You know what this place needs?

[kgb18]

I'll join in the tipping thread fun. What the hell.

Whether I order a $50 steak, or a $5 burger, it takes the waitress the same amount of time to write down my order, walk it to the kitchen, pick up the finished plate, and walk it back to the table.

My mom and I had this very argument about tipping the pizza delivery guy. She tips based on the total bill. I always just give a flat tip. If I order a specialty pizza that costs $5 more than a plain cheese pizza, it doesn't cost the delivery driver any more work. He's not making the pizza after all.

[tafromkc]

Yeah, tipping is an odd custom. I don't know that I could bring myself to tip $3 on an $80 bill. And while waiting tables is a job that doesn't require much education or training, I don't know that I would consider it low-skilled. A good waiter needs to be a good task scheduler, as well as knowing how to prioritize and manage multiple tasks at once. They need to move relatively quickly (and move quite a bit during a typical shift). And they need to maintain a good attitude and a good sense of customer service in spite of dealing with people who would leave a $3 tip on a $50+ bill. It's a little bit more involved than working a cash register or stocking shelves.

Now, is the job any different as the cost of the food goes up? Fundamentally, no, so Dark Honor does make something of a point. But it typically does take more time to serve up a $50 dinner than a $5 one, so there is less turnover for those types of meals, which would up the tip amount if we're gauging an appropriate tip size based on the amount of time spent on the effort.

When I waited tables, my hourly wage was $2.13/hr. That's not much, even if you're pulling in $15 per hour in tips, on the average.

My attitude in general is that tipping is part of the dining experience, and I factor that into my consideration of whether or not I want to go out to eat at a place with table service.

[tafromkc]

I don't tip my mail carrier, though. He's already got a cushy government job, unlike the guy bringing me my burger and beer at your friendly neighborhood Crapplebee's.

[8 Bit WWBG]

For the first time ever, I tipped my paper delivery guy. Of course he's been putting "hints" in the last 3 papers.

[kgb18]

I didn't tip my mail carrier this year, but I left her a Christmas present in the mail box today.

[Abby Normal]

Of course he's been putting "hints" in the last 3 papers.

That's tacky!

[Plain Old Petunia]

I tip my newspaper guy every quarter, so no extra tip at Christmas. Ditto with my nail lady and eyebrow lady.

Yesterday, I received a Christmas card from a client in the mail, with a $100 bill tucked inside. I guess you could call that a tip. Yes, I definately like tipping.

[joynerk]

What about your hairstylist? I tip based on how long that takes vs. the cost of the service. If I'm just running in for a wet cut (no style) I'll only tip $5+, based on how I'm feeling that day. But if I'm changing my cut, getting if blown out, etc s/he's going to be spending more time, even if the cost isn't different so I'll give more in the $15-20 range, depending on service and quality.

However, I HATE having to tip separately just to get my hair washed. I'll give a dollar or two cause I don't want to feel cheap but it only takes a couple minutes! And usually the stylists give the washers money! Now if they give me a 5 minute head massage I'll tip more

[keiks]

one place i always tip is at the bar. even if i am just asking for tap water and it is technically free i'll tip. generally i do a dollar per order, up to three drinks. then i go up from there. i feel this is fair. my bf usually gets bottle beer and i'll get a vodka lemonade. it takes maybe 30 seconds and they make a dollar. i get decent service at bars where i'm a regular so i guess i tip alright.
at restaurants i tip based on the bill. unless all i got was coffee like in the middle of the night at the truck stop. then i'll tip more. sometimes i probably tip 150% if i sat there a while and the wait-person was nice.

[Opti]

I always wanted to tip cows.









I bet that's different, huh?

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Confession: I've been cow tipping. The cows didn't like it. (And watch where you step.)

[cronewitch]

Wait staff in high end restaurants deserve more tip. They are more attractive, better spoken, know more about food and drink and you take table space longer.

A waiter at Denny's type places is worth twice minimum wage to me. They aren't top of the line workers just people doing a job most 20 year olds could do with a week of training. They know how to bring a grandslam and refill the coffee and do a good job so a couple of bucks a person for breakfast is enough. More if you ask them to do extras like finding out what is in something.

