Old Inn

We celebrated our first day in Northern Ireland with dinner at The Old Inn, a short walk from our townhouse in Crawfordsburn. The Inn dates to 1614, however the cuisine is thoroughly modern and refined.

One of the things I enjoyed about my meal is not having to tip. Servers are paid a respectable wage in the U.K. and tipping is not required. In the U.S., wait staff live off tips because their pay is so low. I've never understood why the customer is paying the server's wage instead of the employer. And how can I enjoy my meal knowing its low cost reflects the fact that my server and her kids have no health care? We exploit low-wage workers in so many creative ways in the U.S. that every meal comes with a heaping helping of guilt (think about the undocumented farm workers who harvested the produce, prepared the meal, and cleared the table).

If the gulf is smaller in this country between low-wage workers and the rest of us, it could explain the lower level of stress and anxiety I experience everywhere I go.