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According to a survey, 39 percent of childcare providers and 47 percent of housekeepers do not expect cash or a gift this year.
When my father died nearly a decade ago, one of the sanitation workers who served our Queens, N.Y., neighborhood cried when he heard about his death.
For years, my dad had been a generous tipper around the holidays, especially when it came to the trash guys, spreading the joy with crisp $50 bills and bottles of Johnnie Walker Red Label.
Showing appreciation for hard work is the reason many of us give when it comes to holiday gratuities for service that rarely gets a thank you any other time of year. But during tough economic times, the practice has come under increasing scrutiny.
We all understand that certain employees need tips to survive financially, including waiters and waitresses who get paid less with the idea gratuities will more than make up the difference. But with so many people struggling to make ends meet given years of stagnant wage growth – if they have a job at all – the mentality has become, “hey, they’ve got a job, why do they need a holiday handout?”
“You can tip yourself into the poor house,” said Carole Townsend, author of “Southern Fried White Trash,” who has noticed more and more people bypassing tips this holiday season because of budget constraints and wondering why cash tips are even necessary.
“I’m hearing that people are going out of their way to make things, like a tin of cookies for the nail lady, or a box of fudge for the mailman,” she explained. “They can’t afford it. Everyone is holding everything so close now money wise, even people you’d think really don’t need to.”
Indeed, even many of the typical tip beneficiaries, including everyone from baby sitters to maids, don’t expect that much holiday cheer this season. According to a survey by SitterCity 39 percent of childcare providers and 47 percent of housekeepers do not expect cash or a gift this year.
But that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t appreciate some cash. Among childcare providers polled 34 percent would like cash, if they get a gift at all, while only 4 percent would like a handmade gift. And 28 percent of housekeepers wouldn’t mind some dough, compared to 3 percent who want their bosses’ creations.
Everyone realizes times are tough, but bypassing tips for those you really depend on throughout the year may not be a great idea.
Even though Townsend doesn’t tip garbage collectors or postal workers that serve her area, there’s one person she suggested people never forget. “If you have a good hairdresser you have to do what ever you can to make them happy,” stressed Townsend. “Mine is a miracle worker.”
Clearly, no one wants a bad haircut, but can holiday tips really guarantee good service in the future?
Etiquette expert Mary Mitchell thinks so.
“Tip really means to ensure prompt payment,” said Mitchell, author of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Etiquette.” “A tip is something that we do to both acknowledge we appreciate good service and to assure that it will continue.”
That said, she’s not an advocate of holiday tipping everyone in sight. If you have a service done regularly, such as having your nails done or your shoes shined, and you typically tip after every visit, there’s no need to tip yet again at the end of the year, she advised.
Her general tipping guidance includes:
- Not tipping the mailman or woman, or teachers, because in most cases they’re not supposed to take cash gifts
- $20 for the trash collector
- A week’s pay equivalent for people who do regular work for you such as your personal trainer, or a cleaning lady or gentleman
If you’ve always doled out the big bucks during the holiday and are embarrassed that you can’t be as generous this year, Mitchell recommends the honest approach. “Most of us can afford to take a few minutes and write a handwritten note,” she noted. She suggested something like this: “I hope you know how much all your good services have meant to me throughout the year. Just as soon as I get another job I will celebrate my prosperity with you.”
Such genuine communications, she maintained, will go a long way in developing those strong relationships with the people that make our lives better every day.
Growing up, I always thought it was strange that our trashcan was the only one on our block that the sanitation crew moved from off the curb to the side of our house, even during snowstorms. As it turns out, a little generosity, and some Scotch, does go a long way.
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Ok, one thing I've always wondered is how to tip the trash man? He picks up the trash when I'm at work, I don't know his address and if I tape it to the trash can they do automated pickups so I'd expect it to go with the trash...
Who tips the trash man? I live in Texas, and have never heard of that before. Is that some sort of regional thing? I look at the trashman like I do the guy who reads the water or electric meter, or any public utility worker. They're already paid for, and they're not doing anything extraordinary, worthy of a tip.
Mike,
Custom has it that leaving the six pack or other gift (with or without cash) on top of the trash will get it delivered. The downside is the punks that get there before the intended recipient.
Lots of people, myself included, ask the garbage men to take on more than their regular work, such as tree limbs, large boxes and bundles etc. and they tend to take better care of your cans if you tip too.
Talk about business owners and entitlements - why is it my job to pay your employees? So you can pay your waitress on $2.50/hr and pocket the rest or write it all off as a business expense.
If we would pay people enough to live on we wouldn't have to worry about tipping. Do you tip your bank? Do you tip your doctor?
