Tips n Gratuities

[Dobric]

I travel a lot and have noticed that tipping quantity is rising as you go to the west.
In Japan, God forbid you even think of tipping, they will be ofended as they take pride in a job and salary is enough. I USA if you don't tip like a lot you are a worst person ever. Europe is in between.
Where I live tipping is usualy rounding up the bill and not considered necesary.

 

[FarmerTan]

Impressive flexibility there.

Like a Congressman in a Swing State doggone!

The War Department and I tip 20% pretty much all the time. Maybe 25% for exceptional service/kindness.

We probably eat out 2 meals a week. Maybe a third time that is a drive through on a trip to or from a doctor appointment.

But I don't believe I have ever tipped a cashier. I have walked over to a busboy to personally hand him a 20 a few times in my life. It encourages folks like that and makes me feel good.

I've been poor, I've been rich. I've been healthy I've been sick. I much prefer rich and healthy.


And let us not forget: I've always been incredibly handsome, as I know @dmshaver will happily confirm.




But the key is to be like that irritating Apostle Paul, who learned to be content in all circumstances.

Another key to life is to not get a job that pays in tips, becuz American folks are cheap.

 

[Butch Waxx]

Like a Congressman in a Swing State doggone!

The War Department and I tip 20% pretty much all the time. Maybe 25% for exceptional service/kindness.

We probably eat out 2 meals a week. Maybe a third time that is a drive through on a trip to or from a doctor appointment.

But I don't believe I have ever tipped a cashier. I have walked over to a busboy to personally hand him a 20 a few times in my life. It encourages folks like that and makes me feel good.

I've been poor, I've been rich. I've been healthy I've been sick. I much prefer rich and healthy.


And let us not forget: I've always been incredibly handsome, as I know @dmshaver will happily confirm.




But the key is to be like that irritating Apostle Paul, who learned to be content in all circumstances.

Another key to life is to not get a job that pays in tips, becuz American folks are cheap.

Well said kind sir……well said.

 

[FarmerTan]

Well said kind sir……well said.

I said it so well you said it twice doggone!


I love to pick on Paul, because he is basically a boy version of my wife: always right and no doubt about it, just ask them.

Me, I'm like Peter: sometimes right on my second attempt.

We make an incredibly handsome and effective team, she and I. Together we are batting around .750. Separately we might've been lifetime .300 hitters!

 

[Butch Waxx]

I said it so well you said it twice doggone!


I love to pick on Paul, because he is basically a boy version of my wife: always right and no doubt about it, just ask them.

Me, I'm like Peter: sometimes right on my second attempt.

We make an incredibly handsome and effective team, she and I. Together we are batting around .750. Separately we might've been lifetime .300 hitters!

You keep good company there with that lineup sir!

 

[FarmerTan]

You keep good company there with that lineup sir!

Amen. And I did marry above my punching weight. Any man that don't think that is in danger of losing her.

Is this still about tips?

I have a tip about tipping:

My wife and I are cheap in all honesty. But we have ALWAYS been generous.

If we could not afford a decent tip, we'd eat a drive-thru-heart-attack-in-a-bag type of meal.

If my wait-person was rude, I would ask why. And I genuinely care. Or at least act like it. EVERY SINGLE TIME it was because of the pressures of life: sick kid, a weenie of a boss, grama died and you still gotta pay rent, etc. IF THE PERSON is rude the next time I'm in there, I assume their second grama died, but I don't sit at their table again.

I have just found in life that I have been so incredibly blessed when I think on good things. I've been in heart failure for at least 45 years. I should have been worm food LONG ago. How many days am I going to add to my life by cheating a wait-person out of a few percentage points on a tip? And most of you guys know I'm the artistic type; math was never my strong suit. So that's why I have my wife figger the tip and then I pick up a couple of ones and replace them with a five or a ten or a twenty. I have found money makes people smile. And the lack of money puts crease marks in people's foreheads.

I have also found out that if I'm kind to wait staff they are kind in return. They have even watched for me to come in so they can wait on me. Or it could be because I am incredibly handsome. I'm not sure. Ask my wife or my mom. You may get differing opinions.

And finally: you simply cannot beat casting bread upon the waters as a simple way of life. It may not make you wealthy, but I can guarantee you will feel wealthy, and it won't affect your tax status.

 

[DesertIguana]

Tipping is city in China, want tip, go to China ask local how to get to TIPPING.

 

[hairless wonder]

Unfortunately, you'd probably still be making that same wage if you were working now. I want to say that most bartenders and servers around here get somewhere around $2.50/hr. The minimum "tipped" wage in Texas is $2.13/hr (the "regular" minimum wage is $7.25).

One guy I know does a little bit of floor managing from time to time, so he gets something like $3.35/hr while tending bar (and more when actually doing that managing). That might could cut it a bit 40 years ago, but it's essentially nothing these days.



Yes, indeed. I tip those that get that "tipped wage." I'll tip pretty well, too, usually no less than 20% on the pre-tax, pre-discount amount, and I'll often go to 25%. There are a few places I might even do a little more, but those places pay particularly good care of us and often more than return the favor.

And I'll often tip that even if the service is cruddy. Everyone has a bad day. Grace wins out, and I'll cut them some slack, especially if it's some place I know and typically get good service. If it's a place I don't know, that little bit of grace might be what brings them back around. Chances are that, if they really are just having a bad day, it's probably because they are facing a bad money problem. That extra couple of bucks means a heck of a lot more to them than it does to me.

Now, if it's obvious that it's just the way they do things around there, that's a different story. I'll still tip nicely, but that'll be as much as they'll ever get from me because I'm not going back.

