New Yorkers feel the heat over tipping etiquette

More intimidating than a midtown skyscraper and more confusing than Leaving Cert maths — tipping sends Irish tourists into a cold sweat even as they are supposed to be enjoying the white heat of the New York restaurant scene.

Now, a study by Cornell University researchers seems to have shed controversial light on the intrinsic unfairness of the tipping culture.

Research by Michael Lynn of the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell includes some home truths about more attractive wait staff, as well as the levels of generosity in tips (TIP ‘to insure promptitude’) that differ along racial lines.