One guy would keep cash in a hidden pocket in his suitcase and if customs gave him trouble he'd politely inform them about the pocket they didn't check and everything would get resolved.
Another guy would be bringing in parts for his company and when things got held up he'd talk to the person of the appropriate rank and offer to pay the "expedited" fee to get things through, as these were very important pieces of equipment. There was no expedited fee.
Somebody else would literally just sneak them cash as they shook the custom officer's hand, but they had a working relationship and knew each other on a first name basis.
One person got pissed off and refused to pay a bride and literally just waited until they changed shifts and his stuff was released.
With HN, often times things have to be submitted multiple times before they get noticed and "stick" and generate interesting discussions. It's very dependent on luck, and there are no rules against it AFAIK (aside from what the spam detector flags).
When I saw the name/tag line I thought this would be a travel advice site, but I like this so much more. Great work.
How disappointing.
If sincere, congratulations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-corruption_campaign_under... is a potential example
In the US, it’s only at much lower levels that this is at all frowned on, especially in government. In private business you’ll still find e.g. apartment managers asking for bribes to do their job properly.
What is a tip if it's not a bribe to not spit in your food?
That said, please tip. Note that (where legal) servers are generally paid below minimum wage because it's expected their income will be supplemented with tips. Consider the tip not a bribe but as a payment for a service you were provided which, at least in the current cultural climate, is not being tacked on to the actual bill; you may not like that and want that cultural norm to change, but it hasn't changed yet and is unlikely to in the near future. If tipping really offends you, then order pick-up instead of dining in, or just cook at home.