Do You Tip In Coffee Shops?
This article on the BBC web site talks about tipping in coffee shops and especially digital tipping in Starbucks in the US. Here’s the first paragraph.
Starbucks has modified its mobile phone app so that US customers can add tips for baristas to their bill. Is it normal to tip in coffee shops in the US – and could it catch on in the UK, asks Tom Geoghegan?
I usually tip if staff are pleasant and quick, often if it’s just a coffee, by throwing a twenty pence coin in the pot deliberately. I’ve only done this since I had the stroke and moved to London, so I wonder if it is my brain, saying here’s a little hand-eye co-ordination test that’s good for you! Although, I only do the action with my right hand and not my gammy left one!
In cafes, where I sit down and have a meal, I always pay by cash and leave the appropriate tip in change. I’ve found that in places I use regularly, this means that at busy times, the staff jump me up the queue and I get better tables.
Cafe Liverpool In Bilbao
I stopped here for a coffee by the cathedral, as anybody with a connection to my university city would.
Cafe Liverpool In Bilbao
It’s funny, but how many English cities would be used for the name of a hotel or cafe in Europe? The only common one other than London seems to be Bristol, but that is probably because a Marquis put himself about a bit!
The coffee was good though!
Islington Gets Another Cafe Without A Gluten-Free Offering
This cafe called Vivo at Islington Green looks very nice, but when I asked if they had anything that was gluten-free, the staff hadn’t a clue.
Islington Gets Another Cafe Without A Gluten-Free Offering
They probably thought I was asking for free food.
Just up the road though there is Carluccio’s and when and if it opens, there will be Romeo’s. But one of the troubles is several Euphorium bakeries, which as far as I know don’t do gluten-free food either. And of course, the company is owned by Tesco, so I would only use it in an emergency.
Preston’s Chaotic High Street
I know that there are lots of road works, but Preston’s High Street wasn’t one of the best I’ve visited.
Preston High Street
Cars were still trying to get through the road works and shouldn’t they be in a car park somewhere? Even the Marks and Spencer was very tired and in the food department, there were no gluten-free sandwiches.
The biggest crime in my view, was the non-working clock that towered over the street. But at least Rolex had the time right.
It is definitely a High Street that needs a touch of Portasisation!
There were no maps and signposts and this was the only cafe I passed.
The Only Cafe I Passed
But then I don’t do Starbucks. Surely, there must be a locally owned coffee shop in the city.
An Excellent Brand Name
I was walking up the Narrow Way in Hackney and this coffee van was parked by St. Augustine’s Tower.
An Excellent Brand Name
I hope the coffee is as good as the name.
There surely is scope for CoffeeE17 etc.
Incidentally, the tower has a working 16th century clock. There can’t be many that are older.
Nespresso Is The Apple Of Coffee
Not my statement, but something that was hinted at in an article in The Times.
I don’t drink much coffee and I always wondered about Nespresso, with its expensive advertising. If it was that good, why don’t I see more machines in peoples’ houses.
It looks like they’ve got a marketing philosophy based on a cheap machine and expensively-packaged coffee.
I tend to avoid machines in the kitchen, as you have to wash them up and except for my cooker, microwave and fridge, I only use three pieces of electrical equipment; a kettle, a toaster and a Kenwood chopper, which was heavily promoted by Delia. I do have a dishwasher, but I don’t use it, as it was wrecked by the tenants, who lived here before I bought the house. It just doesn’t get anything clean, whereas my Mark One hand and a gammy one, perform the task well.
So when I see that Nespresso, a subsidiary of Nestle are involved in a legal spat with Mondelez, who in my book are still called Kraft, as I do here on Reuters, I know that there can only be one winner, the lawyers. And the poor old consumer will pay for it all in higher prices. So Nespresso is a product to avoid!
Incidentally, both companies are on my avoid lists, as they don’t in my book publish full and detailed information on gluten about their products. I also don’t like Nestle’s stand on powdered milk for babies and who would buy anything from the company that made its name with sliced cheese. Other companies in my avoid group are Mars and in fact any company, where you can’t find the gluten-free information easily on their web site, or if you’re in the shop, on the packaging.
