Tipping

The following blog post was written on the evening of the 3rd of August

One thing that I am a little sick of is tipping EVERYBODY.

For example, you are not allowed to pump your own gas and you have to tip the person who does it for you (which is usually ok, since they wash your windows as well).

When parking in public places (even outside the grocery store) some man is usually telling you which spot to pull into and then you are supposed to tip him to watch you car while you are inside, which is also ok because your car is a little safer.

However, when your car has been sitting somewhere for a considerable amount of time and you are getting ready to leave after eating or shopping and some man tells you that he watched your car—and it is possible that he works there, but it is also possible that he is just some man that saying he watched your car and really just standing there outside the store/restaurant asking for money…well, that is when I am not sure why I have to tip-but everybody does, because it is only 5 Rand, but over and over again it adds up.

Today, a man actually told me that I didn’t give him enough when I handed him 4 Rand-that he needed 5 Rand instead. This was strange considering other people gave him nothing-so I dug in my purse and handed over the extra Rand.

I guess that is just the price to pay for the safety of your belongings.