Vote in 2012 for someone who will fight for the little guy - not the rich!
steve, it's not your responsibility but if you're that strapped for cash eat at home. you know the etiquette and can either follow it or be considered an *** and never receive good service from that establishment again.
if the waiter/waitress doesn't make in tips and hourly wages what averages out to minimum wage they're job is supposed to make up the difference, something that most of them never even check on cause they aren't going to do it.
$20.00 for the trash man! He visits a thousand houses a week. Where do I apply?
I tip my hostess at work not to seat Canadians in my section... Restaurant people will understand.....
@I-believe - haha! I used to be a waitress and hated to serve Canadians (no offense, Canadians - I really like you as a whole). But they didn't tip! And Steve - believe me, if restaurant owners paid their wait staff at least minimum wage (and more, if you want decent, competent help), then don't think for a minute that the cost won't be passed on to the customer. So, please, treat your servers well .... expect courtesy and efficiency and show your appreciation in return. If you can't afford it, stay at home or visit your local McD's!
I may have misunderstood, but I didn't see where Steve said he DIDN'T tip, he just didn't like the system and think it needs to be changed (and I actually agree).
Yes, I tip; but I don' t think wait staff should have to depend on it, they should get paid in the first place for the job they are doing.
@I-belive, I believe the proper term is now doctors. Mi Dang.. M.D... doctors.
But yeahhh, if you cannot afford to tip AT MINIMUM 15%, you need to just stay home. Even if you receive what you may think is poor service (some issue with the food such as it taking too long, etc.) it is usually something that is out of the server's hands. And, in most cases, the tip goes to more than just the server. The bartender, hostess and bussers usually get a cut of the tip, so you are stiffing them too. (Keep in mind, that at a large portion of restaurants the servers are required to "tip out" a certain percentage of their sales, not tips, sales. Here in Texas servers are usually paid $2.13 an hour, which covers the taxes, etc. deducted, so you usually do not receive a paycheck, but rely solely on tips. When you tip less than that percentage then, the server is in essence paying to wait on you. Not okay.)
So, instead of taking it out of the tip, talk to the manager. They will be able to do far more to improve your visit.
And remember, servers and patrons alike don't particularly care for how the system is working, but that is not your servers fault. And, note that I said SERVER, not SLAVE. You do not own that person, and they should be treated as such.
Beth and Steve, - I disagree. I'd rather choose to reward good service with a tip, then have that cost automatically built into the price of a meal and have poor service, but still have to pay for it.
Yes Beth - I am probably the best tipper out there but people do not read ( or comprehend) they just jump to conclusions an attack.
Why am I a good tipper? Because I know what it's like to be poor. And I also know that rich people will tip a quarter where a blue collar worker will tip $5.
My favorite response is Magmaryj63 saying good pay would be passed onto the consumer in the same paragraph where she says if you can't afford it - stay home.
These people crack me up!
I have had this argument with my husband for years and years.
He says he would rather pay more for the food in the restaurant so that the place could pay the wait staff what they are worth(that is plenty in my book), than leave tips. I doubt the people begrudge tipping would be any more open to higher prices in restaurants.
My solution is to keep him out of places to eat that have a wait staff. Like buffets...and home. It's a good thing he is not into fancy eating to begin with.
The 'hurray for me and the heck with you' attitude is evident in these comments. The sheeple love to vilify others and care nothing for anyone but themselves. Sorry to insert it here, but it is the truth.
FOX Lies.
As a server I'd LOVE a guaranteed wage instead of relying on cheap people to tip. Trust me, as a whole, people are rotten tippers. If you cannot afford to tip 18-20% (for good service, that is), please do not eat out. Don't tell me people "don't know". Trust me, they know. They just pretend to be ignorant in order to feel like they got away with something. That server you stiffed is working her tail off 10 hours a day so that she can make ends meet. She's not doing it for fun.
Cash tips often go unreported for tax purposes, meaning that raising wages on waitstaff and eliminating the tipping tradition would result in waitstaff being paid less.
Tipping is your feedback, not a paycheck. You're giving a grade for the service. It would be equally self-defeating to tip someone who does a bad job. Good work and more money is a self-reenforcing cycle.
Tipping the trash man usually involves waiting by the window and then chasing him down the block. But it's well worth the effort. These guys have a lousy job and they need incentive. They also pay you back in spades good or bad. It's the difference between garbage all over the street in front of your house, chasing your cans down the street and replacing cans every year or coming home each trash night to find you property neat and your cans where they belong. Either way is an acceptable industry standard. The tip can make the difference. Also there's the times when you put out more than you should or bundle it wrong. He can take it or leave it. The tip gets it taken. This year I did have to cut the amount, but put it in a card with a note explaining and thanking him for the good service. They deserve no less. Just think where we'd be without them. In my business a tip will be the difference between my always being busy when you need me or making myself available.
