Tip the Damned Maid! (An article about tipping)

[WayKulJr]

Nope, not Jewish.

Probably I'm a lot older than most here, but my now wife was a waitress back in the day and she busted her butt for those tips because she didn't get squat from the establishment. Trust me, the hired help put up with a lot of crap as just part of the job. Most folks don't realize, but many moons ago the US feds started taxing on presumed tips for wait staff so it's actually punitive when they make nothing.

If you have excellent service at an eatery, then appreciate it and tip them. If not, don't. It's all about the perceived service you receive and you know it when you get it or not.

 

[knot4u]

My posts prior to that both included the tag. This thread is about the current tipping culture. @Derg allows us this forum to converse, to spoil it with petty bickering is futile (pursuing something not attainable).

 

[derg]

I did not tip the line guys at Landmark in HPN or whatever it was in BUF.

I said @CK and @DPApilot were going to take care of them next time they roll through.

 

[pullup]

@DPApilot were going to take care of them next time they roll through.

No gag reflex does come in handy sometimes.

 

[pullup]

@DPApilot were going to take care of them next time they roll through.

No gag reflex does come in handy sometimes.

 

[Pachong]

Nope, not Jewish.

Pretty sure you are.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

Good lord! 80 bucks for one meal? I hope we are talking about a family of 4.

I've spent more than that on an appetizer. You need to get out more. There is some incredible food out there in the world.

Lol, I live in the Midwest. Things are pretty cheap here. We occasionally eat at red lobster or outback and keep it under 50 bucks. I've been to Ruth's Chris once and I almost passes out when I got the check, but it was the best steak I've ever eaten.

If Ruth's Chris is the best steak you've ever had, I pity you. Granted, it's pretty good, but nowhere near the quality of many fine steakhouses.

I did tip 10%. 10 bucks on a $100 meal. I can't justify giving a larger percentage to a waiter than I give to God(tithes).

There is just so much wrong with this sentence that I wouldn't know where to start.

That's not cool. Christians going to lunch after church on sunday have a TERRIBLE reputation for skimping like this and turn people away from church as a result. How does it feel to know that you are turning people away from God via your actions?

The worst tenants I've ever had were church officials (preachers, youth ministers, deacons, etc.). And then when I evicted them, they sent some unbelievable tirades about how God was going to take care of them but punish me horribly. Just cemented my view of religious people and organized religion.

 

[kellwolf]

This thread triggered a conversation between the wife and I. Where do you draw the line on who gets tipped and who doesn't?

Van drivers take you and up to 19 of your closest friends from the hotel to the airport, and you are (by this thread) EXPECTED to tip them. Yet, if you take the city bus, you don't tip the driver for what amounts to the same job. No one would call you a • or scumbag for not tipping a bus driver, but you're a horrible person if you don't tip the van driver. You tip pizza drivers for delivering your food, but you don't tip FedEx drivers for delivering Xmas presents. You tip housekeeping at hotels, but you don't tip custodial at work. Same job, different locations. Buffet restaurants with "servers" you're expected to tip. But people rant about tipping at Chipotle. Both places you get your own food.

I look at tipping as a bonus for a job well done, not something that's EXPECTED. If you're a horrible server, I'm not giving you 15% because that's the norm. If you're an awesome server, you're getting north of 20%, though. Van drivers, if you're on time, you get tipped. If I'm standing on the curb 15-20 minutes, you're not. I really don't care if it's "expected." Last time I ordered pizza, I paid with a card (because the only cash I carry is in singles) and the guy asked if I wanted to add a tip. I said yeah and tossed some $$$ on there up front. Big. Mistake. Waited over about an hour and a half for my pizza.

For those complaining about people like me not feeling like the worker is being paid enough, well, I think they should be paid appropriately. If you're in a position in which you get tips (either the customary ones or not) and do a sub-standard job, then I feel you should be paid that way. If you think workers aren't getting paid enough and tips are used to make up for that wage, then I suggest you patronize a company that pays their workers better. I don't see it as much different than an individual that is pro-union avoiding a company because they are not union based on their personal beliefs.

Bottom line, tips should be there as a reward for a job done well and courteously, not to make up for a wage shortfall.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

This thread triggered a conversation between the wife and I. Where do you draw the line on who gets tipped and who doesn't?

It's not complicated: you do whatever is customary in the culture where you are receiving the service. In the U.S.? You tip. In Japan? You don't. This isn't complicated, folks. It's only complicated if you're trying to justify indefensible behavior.

 

[SpiceWeasel]

It's not complicated: you do whatever is customary in the culture where you are receiving the service. In the U.S.? You tip. In Japan? You don't. This isn't complicated, folks. It's only complicated if you're trying to justify indefensible behavior.

Well, do you tip the bus driver? What about the guy a Starbucks? Chipotle?

I was under the impression you tip for table service, not for Chick-Fil-A in CVG. If you aren't, why do these shops often put tip jars out? Abusing tipping culture?

A waiters job is to provide table service, they are traditionally expected to get tips. I was not allowed to get tips for performing my job of taking peoples' groceries to their car and loading them.

 

[Roger Roger]

I did tip 10%. 10 bucks on a $100 meal. I can't justify giving a larger percentage to a waiter than I give to God(tithes).

That could be a logical argument if you only tithed on the money you spend in restaurants.