In a high class restaurant they hire staff that knows wine, knows how each thing is prepared and can explain it clearly and act like you aren't a problem to them. They are mid or later career usually a little older than the diner server. People tend to linger over the food and tie up a table much longer so at least double the tip maybe 3 times. If you can afford a pricey meal like lobster you can afford a better tip and expect better service and get better service. The server can make or break a nice meal and a better tip will make you not feel like a real loser or look bad in front of your business client or date.

[so1970]

wow i just had a flash back . tipping or not tipping this is probably what really started the civil war.

[Deleted]

I was at a restaurant the other week and i asked the waitress where they got their salmon from and she said the ocean... I didn't tip her very much ...
I do have a tipping question... i almost posted on the real YM, but was a little scared. The other week i went through a full service gas station (I know some states have only full service, but around here, i usually pump my own)... i asked him for 20$ worth and gave him 21$... he seemed surprised... i didn't know if 1$ was offensively little, or if most people don't tip people who put gas in your car? What is the protocal?

[moneywhisperer]

Maybe I'm not eating in nice enough places - the tip is shared between cooks, waits-persons, and bussers. So the waits-person doesn't get to keep it all. No wine concierge in my neck of the woods (well, at least not for the usual eateries)

[cronewitch]

i asked him for 20$ worth and gave him 21$... he seemed surprised..

Tipping the gas jockey isn't done. I was a gas jockey in 1966 for a while and never got a tip for checking oil or pumping gas and we didn't have self serve.

Full serve has a higher price to pay the station to keep an employee available. It isn't rocket science just a minimum wage job you can learn in 3 minutes. My mom loves full serve and would pay extra for it, but she could get full serve at the self serve price because she has handicapped parking. If they offer full serve handicapped people can honk at the self serve and someone will pump for them at self serve price. She didn't because she doesn't like to use that sort of benefit.

[DVM gone riding]

Wow Dark, I actually agree with you!! I always tip (i am not that cheap it has to be really bad would never eat there again service for me to not tip) but I don't tip on tax, I tip less for drinks and I low ball tips. I hate the idea of waitresses making more an hour than I do! Call me crazy something about 8 yrs in school makes me cranky. BUT if I am in one of those states that only pays the wait staff in tips then I tip extra.

[ihearyou2]

I never got a clear answer of whether you're supposed to tip your mortician, there's a lot of creativity in making an open casket funeral fly.

[Deleted]

I tipped my paper delivery guy for the first time this year also. The aggressive tip-hinting always had the opposite effect on me (no tip).

But this year the extra sections with the foreclosure notices must have tripled the size and weight of the paper. I thought he deserved something extra.

[kgb18]

My dad got a "tip" this year. He's a maintenance manager for an assisted living facility, but he ends up doing a lot more than maintenance. My mom said yesterday when she opened up the envelope with his paystub there was a second envelope inside. When she opened it there was a card and money. It was from the residents. They took up a collection to thank him for everything he does. I thought that was so sweet. I know it really touched my dad. He loves his job and the people he works for.

[Anne_in_VA]

I usually tip 15 - 20% of the bill before the tax except at a bar when I usually tip $1 or so per drink. If it's a high end place and I'm at the bar, I may tip 10%, but that's about it.

[Tred]

Here's an anecdote:

A friend of mine is a server at a nice restaurant where entree prices are $25-$35. He told me that he makes $8/hr base pay, typically makes an additional $25-$35/hr in tips, and normally works 30 hrs/wk.

By his own admission, these combined factors have prevented him from seeking employment in a field relating to his college degree. After all, why would he? He's making almost 60k/yr working 30hrs/wk with a flexible schedule. BONUS: there's a steady throughput of female employees in their 20's, all of whom he attempts to have sex with.

Other friends of mine (servers, bartenders) have said that if you're going out to eat, you need to be prepared to tip at least 25%. If the service is REALLY bad, MAYBE you can tip down to 15%...but you better explain yourself to the host on the way out the door.