I know places where the bartenders work soley for tips. They don't clock in or clock out, they show up, they act as servers and bartenders, and the only money they take home is what they make in tips. The amount of work they do behind that bar that isn't actually mixing drinks astounds me. I can't believe anyone would choose to do that for a living.
We used to leave beer for the garbagemen, but one time the crew ended up drunk on their route, so never again. I'd rather just try to catch them and hand them an envelope.
Playing devil's advocate, why should establishment based their service on well or frequently someone tips? If you don't tip, it is customary to receive bad service ? That is basically what you're saying. In order to receive good service, we need to tip.
I'm like another poster. I've never heard of tipping a trash hauler. I wonder if that's regional myself.
Ugh, I worked as a server at a buffet for 5 years in highschool/college.... I don't care if it's a buffet, we still made $2.65 and hour. When the family with 4 kids would come in, order everyone a drink and added on steak to the their buffets THEN NOT TIP, I would seriously want to cry. Now, whenever I go out to eat, I always order water. I'll sacrifice having a drink so I can tip my server properly.
Every single person who didn't tip, I would take that personally and my heart would break. Just an FYI next time you're thinking about stiffing your waitress - you're a cheap a*hole.
I think it must be regional. Where I live they're well paid city employees and now the process is largely automated. But I'm sure that the situation is quite different depending on where you live.
I can remember to this day, how I had tipped the garbage guys, many years ago.
It was in a rural area, and we, the neighborhood of about a dozen families, would put our garbage cans out on the side of our dirt road, the evening before the early morning pick-up. Even though it was a mild winter, I put out a full six-pack of beer on the lid of the can, and verrrry early in the morning [about 4 a.m.], I heard a very distinct [and Happy, I might add] "Merrrrry Christmas" being yelled from that darkly lit [no lights at all] road. Apparently, they enjoyed the "present/tip", as I suspect I was the only one who remembered them! lol!!
That memory always brings a smile to my face!! :o)
18 to 20 percent, why did it goe from 15%.
As food price goes up so does the tip. Why have to increase the percentage, the raise is built in
Reminds me of the government, that wants mor % of taxes, Hey as salaries go so do w/h taxes as a whole, no nee to increase the %
Commonsense:
You are doing it wrong. The minimum tip is 15% for average service. Period. If you recieve good, or excellent service, then it is a general rule that you tip above the minimum 15%. If you receive excellent service and tip 15% then you are simply either A) cheap, B) couldn't afford to go out in the first place, or c) a teapublican who believes that entitlement means any check with a US Treasury stamp on it, but not any other entitled fee/service.
The fact is, and we ALL know this whether you admit it or not, that tipping your waiter is simply part of the bill. Mush like a self-employed individual must understand that a portion of their income is simply not theirs but belongs to the IRS in the form of tax.
George wrote "You are doing it wrong. The minimum tip is 15% for average service"
Do you tip less than 15%? What exactly is 15%? pre-tax? post-tax? The tipping system exists to skirt paying taxes as well as for restaurant owners to skip paying taxes.
"Mush like a self-employed individual must understand that a portion of their income is simply not theirs but belongs to the IRS in the form of tax."
Do you think these waiters pay tax on cash left on the table?
No they don't, which is why the IRS assumes a certain amount of income based on the sales of the restaurant. So basically, when you don't tip, you may actually be costing your waiter money to serve you in the form of a tax bill at the end of the year.
Other than wait staff who gets minimal wage without the tips why tip people who generally get paid decently such as mail carriers and garbage collectors. They get paid to do their jobs just as I did.
Agreed! In fact, they often earn MORE than I do and have better benefits!
BINGO!
Attitudes do not change no matter what the subject matter is.
Wait staffers as you call them typically don't even get minimum wage.
Working on a Trash truck during the holidays is like running a marathon. With all the Extra trash and all . Try this and you will see why a little something extra would be appreciated. As far as servers go. My nwife makes 2.10 an hour and very seldome gets a break in a 6 hour shift.I mean she works her @## off. She is 56 years old and people come in and eat plate after plate at the buffet. Then a party of four will throw down a dollar. This is sad. She may come in with 50 dollars if lucky. That said, without it we wouldn't eat. She actually loves her job. Thanks to good old Herman Cain and the Lobbiest of the Restraunt Assosiation keeping the pay at 2.10 an hour. Just Washington at it's best.
