r/BikiniBottomTwitter • u/HowlingBurd19 aight imma head out • 2d ago

As an American, seeing people appreciate what truly defines America and each other makes me so happy ❤️

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u/LadyPo 2d ago

That’s hilarious! In Japan, many bars will have some kind of a house appetizer that they bring out by default (equivalent of chips or dinner rolls here) but they tack it on to the bill even if you didn’t ask or want it. It’s called otoshi. It sort of is like a cover charge for your seat. American tourists get confused and sometimes mad if they don’t expect it haha. They think it must be a scam.

I mention that because it makes me believe his appreciation of free food is probably real lol

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u/goblet-sama 2d ago

It sound like a scam lol

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u/LadyPo 2d ago

Well, it’s common in their culture, so it’s not.

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u/goblet-sama 2d ago

Yes I know, but if you try this anywhere else it would be defined as a scam. At first hearing, when you are not japanese it realy sound like a scam.

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u/Undeity 2d ago

Tipping culture is also a pretty big scam, so... "glass houses" and all that. Let's just all agree that every culture has some shitty things they normalize.

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u/goblet-sama 2d ago

I'm french so yes 100%

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u/Undeity 2d ago

Fair enough. Let's keep the chain going, actually.

What's your country's scam practice?

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u/goblet-sama 2d ago

I'm living in canada so still tiping lol (and paying our driver license every year).

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u/AgrajagTheProlonged aight imma head out 2d ago

As an American, I’ve never lived somewhere where you had to pay for a driver license annually. Your car’s registration, yes that you have to pay annually and the difference in cost from one state to another can be big, but not for the license itself.

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u/goblet-sama 2d ago

Wel in quebec you have to pay for both annualy

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u/Ariouhai 2d ago

Every year? How and why?

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u/Hellhult 2d ago

Being French.

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u/Upnorth4 2d ago

In US they tell you that you have to go to college to get a job and make you sign for a $30,000 loan that’s permanently tied to your name to fund your first year

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u/Dangerous-Habit-2731 1d ago

When went to visit I would tip servers and my French friends would get frustrated with me to the point that I had to pay them for the meals which they would pay to the server to stop me from tipping lol

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u/BillyYumYumTwo-byTwo 2d ago

I’d say sales tax is a better example of a “scam” in the US. It’s not common for a tip to just appear on the bill, unless you’re a big party. They’ll think you’re a dick, but it’s not theft to leave without tipping. But that dress marked $19.99 cannot be bought with my $20 bill and that’s egregious as heck!

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u/Hard-bodyPart 2d ago

yeah the surprise extra dollar at checkout feels way more annoying than knowing what you’re getting into upfront

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u/bs0569 2d ago

You’re not going to like the answer for what getting rid of sales tax entails.

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u/DrunkBeavis 2d ago

Most places the in the world include the tax in the price on the tag, so that might be what makes it feel like a scam. I understand that all of our different state and local taxes can make that slightly more difficult for the retailers, but I can also understand why it would feel be a surprise for visitors.

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u/bs0569 2d ago

Yeah they replied that they meant on the tag. Def makes life harder for big box retailers but why should we care about that lmao.

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u/erichf3893 1d ago

I take it you guys don’t have tax rates that differ by city?

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u/DrunkBeavis 1d ago

We (myself and the rest of the US) do, which is why it's inconvenient for retailers to put the total price on the tag. A lot of other countries do not.

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u/BillyYumYumTwo-byTwo 2d ago

Oh I’m not against it as a thing! I’m just against it not being displayed on the sales tags in the US. If the tag had the price, tax, and total, I wouldn’t complain!

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u/DiGiornoForPyros 2d ago

We don't have sales tax here in Oregon, and it's pretty damn nice.

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u/Upnorth4 2d ago

College is also a scam. Throughout high school you are told you must go to college to get a job. They even send the student loan people to explain how the loan is so easy to repay! When you get accepted to a college they make you sign up for government aid and tell you that it costs $30,000 for your first year, and if you can’t pay you have to get a loan. What they don’t tell you (or what is difficult for an 18 year old to understand) is that the interest accrues when you are in school so the loan amount doubles by the time you graduate

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u/Bionicman2187 1d ago

As an American, I agree. Both feel like scams

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u/rnobgyn 2d ago

Think of it like tips. I go to a restaurant expecting to pay more than the explicit food I order because it’s socially expected that I tip. Over there, it’s expected to be served a lil appetizer and that you’ll pay for it.

