It’s absurd to call any country the greatest, as if you could assign every country a point on a linear scale.
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Ok, that is a VERY simplistic way of looking at this, but I know you are open-minded, so I will take a minute to comment.
There are several objective reasons why people move to another country, and it’s not because they see the country they are moving to as “Superior” to all others in all aspects.
When asked, immigrants often say they are looking for “a better life”, but that means different things for different people in different situations.
Please remember, people all over the world emigrate to other countries too, not only to the US.
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I’m Canadian-born, lived there 30 years, and American by naturalization, living here 20 years.
I think of the USA as good, and worth defending, and I don’t like to see it disparaged.
I don’t need for it to be best, however. What I do need, is for the USA to be better than it was yesterday 
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Same. But with Mousematt I usually just laugh. A little less now that he isn’t saying “dumb Americans” as often anymore. So bold! I respect that. 
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Umm, isn’t that one of the seven deadly sins?
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It’s kind of funny you point this out because my parents don’t like saying they are “proud” for this reason. They try to find an acceptable synonym depending on the context.
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I just binge read this whole thread and, as another Brit, I just keep wondering why that poor AC engineer doesn’t deserve a tip?
Also the example where the ice cream server deserves a tip, but not the assistant who helped you find a pair of shoes….?
Is there an easy way to learn/understand who earns a “decent” wage (no tip needed) versus those who depend on tips to survive?
I find it genuinely bewildering. I’d personally love to be able to tip when I was delighted by great service, but facing the prospect of having to tip mediocre/bad service just gives me a headache.
As an aside, I generally tip a good server here in the UK about 15% of the total bill (which includes tax, because in the UK the price on the menu is what you actually have to pay). Last time I did this the waitress cried at the gesture, so I guess it’s definitely not the norm 
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I was about to say I don’t know anyone who doesn’t tip here. But then I remembered how horrified my friend was when I told her she’d have to tip in the US. And then I told her it was 20% and she nearly passed out 
So I guess I know one.
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https://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/tipping-at-walt-disney-world
- Counter service restaurants: No tipping needed here. If you’re on a strict budget, eating counter service meals (many of which are quite tasty, healthful, and substantial) is not only less expensive from a food cost standpoint, but also eliminates a potentially large gratuity expense.
^to answer one of your questions, no need to tip ice cream servers. Unless they’ve been exceptionally helpful and you want to give them something.
You know me. I don’t routinely tip in the UK.
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Really?!!
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I’m from Yorkshire. We don’t give money away. The National Minimum Wage is over £10 per hour. I don’t believe people should be given bonuses for simply doing their job. At any level. Unless they do something above and beyond.
I am always scrupulously polite and friendly to wait staff and others. I treat them with respect. I say please and thank you.
Thinking about recent traditional tipping opportunities I’ve had — restaurants, taxis — there hasn’t actually been a way to tip, except in cash and I literally never use cash.
I tip in the US because it is some frantic national obsession and they chase you down the street if you don’t. I think it stinks because it’s crystal clear to me that waitstaff at WDW TS restaurants are making more money than me and I have two college degrees and thirty years experience and routinely go waaay above and beyond for my students.
Disney’s business model is mind-blowing. Open restaurants in a park that you have to pay top dollar merely to enter, charge a huge premium for pretty ordinary restaurant food, and then get the customer to pay one of your main expenses for you. No wonder the executives earn seven figures.
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We had a hard time tipping in York! The server at breakfast every day kept giving it back to us. When we went to tea in Scotland the server straight up told us “we don’t take tips”, probably because we were American?
No issues tipping in London though. LOL.
I just wish I had gotten more pounds when we were there in October and the exchange was so good
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My Yorkshire friend is a good tipper but that might be because she’s been going to Disney for 30 years. I’ve never had an issue tipping by card anywhere. I have to admit to rarely tipping taxi drivers though.
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That’s weird, I’ve never had an issue tipping anywhere in the UK including York.
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What are the rules?
Restaurant wait staff? Presumably?
McDonald’s staff? Why not? It’s still food service.
Deliveroo drivers? Ditto. And the app wants you to.
Ocado drivers? If yes to Deliveroo, then yes here, surely?
Amazon drivers? If yes to Ocado, then yes here, surely?
Taxi drivers? Historically, but why them and not other drivers?
Uber drivers? If yes to taxi drivers, then yes here, and the app wants you to.
Yeah the ‘rules’ make no sense. I do tip Uber drivers. I also tip my hairdresser. I tip any server even if I’m only having drinks, but I don’t tip bar staff. I don’t tip anyone delivering stuff to the house.
But I do feel like tipping wait staff in a sit down restaurant is a cultural norm here as well as in the US, but without the high expectation of a certain percentage and poor pay for servers.
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It certainly used to be. But I feel like it is less automatic now. One of the arguments against having a minimum wage was that people would stop tipping. I suspect some / many have.
And I have had similar experiences to @JuliaMc where there was just no opportunity to tip, except by leaving cash.
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I don’t know, apart from the one friend I mentioned, I’ve never seen friends and family fail to tip but I don’t know what anyone else is doing.
If I’m going for a meal I usually try to take cash for a tip because I prefer to do it that way, but it’s very rare I can’t add it on the card machine if I want to. If you do contactless I’ve been told they can’t add a tip for security reasons.
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