Working on a Trash truck during the holidays is like running a marathon. With all the Extra trash and all . Try this and you will see why a little something extra would be appreciated. As far as servers go. My nwife makes 2.10 an hour and very seldome gets a break in a 6 hour shift.I mean she works her @## off. She is 56 years old and people come in and eat plate after plate at the buffet. Then a party of four will throw down a dollar. This is sad. She may come in with 50 dollars if lucky. That said, without it we wouldn't eat. She actually loves her job. Thanks to good old Herman Cain and the Lobbiest of the Restraunt Assosiation keeping the pay at 2.10 an hour. Just Washington at it's best.
Terry,
While I understand that working a trash truck is undesirable and hard, working at a slaughterhouse or as a sewage maintenance employee is equally diffiuclt. Soldiers get5 shot at, as do cops. They don't get tips. I work at the IRS, and with budget cuts, I do the work of five people. I don't get tips and do not expect one. I do my job because it is my duty to do it. My problem with the whole tip thing (minus waiters, that makes sense) is the EXPECTATION of a tip in certain areas. A hairdresser should not EXPECT a tip, nor should your barrista at Starbucks.
If you can't afford to tip, then you rally can't afford the service. I always tip for restaurants, knowing those guys have it harder than me, and need the extra few bucks. Of course, tipping is always incumbent upon receiving at last adequate service. Rude or bad service will get you nothing.
Yep, I always tried to tip 15% while I was paying off my house (except when my brain messed up my math...) now that my expenses are lower I try to tip 25% for good service. I tend to go to the same places and I know the servers fairly well, the women are all work hard and don't get paid nearly equivalently. Its also not the fault of the restaurant as they are doing everything they can just to stay in business so I try to help.
25 Percent
You are a fool.
Mike ---understands...Thank you
Mike, come into my restaurant any day. I'll give you fantastic service. You sound like you truly understand. If I ran this country, I'd make it mandatory for every single person to have to wait tables for one year during high school. Maybe then they'd be able to go into their "real life" understanding what it is like to serve people.
Melanie, serving people? You're not in the Peace Corps, that's serving people. You bring food and drinks to someone's table that they could just as well easily go get off the counter like you do. A few steps across the restaurant is not worth $5. Don't act like you're some kind of martyr..you chose that job.
We tip between 20-25% for restaurant or delivery service. If the service is poor, that might drop to 15-18%, and if it's really bad, below 15%. I only once got such poor service that I didn't leave any tip.
And Jim in Dallas, no amount of money would be worth having someone like you for a customer. I bet Melanie can tell plenty of stories about the customers who ran her ragged while whining and complaining and then didn't leave a tip. I've dined with people like that. They're complete jerks. If you think waiting on tables is just "a few steps across the restaurant," you ought to try it. You wouldn't last through the first day.
My spouse and I try to tip at least 15-20% when we go out to eat; the servers (and cooks) work their a$$es off. But lately, we hardly ever go out to eat anymore; food prices keep going up and it costs alot just to stock up our own pantries/refrigerator.
Tipping the guys who pick up the trash?? Never heard of that .
I always try to tip waiting staff 15% or more... these guys don't make min wage and count on tips as part of their wage.... 20% if i feel like they put extra effort into making my experience perfect.... I was there once... and i treat people like i would have like to been treating working that profession.
Never heard of tipping the trash man or any other utility worker i never see.... There is a difference between doing your job... and putting in effort to create a pleasurable experience for a person.
@Jim in Dallas
Yeah you could go get ur own food and put in your own order... but do you? no
If you don't think its worth 5 bucks to have someone serve you don't go... nobody "chooses" to wait on people its a matter of necessity of having a job.
If you don't want to pay for a service go be a douche somewhere else or make ur own food.
MireV03, if I had that option , I certainly wouldn't mind, so your question of "do I?" is silly, that's not an option in places where they have wait staff. As for the rest of your comment, i just looked at the map, and yep, Texas is still in the US and therefore I'll eat wherever the he11 I want. You assumed that I don't tip, where did I say that? Maybe you could spend a little less on tipping and more on some english reading skills/ ESL books. All I said was it wasn;t worth $4/$5 to have someone walk 20 feet to place a plate of food on my table.
Cygnus wrote "If you can't afford to tip, then you rally can't afford the service."
More nonsense. Tips are hidden fees : an ampification of the bait and switch. Restaurants engage in the most severe consumer deception by introducing entrees by mouth without mentioning price. I'd prefer to know the price upfront. What the heck is the function of a maitre d-maison?
Note that women are able to extract more tips than men. Why is that?
so the authors feeling is rather elitist. Tip the "skilled" worker that you have to deal with to get service but not the people who truly make your life easier (the trash doesn't magically disappear).