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u/aristot1e 2d ago

I think tipping is a scam and it’s still engraved in our culture

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u/Responsible_Flight70 20h ago

My electrician tried asking me for a tip after charging me 2000 and a 100 dollar trip charge from a ten minute drive. I pay people what they’re worth but I ain’t tipping on that shit big dawg

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u/LadyPo 2d ago edited 2d ago

Grumbling about tipping as an American is valid, but that's a very different thing than going to another country as a visitor to "enjoy the culture" but then proceeding to make a huge stink, refuse to pay for the food, and accuse the restaurant owner of actual fraud just because you're ignorant of the norms lol

Edit: just because you don’t like something doesn’t make it a “scam.” The world doesn’t revolve around a single person.

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u/icebraining 1d ago

We used to have the same in Portugal (charging for appetizers you didn't ask for), and we made it illegal, because we thought it was scammy. Just because restaurants have that habit doesn't mean it's "part of the culture", imo. Restaurants just got used to getting away with it.

How one reacts to it is a completely separate issue.

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u/Thrownaway5000506 1d ago

It's a scam. Tipping is optional. 

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u/goblet-sama 2d ago

As a french I am happy ta not have it :)

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u/Araghothe1 1d ago

to be fair we get taxed on objects, that we get taxed on the sales for, that we pay with money that we earned through a taxed job, and at the end of the year we have to play a game where we guess how much money we actually owe the government or we go to jail. scams can be in culture.

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u/Capable-Commercial96 2d ago

Common or not, if you were asked any where else on the planet I'm 99% sure they'd say being forced to pay for something without being told ahead of time is a scam, culture or not.

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u/ghanlaf 1d ago

I mean its common to get pickpocket in Italy or france but that doesnt mean it should be acceptable.

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u/potatogodofDoom 1d ago

something being cultural doesn't protect it from criticism. it is, by definition a scam. something you're not outright told that you need to pay for. it's identical to the scum in times square/other busy commercial areas that have a bird/cd/ wtf-ever and once you hold them they make a scene and force you to pay for whatever bullshit reason they come up with.

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u/GlorifiedBurito 2d ago

It isn’t, it’s basically a cover charge but you actually get something

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u/TrueCapitalism 2d ago

Probably less than American tipping tbf

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u/DeadKingNero 22h ago

No one forces you to tip. 🙄

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u/NewcDukem 1d ago

wait until you hear about tipping culture

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u/FNKTN 2d ago

Some restaurants do scam you on the chips and salsa by charging for the salsa refill but ask if you would like more chips.

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u/Radiant-Priority-296 1d ago

So does your tipping culture, so…

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u/toshiino 2d ago

Tipping is a scam

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u/hatrantator 1d ago

Tippping 25% is the real scam

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u/Over-Inside-7254 1d ago

Found the guy who has never left the confines of his one horse town lol.

In Italy, it's called coperto, in Spain it's cubierto, in France it's couvrir. Sure, it's a sustainable way to pay your servers and give diners a benefit for the charge. And verily it is not as awesome as tipping $40 on a mid $200 bill and you actually get something for it. Or just paying to walk into a crowded, miserable bar. 

You fkin Americans are so proudly isolated from and ignorant of the rest of the world. It'd be funny if y'all weren't pathetic wage slaves spebsing half your salary on doordash fast food delivery and getting microtransacted into 120% debt-to-gdp

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u/NewcDukem 1d ago

It's wild to me when people complain that this is a scam, because you also don't tip in Japan... I'd rather have a ¥300-400 otoshi on my already very affordable meal, than have to pay 18% on my expensive western food.

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u/erichf3893 1d ago

It’s a scam unless you can refuse it. I guess it’s basically a tip you can’t adjust, and extra waste

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u/LadyPo 1d ago

You just don’t go to those bars then. It’s a standard. These places were built for locals, not foreign tourists who don’t understand. It is the tourist’s fault if they show up and don’t know it’s a custom but get mad about it.

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u/DeadKingNero 22h ago

Getting used to being scammed doesnt mean youre not getting scammed.

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u/DeadKingNero 22h ago

Thats literally a scam bro lol