Has This Starbucks Died?
I saw this Srarbucks from a 38 bus yesterday in Theobalds Road.
Has This Starbucks Died?
It looks a bit derelict. Is it a casualty of the company’s tax planning strategy?
The Oldest Parador In Spain
The parador by the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela is the oldest parador in Spain.
Part of our tour included coffee, tea and cakes in the hotel. Our tour guide even rustled up a delicious gluten-free muffin for myself. It was labelled sin gluten, with a crossed grain symbol, so coeliacs won’t have difficulty with the language. In fact my Italian pronunciation of celiachai worked well enough in Spain, as the words are similar sounding.
Before we had our snack, I had actually retreated into the hotel to get a coffee because of the cold, which cost me the princely sum of €2.50.
I Drunk A Lot Yesterday And Feel Much Better Today
Yesterday, I drunk more than I have for some time. I had three mugs of tea before I left home, two cups of tea with my lunch in Carluccio’s and then perhaps another four mugs of tea during the afternoon and another one late at night. I also had a pint of Aspall Cyder down the pub during the presentation.
So I probably drunk about two and a half litres yesterday.
As a child, my mother was always getting me to drink more and often the only drink I had during the day, was the third of a pint bottle of milk and perhaps a small cup of tea. It was very difficult to get me to drink water and if I did drink anything else it was squash or her home made lemon drink, made to a Mrs. Beeton recipe.
From the time, I started drinking alcohol, I’ve generally been a pint of real ale man, although for years, I followed my father’s lead and drunk small bottles of Guinness. Incidentally, those small bottles, which are unobtainable now, were low in gluten.
I think when I went gluten-free, I started to get the odd stiffness in my legs and breathing difficulties at this time of year. I used to think, I needed to have a cup of coffee before tennis to get myself going. But could it be that I had cut down on my liquid intake, by avoiding pints of beer. And also in those days a few years ago, decent cider, like Aspall wasn’t available in pubs.
I came out of hospital after the stroke feeling pretty rough and I don’t think I was drinking much inside. Basically, I’ve never been a great water drinker. I need something stronger, like tea, milk or lemonade.
I think I will keep up the high level of drinking.
As I’ve been drinking hard for the past month or so and having a deep bath every day, it does seem, that the stiffness in my lower legs has eased.
Strangely, my rhinitis isn’t too bad this morning either and my toe nails seem not to be their usual mess.
So perhaps the two most important women in my life, my mother and C, were right all along, in saying I should drink more. C of course was always making me cups of tea, when she was at home, as she was a serious coffee and water drinker.
So perhaps we had mutually beneficial habits. I think too, my son is another heavy drinker of the non-alcoholic kind.
But why is it, that things seem to always get worse for my body in the first few months of the year? I had a GP once, who said I might suffer from SAD or seasonal affected disorder. It did get better soon after that diagnosis, but C and I were taking at least a week’s holiday in the sun.
A Useless Shopping Trip
This afternoon, I decided to go shopping to get some clothes from my holiday next week. I took the Overground to Stratford and walked into Eastfield.
It was not the most fulfilling of trips.
For a start, when I walked in, I thought I might like a tea or a cappuccino. Before the Olympics, I used to get this in the Starbucks by the station entrance, but since the Games, I’ve avoided it, as it only sells drinks in cardboard cups. These are for takeaways, not sitting in.
I then walked through to John Lewis and thought I’d see if there was a suitable coat. I need one with a large internal pocket on my left breast, that is big enough for my newspaper or my small Samsung Tab 2. Despite the attention of a very personable and professional sales assistant in an hijab, they couldn’t find anything, which fitted my requirements.
So it was on to Marks and Spencer, where I tried to get a second pair of cord trousers like those I was wearing. Despite having bought them only last week, I was again unlucky, as that style wasn’t stocked at Eastfield.
So I then retreated back to the Overground and came home.
That was a very unproductive shopping trip. I’ll try again in Oxford Street tomorrow. I should find the trousers, as they had quite a few pairs last week, there are a couple of Carluccio’s for some tea or coffee, but I doubt I’ll find the coat, as big pockets are so two years ago.
The Anonymous Widower 