Cygnus I agree with you about affording the tip as part of the service in eating out. I think the article is slanted more towards those we don't tip on a regular basis.
My parents always left a little something for the trash crew but, as an adult, I never have because you don't always have the same crew and sometimes there are more of them than I can afford to tip. I do, however, try to give $50.00 to my paper deliveryman and hair sylist. It's not much but it's a help.
Tipping anyone who earns more than you is absurd.
Fair enough, but then don't go to a sit down restaurant where you'd have a waiter. That would be improper.
I visit Australia frequently. There is no tipping. Why? The minimum wage is $550 per week...livable by any standard. There is also 4.5 % unemployment,a 45% tax rate for the wealthiest,no national debt,healthcare for all and a standard of living that easily surpasses the US.
Just a TIP that ther might be a better way to live
I'm gonna become an illegal, in Australia.
zI'll chip in for a one wat ticket
Can ya wire that money western union? I would like to arrive before the new years party. Thanks :)
Nikki- can I tag along in your luggage???
I'm not a homeowner so I don't have a relationship with the trash man. I do tip for services rendered such as haircuts. It's shocking how few people tip their barber or hair cut lady. I probably tip too well. If I'm at a restaurant and the waiter or waitress is having a rough night and the service is just terrible, I'll still give a tip over 20%. The thought behind that is that the waiter or waitress is having a worse day than me.
Why tip the haircut person, I completely don't understand...maybe through my own ignorance, I dunno. The get paid don't they? At the very least, they are self-employed and every penny you pay them goes into their pocket. I know they have to lease the space they work in and buy their own stuff, yadda, yadda, but so does EVERY OTHER business owner out there. I don't just walk around handing tips out to every self employed individual that renders some service to me throughout the day, that's nuts. They are NOT like waiters who receive next to nothing as an hourly wage (about 2.75 per hour) and rely on tips to make a decent living. Please explain this to me, because its always boggled my mind.
(I do it because I come in there a mess. I'm part hermit so I will be up in the mountains trying to get closer to God and hygiene just flies out the window. I could be living in the hills for days, months, even years at a time surviving off the land. Once I've defeated my inner demons and find peace, I walk into great clips, of course after clipping a coupon.) <---[sarcasm] I'm not exactly sure but just seems like proper etiquette. Or it could be that they are holding sharp things to our heads.
its a way to give feedback for very subjective services. The person learns what you like and remembers you-- for better or worse.
No, George, they're not all self-employed. In larger salons, most of the stylists and other personnel are employees working for one owner. I was always taught you tip the stylist unless it's the owner of the shop.
@George-658661 - it depends completely on the salon. Stylists/barbers who own their own shops are generally not tipped. At cheap/mid-tier salons the stylists either rent their "chairs" from an owner or are paid by the cut or are getting minimum wage + tips. It's much more like a waiter in terms of how they get paid. That generally is not the case in high-end salons (the ones in my area have strict no tipping policies).
If the barber is an employee, I tip. If he is the owner, and I know he is the owner, I don't tip. Most barbershops now are too small to pool tips.
Thank you for the explanation all. As a guy I don't have much occasion to visit these places (my wife does an AWESOME job of cutting my hair!). It puts it into perspective. This has bred another question on my part though.
Is the onus on the customer to determine if the stylist is self-employed or not? If so it still seems unfair.
Those of you that have a hard time tipping wait staff had better think again, I know several ex wait staff and all tell the same stories and are from different parts of the country. You are a regular and don't tip then your food and beverage are not up to the health code. Food is regularly rolled on the floor and beverages are regularly spit in, or worse, when you are a jerk either by not tipping or complaining to get a comp, oh you'll get your meal comped but it is way to expensive at that free price.
That wasn't the case at any of the places I waited tables in high school/college. Although a known non-tipper might get the absolute minimum acceptable service.
Jeff,Charleston
By doing those things to peoples food, you have proven yourself to be undeserving of a tip, and deserving of a trip to jail.
A tip is supposed to be for service above the "norm". Exceptional service makes for exceptional tips. If you give me good service you get a tip, lousy service, you don't.
I have known many servers, most at truck stops and other non "fancy" restaurants, and not a single one has ever made less than $100 in tips for an 8 hour shift, even those who didn't give good service. Most of those "so hard done by" waitresses make more than average money in a year, and pay taxes on little to none of it.
Again, give good service with a smile, and only then expect a tip, because only then do you deserve a tip.
I have never waited tables, but knowing these people and hearing there stories, I am sure to treat all wait staff like human beings and not slaves.
And please sit back in a nice restaurant and observe, how a wonderful waiter or waitress can be treated for giving absolutely wonderful service.
