A Tipping Question

[SpeedTchr]

If my waiter sneers when I ask for some ketchup for my crispy steak, he ain't getting the buck that I had on hold for him.

 

[BTExpress]

If I put $110 down for an $80 meal, first of all, my wife is going to give me heck when we get to the car. But she wouldn't have to. I'd be giving myself heck.

I'd give myself heck for just the $80 meal (if it were just my wife and me).

 

[forever_town]

In the situation you described, I'd tip what I normally would.

 

[Batman]

Caving to internet peer pressure, I went back to the restaurant today. Naturally, both waiters had the day off. I left an envelope with a note and $25 in it with the manager and told him what happened with glowing compliments for both servers. Hopefully they both get a gold star for the day.

 

[Moderator1]

You get one, too

 

[expendable]

This reminds me of the Great Walmart Jewelery Counter Affair of '08.

 

[Vombatus]

Yes. He said he'd give $3,000 in chips INSIDE the casino but only if would go to me.

To my surprise, he really was there at the gas station with $1,000 in cash. Never saw him again.

Because I was sharp at math, I was always on the high limit tables so I always had the counters on my table. And I loved it.

To the surprise of many here, I put the cash in a mason jar and, the next Monday, paid $1,000 down on the back tuition I owed at the financial office.

The casino gig was paying me about $600 a week after taxes but that grand blew a nice hole in the $3,500 I owed.

Why did I owe $3,500? The father I've written about here refused to pay the second semester after saying he would. Too late for loans. So I paid it myself and never looked back.

Should have invested the grand in gold.

 

[Vombatus]

Caving to internet peer pressure, I went back to the restaurant today. Naturally, both waiters had the day off. I left an envelope with a note and $25 in it with the manager and told him what happened with glowing compliments for both servers. Hopefully they both get a gold star for the day.

Batman,

You are one of the best ever posters here at SJ.com!

You have a great sense of humor too!

I'll send you my address via PM.

VB

PS. It's a post office box for anonymous transactions.

 

[BTExpress]

Caving to internet peer pressure, I went back to the restaurant today. Naturally, both waiters had the day off. I left an envelope with a note and $25 in it with the manager and told him what happened with glowing compliments for both servers. Hopefully they both get a gold star for the day.

You should have put their names and photos on a billboard advertising them as "America's best servers" and then driven to their houses to deliver their tip.

If you weren't so damn cheap.

 

[exmediahack]

Damn. You gave $5 too much. Now go back to ask for a Lincoln back.

 

[three_bags_full]

I've been a member 'round here for nearly 15 years. The two biggest non-politics fights I can remember were about tipping and charcoal vs. gas.

I avoid both of those topics.

 

[Ace]

I've tried to be fair when it comes to tipping. Twenty percent is the rule and not the exception. But the attitudes still bug me.

One, some of us don't make the money we used to when we were in our earning prime. That doesn't mean we don't still want to go out and have a good meal sometimes. And a lot of the attitude I hear comes under the heading of, "If you can't tip well, you shouldn't go out to eat." Well, fork that. I mean, really, fork that. If I put $110 down for an $80 meal, first of all, my wife is going to give me heck when we get to the car. But she wouldn't have to. I'd be giving myself heck. Those 30 bucks mean a lot more to me than they did 10 years ago.

Two, I really believe that a lot of the rancor comes from people who are used to eating in city settings. Well, consider that it might be different in other places. Consider Pennsyltucky to be flyover country, if you will.

I'll tack on 20 percent -- usually. But I will also take my service and my food into consideration. If I get bad food, does the waitstaff take a hit for it? Sorry, they're in this together as far as I, the diner, is concerned. I'm not going to tip well for subpar meals.

Why are you giving an example of tipping nearly 40 percent ($30 on an $80 tab) as a reason you can't afford to tip 20%?