tipping etiquette questions

i usually tip especially well at breakfast. Odds are we're ordering the 'breakfast special' which is pretty cheap but the server will bring multiple coffee refills, water, etc. Tipping them based on the dollar value of the meal seems churlish.

 

When I was a teen-ager they paid us more per hour if we were assigned to work "the counter" rather than wait on tables because it was assumed we would get no tips from people just picking up takeout. We got tips from people who actually sat at the counter and ate there, but rarely from people who just paid for the bag of goodies and took it home.

 

No tips for to-go ordering. Sorry, I'm there for 5-10 minutes tops. You can't "wait" on me if I'm not there long enough. Starbucks, Chipotle, whatever. Maybe the change, if I don't feel like carrying it.

Just bringing my food out, a la Sonic, gets $1.

Curbside service gets $2. Valet gets $2. Hotel maids usually just get $2, since I normally leave the don't-disturb sign on for most stays.

Pizza delivery gets at least $3, usually close to $5 (or whatever rounds it to an even bill.) I was one for a while, so I'm as generous as I can afford to be.

Barbers get $2 if they do a good job but don't shut up, $3 if they're quiet and let me relax. Cleavage gets $4. (Wait, what?) ... Tipping barbers is just as important to me as tipping bartenders. That haircut is going to last me a month; it's worth a good tip to look good.

Restaurants, I usually start at 20 percent, go up or down depending on satisfaction. For bills under $10, I've tipped 100 percent a few times for great service.

As a rule, I try to tip very well if I can afford it. When I was broke, I tipped what I could (all the while hoping I'd one day be able to afford to tip very well.)

 

Anyone who has been here a while knows my stance on tipping is what some here have called "assholish". (Is that even a word?) Anyhoo, I won't turn this into a thread jack. All I will say is that, Zag, in the three examples you inquired about, I say tip only No. 2.

Tipping a bartender isn't the end of the world and, like others have said, it might help you out next time. Personally, I'd choose not to tip any of the three, but that's me. My belief is that tips are for doing more than the bare-basics of your job.

When I go out to eat, I tip between 15-20%. I used to tip 10-20% but you bastards got to me on here.

As for cab drives, door openers, e.t.c., I say tip them if you would expect a tip in their situation. And as for to-go ordering? Nope. Not a penny. If I'm going to tip them, why not tip the cashier at Stop & Shop? She did more work than the to-go person and never gets tipped.

 

Oh yeah, cab drivers get $2-5, depending on the length of ride and if I have to break another bill.

 

I tip maids $2 a day. They have a lousy job, and it keeps them from stealing your stuff or scratching their ass with your toothbrush.

 

If I'm staying at a hotel, I leave the Do Not Disturb sign up and leave a tip on the last day. I make a good point of cleaning up my mess before I leave though, so really, they're not doing much in terms of straighting out stuff so it all evens out.

 

no tip on any of the three original scenarios

 

I have never tipped a barber. The guy I went to my whole life (until my wife started cutting it) is a one-man operation in his own shop. I figure he knows how much he wants to give a haircut and he sets his own price.

 

That's why European bartenders love Americans. We're too stupid to know we're not supposed to tip.

 

I don't tip hotel maids. It never occurred to me. I don't really use them anyway. Maybe I'll start. But probably not.

 

If you're tipping a hotel maid, where do you leave the money?

I tip the barber an extra dollar on top of the haircut. As haircuts go, mine isn't exactly challenging.