Jeff wrote "Food is regularly rolled on the floor and beverages are regularly spit in, or worse, when you are a jerk "
This rings of extortion. I'd rather pay a fixed price upfront than wonder if I've paid enough to avoid being sickened or killed.
Paying tips merely allows the restaurant industry to employ illegal workers and avoid paying taxes. Perhaps it is better to pay higher prices at fewer restaurants.
I'm not sure I buy into the whole "tipping" thing for folks that already get paid for what they do. Listen I waited tables for many years while in school (about 6) and in that scenario it is understandable and proper to tip. Waiters get paid about 2.75 per hour so if you aren't tipping, then you are basically getting something for nothing from them. However I find it very difficult to swallow the presumption that a hairdresser who makes a KILLING charging what they do to then expect a tip at the end of the year for fear that they might somehow NOT do their job to their utmost if you don't. Poppycock.
Same goes for tiping the trash guys. Makes no sense to me at all. Is it a desirable job? No, but neither is working at a slaughterhouse, but you don't see people lining up to give those folks tips. This is all rubbish, pardon the pun. It's fine to do it out of the kindness of your heart, but when it becomes "expected" by folks that already receive a perfectly acceptable paycheck, or when you start doing it because you are afraid that if you don't they won't perform their duties the way they should, then there's something wrong.
My step-niece is a hair dresser and they live on their tips. They have to pay for their chairs in a salon and for most of their supplies. Most aren't paid anything by the salon owner at all, they are independent contractors.
George-658661
Tipping the trash guy is a more regoinal thing I think, and it depends entirely on the type of trash service you have. Where I live it's 1 guy in a truck who pushes a couple of buttons, in other places they still have to get out and pick up your can, dump it in the back of the truck, climb back in the truck...
On the topic of restaurant service...
Only in America can someone be hired at less than a minimum wage required by law, and have the general public be expected to then pay that persons wage after already paying the business for the goods/service provided.
Tips are a way for the paying public to express their (dis)satisfaction with a service provided, and should never be expected without giving exceptional service. If you don't earn minimum wage where you work, go work for someone who will pay you that minimum. Business owners who do not pay minimum wage would soon learn to pay if no one would work for them don't you think?
While I agree, you are creating a paper castle in the sky to support your theory. The fact is that waiters do NOT get paid fair compensation by their employer. By not follwing the tradition of tipping your waiter you are punishing the victim for the crime of the perpetrator. In a rosy world it would be quite simple to say "well just get a better job" but at 18 with no real credentials, this is about the best you can do Thus ends theory and begins fact.
Fact: Waiters do not get paid minimum wage.
Fact: You know this when you go to a restaurant.
Fact: If you pay your bill and do not tip your waiter, you have done so knowingly and have caused financial injury to someone that cannot afford to have financial injury visited upon them simply because you do not agree with the system. You may not agree with paying for labor when you go get your muffler replaced, but your agreeance with the terms of service is not yours to decide unless you wish to take it to court after receiving the service rendered.
Fact: Tipping your waiter is NOT a way of expressing your satisfaction with the service, it is simply compensation for services received. If your waiter is bad, speak to the manager and sort it out, but your perception of "bad" service is not always the correct perception. 15% of your bill is the standard, going rate for service. Period. Tipping less, even if the service received was sub-par according to your standards, is simply a breach of verbal contract. You would do the same if you received bad service from a mechanic, knowing full well that the mechanic is reciving an hourly wage, which the waiter does not.
oh yeah bon appetit
Yeah, I don't know about tipping the trash collector. First of all, trash collectors make a good living. Second of all, where do you leave the tip? I would be concerned about leaving an envelope on top of the can.
I don't believe in giving extra tips for hair, nails and services like it. I tip 20% every time I go and I feel that is sufficient.
I may, however, send my volunteer fire department a holiday check to show my support.
I visit Japan frequently. There is no tipping and the service for no matter what is always above and beyond. Not so in the United States and were expected to tip. Americans could learn so much from the Japanese. If Americans were to provide the same kind of Service then I wouldn't be so against tipping.
Do you know if the waiters there get paid a normal wage? If so then yes, there would be no need for tipping. The reason a tip is expected here is because waiters receive a pittance as an hourly wage (it was 2.75 when I waited tables in the early part of the 2000s).
Regarding the second part of your paragraph about Americans providing service. Hey man, I've gotten some pretty friggin bad service before in Japanese restaurants before. I'm sure the same occurs in Japan. You not tipping sounds like you simply don't like tipping, not because you receive bad service everywhere you go (which is HIGHLY unlikely).
Servers get $2.13 per hour. Definitely a pittance!
