In Australia we dont have tipping as a rule. What is it like relying on tips for your living?!
Answers:
It can be feast or famine - mostly famine. I used to work for a hotel next to a indoor stadium and outdoor stadium. With concerts and sporting events we had a pretty steady turnover. The rich football fans tipped horribly while the broke roadies treated us like queens.
Other places I worked for had a lot of 'regulars' and they tipped very well as you got to know them so that was pretty steady.
Those tips bought gas and groceries between measly paychecks.
You just plan ahead, buy a lot of potatoes and rice!
I've worked in a restaurant in Virginia for a couple of years. It's not necessarily a "rule" to tip, but it is sort of culturally expected. Sometimes restaurants will add gratuity to the bill which basically is the tip, so it is mandatory, but that's usually only for large groups of people anyway. Sometimes living off of tips can be way better than working a minimum wage job because there is a good chance you are going to walk away making way more than minimum wage. Each state in the US pretty much has a different minimum wage restriction (the lowest amount per hour an employee can get paid), but the good thing about working in the service industry is that you have to make AT LEAST minimum wage. So if you walk away short on tips one day, you will be compensated in your paycheck to make up for the lacking funds. (In our restaurant, we made $2.13 an hour, which we would get in our paycheck, and the rest would be tips; I think minimum wage here right now is about $7.25 an hour before taxes)
EDIT: Forgot to mention it's GREAT to always have the cash in your pocket! Don't have to wait two weeks for a paycheck just to have some money (although it goes much quicker this way).
Experience
OMG I LIVE IN VA TOO^^^
