Hello from US and A!
I’m home for the holidays.
Just arrived last night.
Yesterday was a long day.
Lots of standing, sitting and waiting.
But there are three things that always make travelling smoother:
- a passport
- a book
- English
An English Lesson At The Airport
My first flight was from Prague to Frankfurt.
In Frankfurt, I had plenty of time to change planes.
But because we had to take a bus from the plane to the terminal…
And then my gate was Z69 – so far away it was almost in France — I arrived at the gate just a few minutes before boarding.
Did I have enough time to get a decent coffee? (I hate the instant coffee they serve onboard).
I rushed to the nearest cafe.
There was a long line.
And when I was almost at the front, the woman in front of me did not understand the English on the credit card machine.
“What is this?”
“This is where you leave your tip,” said the cafe employee. “Do you want to leave 10% or 15% or 20%?”
“PIN?” said the confused traveller?
“No, tip. It’s extra money you can choose to give if you like the service.”
“What I press?”
“Do you want to leave a tip?”
The woman clearly did not understand the word “tip.”
And this was not the time or the place for an English lesson.
I told the cafe employee I had a plane to catch and could she please do us all a favor and press the “no tip” button for the woman.
She did.
And I caught my plane with my coffee.
And somewhere in the world there’s a woman who still doesn’t know the word “tip.”
Thank you ! I now know what means the word , tip. It is an extra money ,paid to waitress or waiter. This due to your cstory!
Merry Christmas and happy New year!
Your story .was interesting!
Thanks! And Merry Christmas!
Thank you, Mr. Víg, I enjoy your stories a lot. It’s really not like a lesson, but much more like interesting short stories with useful words and expressions to memorize. Merry Christmas to you.
Zsuzsa from Hungary
Mee too, I like your short stories – because I can learn something thing in the real life . Tip is a popular word – even I heard when I was in Vietnam.
Merry Christmas, Rayan ! and enjoy your holidays!
HI RYAN !
Very nice your story about ” tip ”
Thank You !
Merry Christmas ! and
Happy New Year !
Cheers ,
Gabriel
Tipping is very common in USA to reward people who provide service / at restaurants, taxi drivers or something else / if you wishing are happy about service provided.
Often high and restaurants in USA include automatically tip in in invoice and is mandatory payment for customer.
any case it is nice to tip when you are happy with somebody’s service.
Mr. Vig I wish you pleasant holiday season
In USA
I think this ” tip” is not really my cup of tea….but I do my best to understand it
As usual we spend Christmas with family and the best friends, so enjoy a peaceful , quiet holiday!
Why do you think that just women can’t understand the word?
I enjoy your letter everytime. It’s always fun plus learning benefit by reading your stories…🙂👍
I already knew the word “tip”. It’s easy, because my daughter graduated from tourism school in Salzburg. But not only in restaurants it is a sign for the saisfaction with the service…🍽🍷🥗
In France tips do not exist to reward waiters at cafés and restaurants unfortunately. Fortunatly all is included in payment, it’s more convenient. Thanks for your story Ryan. Have a good day.
Delete unfortunetly after restaurants.
Merry Christmas in CASTLETON, VIRGINIA and to all the people in the group, wherever they may be. Mr.Vig, I love your email lessons. You are doing a GREAT JOB improving our English. I wish you health and all the best.
You are at home already and carry. I like read your short stories. I learned new words and something new from really life. Word TIP use over the world, but I didnt know that it means too for paying by card in cafe. Thank you for your advice. I remembered a similar experiences. When I once traveled from Prague to the Bratislava by bus, bus had stop break and I rushed buy a magazín to the shop. There was long line too!! But my bus had left…🫣😢 In the end, it turned out well. Fortunatelly. Since then Iv been keeping an eye on the time ever ! Good luck on your holyday🌎🌟
Hi Ryan,
it´s so good to hear you`re home. Nothing can be better than getting home for Christmas. Enjoy your family, friends and Christmas holidays!
Hi Ryan,
Thank you for your email lessons, I like them very much.
I’m so happy for you, you are at home for Christmas. Enjoy your family and friends!
Merry Christmas!
I wont’ forget to give a tip a restaurant employee
Thank you for reminding us
“And somewhere in the world there’s a woman who still doesn’t know the word “tip.”
I like this sentence… it was a good ending to this little story. It feels like literature.
Thank you.
Have a nice time together at home.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!