"Sir, let me ask, why is there no Li Hongzhang stir-fry in the menu?" When ordering food on this day, Michael asked the waiter curiously. (At this time, the more famous Zuo Zongtang chicken has not yet appeared...... ）

"I'm sorry sir, I haven't even heard of this dish you said!" The waiter replied with some embarrassment.

"Can't you, you don't have such a famous Chinese food in a big restaurant?" Michael asked incredulously.

It may be that his tone is a little bad, so the waiter replied unhappily: "Sir, I can assure you that this dish is definitely not a famous dish, and other restaurants will not have it!" ”

"How is this possible, I eat ...... a lot in New York"

Before Michael could finish speaking, Chen Yuanqi hurriedly stopped: "I'm sorry, sir, it's the first time he came to China, and he doesn't understand many things!" ”

Then he turned his head and explained to Michael: "Michael, in fact, Li Hongzhang's two dishes are not famous Chinese dishes, they are purely after the Chinese moved to the United States, and some cheap foods were fried together, especially tripe, chicken gizzards and other things that you Americans don't eat at all, but later in order to adapt to the taste of you Americans, meat was used instead of offal."

As for the name, it is said that it was because Li Hongzhang ate it when he visited the United States, because it was originally fried together, in order to stain Li Zhongtang's light, so it was called Li Hongzhang's mixed fried ......"

Hearing Chen Yuanqi mention Li Hongzhang, Monet suddenly remembered a group of historical illiterates on Douyin before crossing over, and shouted at the photo of Zhang Zhidong below: "Lord Li actually exchanged his life for 100 million silver dollars, junior Li, meet Lord Li!" "The formation behind is quite neat, and they are all visiting Master Li......

But the problem is that there are photos of Zhang Zhidong and Li Hongzhang in the history textbooks of junior and senior high schools? It can be seen that compulsory education still has a long way to go! (In fact, what is more terrible than historical blindness is geographical blindness, such as Dalian, Qingdao, Xiamen, these famous cities are often mistaken for provincial capitals, and there are even many people who do not know which province they are in...... ）

Originally, Monet thought that the difference between Chinese and Western food culture would end here, but he didn't expect that when Michael saw Chen Yuanqi tipping at the checkout, he asked: "Chen, didn't you say that you don't need to tip in China?" And we really didn't give it when we checked out these days, so why did we give it today? Is it because of my rude behavior? ”

"It has nothing to do with that, it's because this is a Western restaurant, so it inherits the Western tipping culture." Chen Yuanqi explained.

"It's not a good thing, why do you want to learn from him?" Michael muttered.

In fact, Michael is right that tipping culture is really not a good thing, because it is difficult to justify itself.

If a tip is a service charge, why should it be calculated as a percentage of the consumption amount? If I order a forty dollar bottle of wine, I would be tipped six dollars, as is customary for a 15% tip. And my brother ordered $400 for wine, and he had to pay $60. Could it be that the service paid to open a bottle of fine red wine is worth more than fifty dollars more than that of opening a bottle of ordinary red wine? Is it because the cork is particularly difficult to wring out, or is it the premium red wine that is particularly difficult to pour? As a service fee, this calculation is difficult to be self-consistent.

Besides, the tip is only given after the meal, and I can't even buy the good service in advance, so I can only passively accept it. (I've never heard someone say to a waiter, "Lao Tie, I'll tip you 30 percent when I pay the bill, you have to serve me well.") ）

If it is a reward for quality service, it also makes no sense. I'm here to eat, not to help the hotel owner improve the quality of his staff. It is necessary for enterprises to conduct employee training, formulate reasonable performance appraisal methods, and motivate employees to better complete their own work. Now it's good that I'll have to pay for them to discipline their staff.

And tipping can also cause a lot of spontaneous division of territory among service staff. Do you want to find a waiter to add a dish to this table? Wait a minute, Zoe from your table will be here in a moment (I won't help you though, the tip ends up for Zoe anyway).

In fact, there used to be tips in China. But tips in China are generally the leftover money from change and given to buddies. The guy took the money and returned it to the public account, and at night, even the chef took the hall to open a small stove together, which belonged to the welfare of the service staff, and the money in charge of the store could not be moved.

The characteristics of Chinese tipping are: 1. Non-mandatory. If you feel that you have a little status and a little money, you will basically give it. Is it inappropriate to eat a bowl of Yangchun noodles without money and ask for a tip?

The tip amount is random. Serve well, give more tips, ignore them, don't give tips or give less, the amount mainly depends on the service attitude.

Gratuities. The tip given by the guest is the overall satisfaction evaluation of the restaurant, the chef has a good grasp of the heat, the guy has eyesight, will come to things, the reward is not for a certain person, but for the whole. The wider the scope of benefits, the more people participate in the service, and the better the overall experience of customers.

Some restaurants are good to shout, and they shout out when they give a tip, and Uncle XX rewards money XX, and the times that give the money have face, and I will pay it back next time. Others have a competitive mentality when they hear it, and they generally don't give too little.

Another advantage of shouting is that the guys can't pay the money, and all the guys who shout out understand that the shopkeeper can't rely on the account. After shouting, all the guys and the chef will thank you for the reward, generally just a sentence of "thank you for the reward", how comfortable ~ It doesn't cost much, and it has a lot of fun. In fact, the traditional tip in China is more reasonable. (Actually, it's a bit similar to the current anchor reward, the big brother on the list brushes a rocket, the anchor has to thank the reward, and then a group of tourists at the bottom praise the big brother is mighty, the big brother is domineering and the like...... ）

After listening to Chen Yuanqi's narration, Michael echoed: "Yes, I also think that your previous tipping culture in China is very reasonable, so why should you learn from our garbage tipping culture?" ”

Chen Yuanqi replied with a wry smile: "Because the national strength is weak, I have no cultural self-confidence, and I always feel that everything abroad is good, so I have studied it all without criticism." It is estimated that it will not change until a scene like the one written by Mr. Lu in "New China" appears! ”

Monet complained in his heart that even in 2022, this tipping culture in some Western restaurants has not been eradicated......

PS: Yesterday when I was scanning the book in Feilu, I found a so-called Xueba text with a gold finger similar to the "memory bread" in the robot cat, I'm curious that the author hasn't read the "memory bread"? Didn't the protagonist forget about it after he pulled it out after eating it.,Could it be that the protagonist belongs to Pixiu?