Tips: Where Do You Draw The Line?

[Chestertonian]

Admittedly, I'm a cheapskate.I do, however, tip; in fact, I tip quite generously (at least in my opinion). I tip servers, the pizza guy, my barber, taxi drivers and the newspaper kid. These days, though, it seems like everyone expects a tip. For lunch, I went to a drive-thru sandwich place, and they have a section on the bottom of your debit recipt where you can write in a tip. The other day I went to a convenience store and they had a tip jar out for the "cooks," who fry the corn dogs/burritos/jalapeno poppers.

 

Now, I've worked at minimum wage jobs and I know how it is to try and scrape by making $1200 a month. But if I tip everywhere I'm expected to tip, I'm going to end up broke myself.

 

Where do we draw the line? Why do we tip the person who makes our coffee, but not the person who rings up our groceries? Am I the only one who feels like this is arbitrary?

 

Sorry, this ended up being more of a rant, and I really hope I'm not coming across as selfish.

[PhuturePriest]

I've been a waiter since I could remember (My dad owns a family business). I'm the cashier and server, and it always bewilders me when people actually talk about tipping. I've been doing this since I was four, and I've probably received $20 in total of tips throughout my life. Every tip I've ever gotten has been fifty cents or a dollar. And yet everyone always claims they tip, and they tip reasonably well. It's either my town is full of cheap b*astards, or everyone is a liar.

 

Now that I have that out of the way, I can tell you that I would appreciate my job a lot more if I did get tips. I wake up at five in the morning and get back at seven in the evening, and all day I have to deal with people that are mean, people that complain about prices, and people that get angry when we close, even though it's *their* fault they never get there on time and they are just trying to get there when everyone else has left so they don't have to wait in line. I'm really hard to get angry, but some days I feel like slamming belligerent people's heads into the counter.

 

In short: Tip. It saves lives. You don't have to empty your wallet, but $5 means a lot. If every person that I served gave me $5, I would be able to buy a Ferrari.

Edited April 16, 2013 by FuturePriest387

[EmilyAnn]

In England, you only really tip waiters, maybe hairdressers or taxi drivers but that's pretty rare.

 

I find American tipping very strange. Really I find tipping to be a very bizarre concept generally, because I grew up in countries where it isn't done.

 

But then again I believe our minimum wage is higher.

 

:idontknow:

[CrossCuT]

My boyfriend and I had a discussion about tipping once. 

 

After we had dinner at a somewhat nice Italian restaurant the conversational sparked. 

Why does the waiter at the nice Italian restaurant get tipped more than someone at Applebees? They do the same job, wait a table, take an order, check on the guest, etc etc. Because one restaurants food is more expensive that means we tip the waiter more?

 

Why cant the restaurant pay their servers better? Why do we have to do it?

 

Maybe there is a simple answer, I dont know. 

[Nihil Obstat]

I tip if a substantial element of my experience at the business in question was service based. (But more importantly, if custom dictates that tips are expected.) The guy who cuts my hair, yes. The restaurant, yes. Housekeeping and the concierge at a hotel, yes. Convenience store, no. Fast food or picking up a coffee, no.

Such a big portion of tipping is custom though, that you really have to have a good sense of where you are and what is expected of you. One has to do there homework. Apparently in many countries tipping is completely foreign, perhaps even insulting. But that is no excuse not to tip in a place like the US or Canada where it absolutely is expected.

Edited April 16, 2013 by Nihil Obstat

[homeschoolmom]

I tip if a substantial element of my experience at the business in question was service based. The guy who cuts my hair, yes. The restaurant, yes. Housekeeping and the concierge at a hotel, yes. Convenience store, no. Fast food or picking up a coffee, no.

Such a big portion of tipping is custom though, that you really have to have a good sense of where you are and what is expected of you. One has to do there homework. Apparently in many countries tipping is completely foreign, perhaps even insulting. But that is no excuse not to tip in a place like the US or Canada where it absolutely is expected.

Thank you. You wrote exactly what I was trying to, but you did it much better.

