The sun is beating down. The colors, intense, oblige everyone to take care of a pair of glasses. It is so hot. I myself have a dress that sticks to my skin.
On this Sunday afternoon, my French friends and I are walking on the Plains of Abraham near the Museum of Fine Arts; it is under construction at the moment, but the new forms it will sport within a year will be modern and will fit wonderfully into the more historic part that already exists, in my opinion: a great project for Quebec.
In short, I am proud of my city and I want to show it to my friends. We then walk to rue Cartier, known as the European street of Quebec: there are sidewalk cafés and beautiful boutiques. numbers of dreamy artists and students. We sip an orange juice. The glass is small, of course, but it refreshes us, that's all that matters right now. The service is quite unpleasant, the waiter is not even friendly. “No but oh! Limit he throws the glasses at us what! Exclaims Françoise.
After a good hour of chatting, we receive the bill. "$4 for that glass of juice! How's your head!?,” replies Justine. I admit that the quality/price ratio is not there. The two girls give the waiter $4, not a cent more. Lucille and I pay by credit card. As I am the last to pay, the girls are waiting for me at the entrance and they watch the scene: the waiter looks at his Interac machine and sees that I haven't left any tips either. He sighs and goes to put it down. He then positions himself near the entrance.
In the meantime, I took my bag and joined the girls. The waiter corners me at the exit, really annoyed not to see any money on the table either. He said to me: “You know, here in Quebec, the tip is not included in the price!”. His tone is contemptuous, he has hatred! Unfortunately, I did not have the reflex to answer him that I am from Quebec but that the service was really almost detestable and that my French friends were not aware of the thing. I left rather quickly by doing the one who hadn't listened. The girls are intrigued.
They ask me: “What is tip?”. "The tip is the English word for 'tip'. In fact, here, you have to give the 15% – the equivalent of the taxes therefore – to the server. This money that we add to each addition is his salary, because he is paid below the minimum wage of $10.35. He therefore earns $8.90 plus his tip.” I explain that this difference pushes tipped employees to excel in customer service and justifies the fact that "tipping is at the discretion of the customer", but must still be at least the addition of the GST and the QST that we see on the invoice, the 15% therefore. In Quebec, the law of the Commission des normes du travail stipulates that employees receiving tips are servers (in a snack bar, in a gourmet restaurant, etc.), delivery people (of pizza, groceries, etc.) , barmaids (in a student pub, in a trendy nightclub, etc.), hosts (in a campsite, in a ̈bed and breakfast ̈, etc.).
It is therefore essential to tip the person who served. My friends are impressed by this way of working, "which is not so stupid", realizes Lucille. “Actually, to sum it up, the nicer and more satisfying the service and all, the more you can tip. But here, I admit that the service of the waiter was horrible. To have known, I would have given at least $1.50... even if it was rather unpleasant, he would have had his minimum wage. Exactly ! Here, the French have the reputation of never tipping. The servers therefore do not hesitate to tell them that the price indicated never includes the tip, and it is quite understandable...
SmileKonnects International House would be delighted to welcome you and help you learn more about Canada and its magnificent city of Quebec so that you can fully enjoy your stay! 😉
