ruserious, you forgot the 30% "plus, plus" you pay in a restaurant - and the almost universal 10% "service charge" you pay on top of that... after which, you are expected to provide a tip "for the staff"... which almost always goes straight into the hotel's/restaurant's coffers.
(Firstly, let me say I know many restaurants have a policy of 'all the staff share equally in tips'.) I had Friday 'brunch' at the well known 'seawards of the waterfornt' hotel some time ago and, (perhaps too well-oiled by the bottomless bottle of champagne that is part of the deal), we were so impressed by the girl who looked after our table, we attempted to give her a tip - for herself.
Unfortunately, she was on a break, and we had to ask for her to come to the table. She was quite literally surrounded by four senior staff as they saw money was changing hands, and it was quite obvious she would be handing it over to the boss the moment we were out of sight. If it was to be shared out among the staff, I wouldn't mind, but I've been told by people who know that it goes straight to the hotel.
Long term residents of the Sandpit will recall the story of the Arab gentleman who gave the waiter a 5,000 Dirham tip at the restaurant on the departure level of the airport quite some years ago now. (For those unaware of wage levels for waiters then, 5,000 Dirhams would have represented six to seven months wages for the waiter.) The guy never saw a fil of it - the restaurant management took it off him and pocketed it when he (stupidly) let it be known among his colleagues that he'd been given so much. At least that story made the papers and led to a few outraged letters to the editor - but the restaurant owner kept the money.
Oh, and if your car is impounded now, (the standard 'sin bin' time being seven days), you have to pay 100 Dirhams a day "storage charge" on top of the very hefty fine you'll pay for the offence that led to the impounding.
That bucket - the smelly one - on the left end of my shoulder yoke is getting heavier and heavier, and thanks in part to Mr Bush and his Peso... sorry, ever weakening Dollar, the one on the right isn't balancing it out nearly as well as it did before...
Like many others, I'm in to counting the days.
Last edited by Wiley; 27th Nov 2007 at 01:23.