In japan, it would be considered rude for a stranger to make that kind of judgement about a person. They're more of a grin-and-bear-it sort of culture.
Maybe we should just work for a bowl of rice. Thats whats wrong with this once great country. Greed, Selfishness, Jealosy. May6be its time for some of you so calle Americans to go live overseas and believe me you won't be missed..
Why don't restaurants pay salaries? As Workingman-1110535 wrote, there are no tips paid in Japan for normal services. The prices are somewhat higher, but I prefer the straight game.
Melanie wrote "Servers get $2.13 per hour. Definitely a pittance!"
Why do restaurants do this? ANSWER : they engage in the most severe forms of customer deception. They take advantage of simple math inability : the average American is unable to compute a 15% tax/tip in their head.
If you can tip when you go out that should be the first clue that you cannot afford to go out. Stay home.
The first person I think of tipping IS the trash collector. My son's father used to be a trash collector and we always so appreciated it. In his company, the only way to get a "raise" was to pick up more accounts, more trash cans. There was no other advancement at the collection level. And, whoopee...whenever he did get a holiday day off in the middle of the week, guess what, he had to work the following saturday to make up for it. So yes, they're paid...but, personally, I like leaving my fellow a holiday bonus.
And that's perfectly fine to do Marg, but there are PLENTY of jobs out there that are performed under less-than-desirable conditions and tips are neither received nor expected. The issue at hand is that it is improper for someone who gets paid a fair wage for duties performed to EXPECT a tip. That's where I start having a problem with tipping postal employees, trash guys, hairdressers, etc. Waiters are another thing, they don't really get paid, so tips are appropriate there.
I get tipping waitstaff; after all they get paid less AND have to deal with allot of people (and their current drama's). But a few years ago, I started seeing 'Tip Please' cans in doughnut shops, then at drive-thru windows of fast food restaurants.
I've never read the "These are all the people you're SUPPOSE to tip" books...but it's becoming more of an assumed demand by anyone making less than $20/hour, rather than a gratuitous thank you for good service.
EXACTLY. People that are receiving fair compensation for services rendered are starting to EXPECT tips, and that is where I have a problem with it. Look, I tip all the time when I see someone do an outstanding job simply because that's what I do, but when it starts becoming expected, then I have a problem with it.
The tip jars everywhere are annoying. I think it started with Starbucks and has spread from there.
Why should I listen to and etiquette expert who says "Tipping really means to ensure prompt payment". This is just a variation of the idea that "TIP" comes from "to insure promptness" or some other such nonsense. First this variation is less logical than most, as payment comes from the customer. "Prompt service" would make a little more sense. More importantly, it's an attempt to project the 20th Century penchant for acronyms back a fewl hundred years to a time when most people where illiterate, and acronyms were not commonly used (if used at all). "Tip" is not short for anything. It dates back to the 18th Century in terms of gratuity, and comes from an earlier meaning of tip, "to pass or hand."
I am not going to suggest to anyone else when or how much they should tip, but I know I don't do it to ensure that good service will continue, otherwise I would never tip at a restaurant I don't expect to come back to, especially when travelling to a different city. I tip as a reward for good service, and with the understanding that in some jobs the pay is minimal with the understanding the person will get much or most of their compensation in tips. It doesn't matter if I'm never coming back. I also tip my mail deliverer who is allowed to accept gifts below a certain limit, though I wouldn't put this in the same category as a restaurant server, where tips are expected, i.e., I don't think you're stiffing a mailman if you don't tip him.
Help me out here, people: I go to a salon that has only 1 hairdresser, who is the owner. My mother always taught me that you don't tip the salon owner because they receive the whole amount of the haircut (since it is their own business). But I've never quite known if that was ok, so I've always tipped my hairdresser 20% or a bit more for every haircut anyway, even though she is the owner. I don't have frequent haircuts because I can't afford them (I'm low maintenance by necessity). Nor do I have any other treatments or dyes, etc. Can't afford it. I just get a basic haircut a few times a year.
So here's my problem: I usually give a bigger tip around the holidays, not the equivalent of a haircut, but higher than the usual 20%, but she recently raised her rates A LOT. I am on the verge now of not being able to even afford to get my haircut there anymore. I really can't afford to give an extra holiday tip on top of the new rates, and I am not getting my hair cut anywhere near the holidays to avoid being around then.
So what do you all think: Can I go get my haircut in February and give my regular tip? I feel like my regular tip is already generous (and perhaps even excessive if it's true that owners don't usually get tipped), and since I am not some kind of weekly or biweekly customer, it should be enough.
