the other end of the tipping scale are automatic gratuities in places such as Burlington, Vermont, where it appears some of the city's restaurants have come under fire for applying mandatory tips against French-speaking customers. Dubbed the "Queeb tax" by some of Burlington's restaurant servers , the automatic charge -- that went as high of 18 per cent of a customer's bill -- aims to curb the supposedly poor tipping practices of Quebecers visiting the city. In many parts of the U.S., the minimum wage is significantly lower than in Canadian provinces and servers rely on tips to make ends meet. In California, the minimum wage is eight dollars an hour and can go as low as $2.63/ hour in the state of Massachusetts. Vermont's minimum wage is $4.10 an hour. The "Pennies in Water" Tip "I'd say the strangest tipping story I can remember involved a long-term server at a restaurant in which I was the general manager. My server was having a bad night, and toward the end, a dinner party broke all tipping etiquette rules and left him nothing more than about 20 pennies...in the bottom of a glass of water.I'm still not sure why it happened, but the server scooped up the pennies, followed the party into the parking lot and threw them at the departing customers. A fight ensued and the cops ended up getting called. They ultimately hauled my server away in handcuffs and charged him with attempted assault. The charges were later dropped."