You know what infuriates me? When someone is a cheap-ass tipper. Recently on Chowhound, there was a thread about tipping in the Chicago-Area board (thread has been moved) and some guy was basically saying that he couldn't understand why Chicagoans felt it was right to tip 20% all the time on the total bill, vs. the pre-tax total. He was asking what Chicagoans in general did about the whole thing, but he sounded like he had such a bug up his ass about it. He came off as entitled, maybe. Or he's just a jackass. Either way, his comments REALLY bothered me.
Especially at the end, where he raged on about tipping more at Mom and Pop shops, because people who work at big chains can't possibly be working their butts off like the people at independent places do. I've never heard such a load of crap in my entire life. Whether you're working for a chain or not, if you're a good waiter, you're working your butt off. People who do things for you deserve to be rewarded, end of story. By choosing to punish people in such a petty manner, you're sending a message about the kind of person you are, and it's not a good message.
And especially if you have it, d'ya know what I mean? A little generosity goes a long way. I'd rather overpay my server, and make their day a little easier, than stiff them and ruin their day/night. I know what it feels like to be treated like shit by the public, and it really does eventually beat you down. It is an entitlement thing sometimes, I think. People look down on the lowly service professions, and it's crazy, because without those people, you'd be cooking and serving your own damn food. To have food brought to you, you end up paying a premium. That's what tipping is--paying for the privilege of having food brought to you. And I totally think there's a place to take measures against a waiter that's been dreadful, but I would never, ever leave no tip. Because like it or not, that person, no matter how badly they did it, brought me a meal. I don't think I've ever tipped less than 10%.
I'm a big tipper, though, on the whole. I can't imagine tipping less than 20% for service, unless, as I've said, it's really bad. And I can't imagine being petty enough to tip the pre-tax total. What's tax--three dollars on a reasonable meal? That's 60 cents tip. And if you're paying with a credit card, there is a percentage of your tip that goes to the credit card company (tip in cash if you can), so consider that 60 cents your payment for that.
And frankly, if you're a demanding customer (special needs, bringing kids into very fancy restaurants, changing the make-up of every dish, etc), you should tip more than 20%. You're asking for more than normal attention, and you should tip more than normal.
God forbid these bad tippers ever had to work as a waiter. They'd probably bitch for days about the demanding customers who don't tip well. Is it really so hard to empathize?
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