Comic art by Iris Yan, one of my favorite Blogger bloggers - girlfriend to Alex Noriega, another favorite Blogger blogger.
I know this sounds quite familiar to you, reader.
Why do we tip bigtime at posh restaurants when we know they obviously make tons more money than cheap cafés?
For Filipinos:
Why do we tip big at fancy restaurants and not leave any at the local karinderia (quick-serve restaurant)?
Then again, why don't we mind paying a full price at the department store while we argue our asses off to bargain for the lowest possible price at the palengke (locality market)?
Hmmmmmmmmm...
This culture is a little confusing, don't you think?
Of course, about the latter, merchants normally have higher-than-normal price-labels at the outset. This is clearly because they expect customers to bargain. You can't help but bargain, anyway, if you really want to buy something. It's a culturally defined system of purchasing and you can't beat it.