[BG45]

Pretty much what Nihil said.  The only time I didn't follow that set of things was when I had a racist waiter who refused to speak to my table at all after an African American friend arrived (he would just stare at us when flagged down and we'd have to say what we wanted and he'd get it, slowly, in silence) and ended up never giving me change anyhow, he decided to steal the dollar something for himself. 

[Spem in alium]

In Australia, as far as I'm aware tipping isn't as necessary - it's more casual and voluntary :)

 

I only tip (and I only see others tip) when I go to a restaurant, which is not often. And even then, it isn't necessary. There's no requirement to tip, but a tip is usually based on the quality of food and service. I know people who give a 10% tip wherever they go to eat, and I know people who never tip. I'm a tutor and have received tips for my work before. It just depends on the person and how they feel about the service they're getting.

 

 

 

[Basilisa Marie]

I tip when I go out to eat, I tip my taxi driver when I get dropped off at the airport (they usually help with bags or something), I tip my hairdresser, I tip my barista if I have a non-standard drink, I tip hotel cleaning service (envelope on the bedside table), if there's a tip jar and I have change I'll drop it in there, or maybe a $1.  

 

You tip more at a fancy restaurant because there's a lot more that goes into serving there. There are food specials that regularly change, servers should know about good wine pairings, they roll silverware, buff watermarks off silverware, steam polish wine glasses, and are more likely to go out of their way to make your experience nice.  Usually when the food is more expensive, more "stuff" goes on behind the scenes. 

[let_go_let_God]

In the United States, restaurants are allowed to pay under minimum wage for those who receive tips. Tipping is a way to bring their income up to minimum wage. Also tips need to be documented and taxed accordingly.This has become much easier for places that accept electronic tips.

 

Generally it is "socially acceptable" to leave a 13 - 15% tip. Anything above that is seen as a "reward" for outstanding service. There are areas of service that do not fall into the under minimum wage service but these vary from state to state.

 

For example in Minnesota in a large grossing restaurant (grossing $625,000 per year minimum) an employer is required to pay at least $6.25 an hour and tips are supposed to cover the rest to meet the Federal Minimum Wage of $7.25 an hour. However the Federal Minimum Wage for tipped employees (from my knowledge) is around $2.12 an hour. However in states where the State wage is higher than Federal the State Wage is what a person is paid.

 

God bless-

LGLG

[TheLordsSouljah]

In Australia, as far as I'm aware tipping isn't as necessary - it's more casual and voluntary :)

 

I only tip (and I only see others tip) when I go to a restaurant, which is not often. And even then, it isn't necessary. There's no requirement to tip, but a tip is usually based on the quality of food and service. I know people who give a 10% tip wherever they go to eat, and I know people who never tip. I'm a tutor and have received tips for my work before. It just depends on the person and how they feel about the service they're getting.

Yeah, In Australia, if you tip, you are a foreigner! I mean, I went to Germany a few years back and we ALL had to give a 12.5 euro tip to the bus driver. I was wondering if that was his pay, or something... a tip...

If you need to save, you need to save. Just give what you can. Unless they are uptight, people understand. Prudence is a virtue. Thrift is part of the scout law, hehe. God bless!!

[Kateri89]

In England, you only really tip waiters, maybe hairdressers or taxi drivers but that's pretty rare.

I find American tipping very strange. Really I find tipping to be a very bizarre concept generally, because I grew up in countries where it isn't done.

But then again I believe our minimum wage is higher.

:idontknow:

Well it's funny because when I was in England last year I thought it was weird that they don't tip like Americans do. Plus I noticed that waiters never check on you after they bring your food which is very different than America.

[cartermia]

I tip my hairdresser amd waiter. If I am at McDonald's and they have the world hunger jar I usually put my change into that.

 

I have been tipped  when I was doing yard work. Also once an elderly man once tried to give me a tip for holding the door (I guess he thought I was the bellboy/girl, but I was just trying to be polite). I politely refused the tip and explained I wasn't the bellboy/girl  :hehe:

[Semper Catholic]

Tip tattoo artists, bartenders and waiters/waitresses. That's all you need

[Nihil Obstat]

Tip tattoo artists, bartenders and waiters/waitresses. That's all you need

You should avoid hotels.