I would think that the most important thing is that your heart is in the right place. I doubt your hair dresser will be let down if you only tip your regular amount. I'm sure she understands that we all have limits and that she wouldn't expect you to tip more because you missed your Holiday cut.
Yes, you can give her a regular tip. I've never tipped hair or nails extra during the holidays. I am a die-hard loyal customer that they can rely on to tip 20% every time I go, so I don't see the need to go above and beyond specifically for the holidays.
Now, if I do a drastic hair change (major cut, new color, etc.) and it works out really well, I throw in a little extra because good work should be rewarded. But that's not reserved for the holidays.
Required tipping to all people that you pay for services is bogus. You only tip when you receive above and beyond the average service. The people who expect tips are just like the people standing on the corners with the signs pleading for money.
I would like to know why tips are expected in a tip jar at Starbucks. Are these workers paid $2/hour? Are they doing something beyond their paid rate in pouring coffee from a machine or preparing an espresso from a computirezed barista machine?
I think we can all work out a way to tip those who need the money more then we or or relative's might. Instead of spending $50.00 or a $100.00 on a relative we can spend 30.00-75.00 on them and divide the remaining amount among those who we would want to tip for the Holiday's.
Last year I asked my my mother not to send me a gift and to make a donation to a few bank or another chairty instead. In tough times we need to do what we can for those who need it more then we do.
Here's all I need to know about holiday tipping. No one tips me for the job I do. This whole tipping thing is way out of hand, Tip the barber/beautician, tip the mailman, tip the trashman, tip the babysitter, tip the waitress/waiter, tip the lawn guy, tip the pool guy, tip the dog walker, tip the taxi driver...Where does it end? They all get paid, why do they expect a tip? Hell, no wonder everyone is stressed out at the holidays. Several years ago, cow tipping was popular...what the he!! is that about?
Typical Texas..
If times are tough for you, maybe you shouldn't do anything (like eat in full service restaurants) where tipping is de rigueur.
Did I say times were tough on me? Where I eat is not of your concern, I eat where I want, it is not dependant on whether theey have a full wait staff or not. I don't pick my restaurants by the wait staff. Who does that? Waiters/Waitresses, for the most part, not all, feel like they are performing brain surgery and savings lives. They/you are carrying food to your table from the kitchen. Get over yourselves. Does your pay suck?, probably so, but that's between the employee and the employer. You chose to fill out and application, interview and get up everyday to go there to work, If they/you don't like the money, quit and do something else more productive. All I'm saying is I'm tired of people always expecting something. Why not just tip everyone, everywhere? Who makes the rules? It's the people wanting the tips that make the rules on who and how much to tip, that's who. Let's just tip the checker at the local Kroger next time you're in there.
You go to a restaurant and are waited on- you tip. If you don't have enough for a tip- eat at home or go to fast food restaurants. Servers need to make a living just like you and they rely on tips. You're too stingy- stay away.
Tip the trash guy? You mean the guy getting paid $80k to sit in his truck and let a mechanical arm pick up the trash and do all the work? Trash men don't even get out of their vehicles these days, and they get paid quite well for what they do.
They still get out and hoist the cans where I live. I guess it depends on the location.
I don't know where yu live but we lifted the cans and didn't make no 20k. During the holidays with all the extra trash and all the last few cans feel like cows they are so heavy. This is really a hard job. At my age i couldn't do it any more. Plus it's not the most exotic job in the world. But theere was a certain amount of Pride in it when i did it. As a matter of fact we didn't eve get on back of trhe truck until we left the subdivision. Each of us on our on side ran the road. Believe me it was as hard as framing houses. Which back in the day i drove nails for 6 years before given the chance to read a tape measure.
LeftLeaningLisa wrote "Tip the trash guy? You mean the guy getting paid $80k to sit in his truck and let a mechanical arm pick up the trash and do all the work?"
If the trash company could pay trash men less, it would. Why are the workers male? Because often enough, a single operator is required to lift a trash can eighing over 100 lbs. Should a premium be paid for night or early hour jobs? These people are circulating at 5am, rain or shine, cold or dark. Injury and death are risked.
This is a grueling job with an additional social stigma. $80k is about right, compared to being a secretary working 9-5 in a corporate lobby. Not a single receptionist dies on the job.
Tip the trash guy? Why? He gets full-time pay for his work and he does not perform a personal service. I only tip waiters, waitresses, bartenders and the barber; no one else. I suppose if you're fabulously wealthy, you can tip like there is no tomorrow. Overtipping is not the way to become wealthy, however.
to each his own, the trash crew gets a salary just like hairdressers. hairdressers, by the way do well with a good clientele, way better than trash crew, so tipping them is not uncommon.