There was a place that I used to go to that, at one time, was truly a great place. Excellent food and beer selection. The folks had attitude, but it was largely good natured busting one's chops. However, a few things happened, and that attitude soured. It was hard to get someone's attention (even when they were right there). The last straw was when they went to an iPad *** system, and those tip buttons were there. The options were 25%, 30%, and 35%. That was at least 10 years ago, too. I think I went back once because a friend was in from out of town and wanted to go there, but that was it for me.

The minimum wage has remained unchanged in fourteen years, but inflation has gone up (as has overall productivity--but that's a different, albeit related, matter) in the meantime. In other words, for the past fourteen years, because wages have stayed the same while inflation rose, workers have essentially seen wage cuts (in terms of buying power) over the same time period. In order to have the same buying power, a worker who made $7.25 per hour in 2009 would have to make $10.29 per hour today. (See, CPI Inflation Calculator - https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=7.25&year1=200907&year2=202307.)

That said, I agree that the tipping system has gotten out of hand. If anything, we need to get rid of it altogether (even ignoring the origins of tipping along with the racism, ageism, sexism, and classism in tipping culture). Employers should pay workers living wages, period. If a company can't afford to pay its workers, it either needs to raise prices or fold as it has an unsustainable business model. This includes "entry level" jobs.

I never understood why some jobs were devalued if they were entry level. All honest work is honorable and deserving of respect. Every worker should be paid a living wage (at a minimum) regardless of whether his/her job is "entry level." This is especially true for frontline retail employees, who were even designated as "essential workers" during Covid! Though their jobs were were labeled "essential," their pay did not (and still does not) reflect that value.

Along those lines, while 50 years ago, a fast food worker may have been a high school or college kid working a part time job to make some disposable income, today, it's not uncommon for those same jobs to be filled by working parents. While it's easy to yell, "Get some marketable skills!" at them, who's going to pay their rent or pay for their kids' food and clothing in the meantime?

As for the military option, it's not for everyone. While I have nothing but the highest respect for the men and women who serve in the military, I also understand not everyone is cut out for it. Some are physically unable to enlist (a high school classmate of mine has a son who dreamed of serving in the military, but was rejected due to a permanent back injury). Others are philosophically/religiously opposed to military service. Still others aren't a good cultural fit (let's face it, the military isn't exactly known for embracing freethinkers, especially at the entry level.) Should these people be denied a chance to make a good living and earn marketable skills?

If ours was a fascist and authoritarian country, that would make sense. Fortunately, the US is a Western liberal democracy. Here, we believe everyone has value (See, Declaration of Independence establishing "all men are created equal"). We embrace the idea that not everyone has to conform to one way of doing things. Our greatest strength lies in our diversity, not homogeneity.

Unfortunately, tipping culture cuts against all of this. It devalues workers, who have to beg for handouts from customers in order to pay rent (even aside from the "isms" I mentioned earlier). It forces the service industry to conform to a tip-wage system or risk upsetting investors. It punishes diversity (again, racism, ageism, sexism, and classism.) At the end of the day, tipping culture is unAmerican and has been since its inception (a carryover of Victorian England where the wealthy tipped the "little people" as a display of their wealth.)

 

[hairless wonder]

Tipping is city in China, want tip, go to China ask local how to get to TIPPING.

What are you talking about? There's no city in China called Tipping.

 

[DesertIguana]

What are you talking about? There's no city in China called Tipping.

Yes there is in a joke, callingBeijing, TIPPING.

Chill, Smile, Laugh.

 

[hairless wonder]

Yes there is in a joke, callingBeijing, TIPPING.

Chill, Smile, Laugh.

I don't understand the joke. How is "Beijing" "Tipping?"

 

[Chef455]

I don't understand the joke. How is "Beijing" "Tipping?"

 

[DesertIguana]

I don't understand the joke. How is "Beijing" "Tipping?"

If you do not get joke, check you pulse, you could be dead, or have no ability to laugh.

 

[hairless wonder]

Lol. I really don't understand the joke there. I don't see how "Beijing" is "Tipping." The closest thing to "Tipping" I can think of related to China is the Taiping Rebellion. But Taiping was not a city.

 

[hairless wonder]

If you do not get joke, check you pulse, you could be dead, or have no ability to laugh.

I've checked my pulse. I'm still alive. I also do have the ability to laugh (especially at myself). But I don't understand the joke.

 

[Chef455]

Although I did purchace a popcorn a few posts ago there's no reason not to keep it civil now, gentlemen...

 

[hairless wonder]

Although I did purchace a popcorn a few posts ago there's no reason not to keep it civil now, gentlemen...

I agree. I do try to keep my posts civil on B&B.

 

[DesertIguana]

I've checked my pulse. I'm still alive. I also do have the ability to laugh (especially at myself). But I don't understand the joke.

I get what you're saying, some jokes that other laughs at, I personally do not find funny. The great George Carlin was one of my favorite comics, but many did not like the guys humor.

 

[hairless wonder]

I get what you're saying, some jokes that other laughs at, I personally do not find funny. The great George Carlin was one of my favorite comics, but many did not like the guys humor.

Carlin was a little ahead of my time, but from what I've seen of his material, I thought he was funny.

A comedian more in my time is Dave Chappelle. That dude is hilarious! I understand that a lot of people in the trans community are upset at some of his jokes. I've never heard those particular jokes so I can't speak to them. But I've seen many of his standup specials and they cracked me up! Also, the Dave Chappelle Show, though short lived, was just absolutely brilliant! Clayton Bigsby, the race draft, Tyrone Biggums are all classics, IMHO.