Tipping culture is annoying, unfair and worst of all American – and now it’s coming to Paris

A Paris waiter waits for customers outside his restaurant, Paris, France. Photograph: Alamy

As an American living in Paris, I’m not exactly sure when I first started having moments of culture shock on my visits back to the US. But there are two American practices that I now find irritate me no end: sales tax not being included in the sticker price of items, and tipping. (OK, three if you count non-detachable shower heads.)

In fact, Americans on the whole, it appears, are increasingly fed up with tipping, which has experienced inflation and creep: leaving 15% has morphed into standard options of 20%, 25% and 30%, and tipping has popped up in situations far removed from restaurant table service, such as takeouts, convenience stores and at self-checkouts. When it was time to return to Paris, an iPad screen at the airport suggested that I leave a tip after buying a single banana.