Sir, – Like Frank McNally, I am uncomfortable with tipping, the act of it, the reason for it, the amount of it (“Tip of the iceberg: Frank McNally on generous taxi-drivers and guilt-trip gratuities”, An Irishman’s Diary, February 18th). I am grateful to him for an account of its history.
If journalism were a service industry, I would happily tip him top dollar. – Yours, etc,
MARGARET McCANN,
Dunshaughlin,
Matt Williams: Take a deep breath and see how Sam Prendergast copes with big Fiji test
New Irish citizens: ‘I hear the racist and xenophobic slurs on the streets. Everything is blamed on immigrants’
Jack Reynor: ‘We were in two minds between eloping or going the whole hog but we got married in Wicklow with about 220 people’
‘I could have gone to California. At this rate, I probably would have raised about half a billion dollars’
Co Meath.
Sir, – The question of tipping is perhaps more complex than Trotsky imagined. It was certainly condemned in East Germany, and signage in pubs, coffee bars, etc, in East Berlin threatened sanctions on anyone violating this socialist principle.
It was tempting to tip, particularly when one was crossing back over to the West with a pocket full of useless small change made from some ultra-light base metal. It was my habit to stop off in a small bar close to Checkpoint Charlie for a final beer or two to dispose of the said change. The bar was rather odd, a small room with table and chairs but no bar as such. The waiter – it was always the same one – would appear from nowhere, silently take your order, vanish again and eventually return with your drinks giving you sufficient time to digest the posters threatening unspecified sanctions regarding tipping.
When leaving you took the change out, dumped it on the table and waited. The waiter would appear, take what we owed from the pile of coins and stand back from the table. This was your cue to go. Not a tip – I suppose he was just minding your forgotten change. – Yours, etc,
JIM SMYTH,
Belfast.
Sir, – I was astounded to realise that Frank McNally had encountered the same taxi driver as myself and had an identical experience. On a visit to Dublin before Christmas, I got a taxi from Heuston Station to Dún Laoghaire. Like Frank, I’d prepared by visiting an ATM and proffered two €20 notes for the €24 fare. I experienced the same astonishment when the man returned one note and said €20 would suffice. It was the first time in my life that I got a “reverse tip” from a taxi driver. The reason I think it may have been the same driver is that he told me he only works mornings. The extra information about my experience is that the taxi was an electric vehicle (EV) and the driver told me he was saving about €800 a week since he switched from diesel.
I drive an EV myself and I can’t think of a more compelling argument for the Government to expedite its infrastructure regarding charging points. – Yours, etc,
BERNADETTE O’REILLY,
Clonakilty,
Co Cork.
Sir, – My favourite writer in The Irish Times is Frank McNally; he’s a genius at marrying creativity to a pinpoint attention to the tiniest detail. However, we can conclude that his genius doesn’t quite extend to mathematics. A fiver discount on a fare of €25 is actually 20 per cent, not 25 per cent as he puts it, overestimating the generosity of his driver by that same 25 per cent. It makes me anxious then that he champions an 18 per cent tip, in fairness a difficult point of calculation, as his preferred gratitude. If I extrapolate the same 25 per cent margin of error to his favoured mark, he could potentially be tipping lower than 14 per cent, below even the “stingy b*stards” who trumpet their own 15 per cent. Could this be a tipping point for our Frank? – Yours, etc,
ALAN KEALY,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.