Eating out, normally follow the standards for tithing (20% for great service with a minimum of obnoxious attempts by the server to make conversation, less if the service is worse) but Sunday after church it's always 20% rounded up to the next whole dollar to try to make up for people like you.

 

[kellwolf]

It's not complicated: you do whatever is customary in the culture where you are receiving the service. In the U.S.? You tip. In Japan? You don't. This isn't complicated, folks. It's only complicated if you're trying to justify indefensible behavior.

And if we always did what was customary without questioning, then nothing would ever change. I'm seeing our culture shift from tips being a reward, to tips being customary, to tips being expected for every service job. I personally don't like the trend, so I'm choosing not to contribute to the trend. If that makes me a scumbag deadbeat douchebag, I'm cool with that. Just because something is "customary" doesn't mean it's right. No one's trying to "justify indefensible behavior." Most of us are just pointing out why we think it's asinine to do something because "That's just what you do." It's the equivalent of your parents telling you "Because I said so."

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

Well, do you tip the bus driver? What about the guy a Starbucks? Chipotle?

Did you read my post? What is customary in our culture? No, it is not customary to tip a bus driver or a fast food cashier. If you want to throw them a few bucks, then fine, but it isn't customary in our culture, so you don't need to. But in areas where it is customary, then you need to do it, otherwise you're a piece of trash.

 

[kellwolf]

A waiters job is to provide table service, they are traditionally expected to get tips. I was not allowed to get tips for performing my job of taking peoples' groceries to their car and loading them.

Shoulda been a sky cap. Then being tipped would be expected since you were transporting a person's bags from point A to point B. Which is essentially the same job as a Publix bagger. Except the sky cap doesn't pack the luggage whereas the bagger does.

 

[kellwolf]

Did you read my post? What is customary in our culture? No, it is not customary to tip a bus driver or a fast food cashier. If you want to throw them a few bucks, then fine, but it isn't customary in our culture, so you don't need to. But in areas where it is customary, then you need to do it, otherwise you're a piece of trash.

And that's my point. Why is customary to tip one person for doing the same job, but not the other? Job title? Because ATN said so? Because someone decades ago said so and that's just how it's always been done?

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

I don't give a damn why it's customary, it just is, and their salary is based upon that custom. You stiffing them means that you're giving them a pay cut. I really don't understand how you people can sleep at night. It's no different than reaching into someone's pocket and straight up taking their money. If you want to change things, then lobby for raising the minimum wage and eliminating the tip based minimum wage, but until that's done, pay the damned tip!

 

[dasleben]

I don't give a damn why it's customary, it just is, and their salary is based upon that custom. You stiffing them means that you're giving them a pay cut. I really don't understand how you people can sleep at night. It's no different than reaching into someone's pocket and straight up taking their money. If you want to change things, then lobby for raising the minimum wage and eliminating the tip based minimum wage, but until that's done, pay the damned tip!

That's true for servers, and I stand behind tipping them well unless they're really, really bad. The other jobs mentioned, such as housekeeping staff, don't have tip-based wages like that. A tip is just a nice bonus.

 

[kellwolf]

I don't give a damn why it's customary, it just is, and their salary is based upon that custom. You stiffing them means that you're giving them a pay cut. I really don't understand how you people can sleep at night. It's no different than reaching into someone's pocket and straight up taking their money. If you want to change things, then lobby for raising the minimum wage and eliminating the tip based minimum wage, but until that's done, pay the damned tip!

Incorrect. Their SALARY is based on the wage offered them by their employer and may vary from state to state. When I worked as a server in Mississippi, I got $2.13 an hour. That was my wage/salary. What I got in tips was in addition to that. You are constantly talking about how people aren't paid right by their employer, well, here's another one for ya. Also, little known fact. If I didn't get enough tips to make minimum wage (which was often since it was a hotel restaurant in a college town with little traffic whatsoever in a downtown area with no parking), my wage/salary was ADJUSTED to minimum wage. 9/10 times, I knew what I made in tips wasn't gonna make up for the difference in minimum wage since on average I'd get 1-2 tables a night. So, I budgeted for minimum wage. If I got lucky and we were busy over the weekend..... bonus.

Bottom line, tips should NOT be used by management as a subsidy to pay their workers less, but guess what. It is. If a worker in a tipped position does good work, I reward them. If he or she sucks, too bad. They should probably find work elsewhere. The CUSTOMER should not be the one making up the difference in their pay, though. Tips are not salary. They're a bonus on top of that. Some of the positions we're discussing even HAVE a decent entry level wage.

I sleep pretty well at night, thanks. I just refuse to be lead by the nose based on what's "the norm" rather than my own feelings and conscience.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

That's true for servers, and I stand behind tipping them well unless they're really, really bad. The other jobs mentioned, such as housekeeping staff, don't have tip-based wages like that. A tip is just a nice bonus.

THEIR SALARY IS STILL BASED UPON THE FACT THAT MANAGEMENT KNOWS THAT TIPPING CUSTOMARY!!!!

 

[SpiceWeasel]

Did you read my post? What is customary in our culture? No, it is not customary to tip a bus driver or a fast food cashier. If you want to throw them a few bucks, then fine, but it isn't customary in our culture, so you don't need to. But in areas where it is customary, then you need to do it, otherwise you're a piece of trash.

What if they spend the entire night sitting / chatting with another customer at their table. 30+ minutes between visits to our table. Light Tuesday night at BWW. What's the tip then?