I don't know where these people developed the idea that their labor is so valuable...it sounds pretty grabby to me.
**(Edited, to save someone else the trouble: My reference is directed specifically towards my friends who sounds pretty snippy about 25% being a "given". Any other opinions of server compensation are subject to prices obviously being what the market will bear...otherwise customers would stop paying it. Read on...)**

These recent revelations have inspired me to begin seriously examining what servers are paid for, and it's caused me to drastically reduce my visits to sit-down restaurants. No offense intended, but for the amount of effort I expect of a server, I'd happily do it myself for free.

[stillontheroad]

Here's how I look at it. Let's say you go into a diner type restaurant and notice that each waitress is covering 5 tables. If you assume each table leaves her just $3, and a table is turning over in roughly an hour, she's making $15 an hour plus wages, which seems like pretty decent pay for a low skilled job. The fact that my bill comes out to $80 or whatever is irrelevant.

What makes her hourly wage more relevant than the amount of the bill, though? I understand what you're saying to a certain extent, but objectively why does it matter to you if she earns $5 an hour, $15 an hour, or $75 an hour if the quality of service you get is the same?

On the question of why base it on a percentage of the bill, I definitely see your point here. For our 1st anniversary my wife and I went out for the most expensive dinner we've ever had - the 18% tip came out to more than we generally spend to go out to dinner. I'm not arguing that the service wasn't worth more than the service we get at Applebee's or Texas Roadhouse, but was it worth more than 5x as much? I don't know.

Here's my personal tipping policy: for good service, 18-20%. For really great service, or if the meal is really cheap, up to 25 or even 30%. For bad service, 15%. I can count on one hand the number of times I've tipped less than 15% and IMHO they were lucky to get anything.

[stillontheroad]

If the quality of the service is the same at $5 an hour and $75 an hour, why pay the extra $70?

Sorry, I don't think I'm articulating what I mean as well as I'd like to. In large part, I find the argument that servers shouldn't be making $X per hour because the job isn't worth that much to be very similar to the argument that some low-paid workers put forward that they should be paid more than $X per hour because the job is worth more than that. In both cases the answer is: the job is worth what it pays.

Or to put it another way: I guess I don't see how what the server is making from other tables is relevant to the question of how much I should tip, at least any more than it would be relevant to take into consideration the rest of the server's personal financial info. If my server has $500k in the bank, should I tip less than if she was living paycheck to paycheck? Or if my server works a second job that pulls in another $30k a year, should I tip less than if this was her only job? The whole thing seems like it's on the border of tipping based on financial need rather than tipping for the job that was done.

A friend of mine is a server at a nice restaurant where entree prices are $25-$35. He told me that he makes $8/hr base pay, typically makes an additional $25-$35/hr in tips, and normally works 30 hrs/wk.

By his own admission, these combined factors have prevented him from seeking employment in a field relating to his college degree. After all, why would he? He's making almost 60k/yr working 30hrs/wk with a flexible schedule.

I would think that server jobs making that kind of money aren't easy to get, and that your friend is also pretty good at the job. If the average untrained person could go wait tables and make anywhere near $60k a year (much less do that working 30 hours a week), there would be a lot more people waiting tables. Heck, I'd quit my job if I knew I could earn $60k a year waiting tables 30 hours a week.

Other friends of mine (servers, bartenders) have said that if you're going out to eat, you need to be prepared to tip at least 25%. If the service is REALLY bad, MAYBE you can tip down to 15%...but you better explain yourself to the host on the way out the door.

Now that right there is ridiculous. As I said, I will occasionally tip 25% or more, but that's for great service (and that also tends to be at cheaper places where it's a higher percentage but still not a huge dollar amount). And I would never feel a need to explain myself to anyone if I chose to leave 15%; IMHO, leaving less than 15% is being a cheapskate IF the service was good, but it's also okay to leave less than that for bad service.

[jonm]

Dec 22, 2010 18:29:34 GMT -5 oped said:

I was at a restaurant the other week and i asked the waitress where they got their salmon from and she said the ocean... I didn't tip her very much ...

Of course, the correct answer would of been

it's from the walk-in