food restaurants. So we order to-go from a downtown restaurant and I decide I'll go pick it up. Its only a 10 minute drive and there was no traffic. When I get inside of the restaurant I see only two people sitting there eating and I am the only other customer.

Now before I go further I must state that having lived in the U.K. I completely forgot about tipping culture because it just wasn't a thing. When I first got there I remember offering a tip to delivery driver and he telling me he doesn't need it. I thought what? You don't need it? And then my buddies told me that you don't normally tip especially if its only delivery. Mind you this was before they had food delivery services you ordered straight from the restaurant and I am assuming they were properly compensated for their job.

Well back to the restaurant in Portland, I approached a lady behind the counter and I tell her I am here to pick up for "John" and they ask if its for some courier service or food delivery and I was so confused that I was like... I don't know what that is, but I don't think so. She also looks at me like I'm completely dumb being that I am obviously from the U.S.A., but I just haven't been back or kept up with small things like Uber or Grubhub being new companies. She then proceeds to tell me itll take another 5 minutes so I go ok cool cool. I pay for it at the counter and then take a seat at a table.

A couple minutes pass by and I see the server approaching me, but I don't see anything in her hand but a receipt so I was confused but she stops right in from of me and looks at the receipt and then back at me and she says: "You didn't tip, if you don't tip then you don't deserve to be served and you definitely don't deserve to come back here." I'm like what? I didn't even get my food yet. I wasn't serviced at all. She says "you can write down a tip on the receipt but you didn't do that." I was like ok well I'm so sorry I didn't know that tipping rules changed while I was gone. She doesn't inquire any further and I put down a $10 tip on my $50 meal and she looks at me like I ran over her dog. I get the food and she tells me once more: "Don't come back unless you tip."

All I can say is this... screw tipping. Screw it all. I rather just pay more for my food then have to be yelled at over something that can be avoided. When I was in Korea, I didn't tip and wasn't expected to. 4 years away from my own home and I didn't recognize it. There was new services and companies that I never heard of. Five Guys Burgers? What is that? Delivery straight to your door with a middleman involved? I've been getting drunk at pubs 'til midnight and then heading over to eat doner kebabs with chips and garlic mayo. I'm in the middle of the country in the U.K. and Sky1 and BBC was my main news source as I had Vodaphone and the apps were minimal and any American apps were restricted to my area.

Conclusion: Do your research on your own home country when returning after years overseas. It can help alleviate any issues. Also remember you have to tip in the U.S. and if you don't then you can't go out to eat. Now mind you I am obviously back into my tipping groove and have also worked as a food delivery driver for apps like Ubereats and Doordash and I can say this now... people who don't tip, don't get their food. But honestly I wouldn't need the tip if I was simply given a decent compensation. When working for Doordash you would receive 7 dollars per delivery and I thought no one was tipping because I would only ever make 7 dollars each delivery. Well I find out that Doordash takes the tip and will only pay for up to the 7 dollars. So the only way to receive more than 7 dollars per delivery is to have the customer tip more than 7 dollars.

Companies are screwing over both customer and employee (or contractor in their case). Definitely need a change. Also I think Americans are tired of tip culture because 7/10 deliveries did not tip or tipped less than 10%. Out of several hundreds of deliveries I received two $20 tips.