Church goers= terrible tippers

[SquirrelySquirrel]

Me too! And in the US, you seem to tip so many people: waiters, taxi drivers, your hair dresser, hotel staff... I hope that European tourists study the etiquette before they go there, or else we must be seen as horrible and cheap customers.

How do you know how much to tip?

We always tip waitstaff at restaurants well, no question. And I tip hairdressers. Never been in a taxi so I don't know how that works. But I have become a bit of a curmudgeon about tip jars sprouting up on every counter. I'm sorry, but I'm not tipping every time I get a blasted cup of coffee (which is pretty rare) or ice cream cone. Jars have even appeared at the 2 local putt-putt places. The sullen teenager at the one we frequent does not deserve any extra money for taking our money and handing us putters and telling us to pick a ball off the rack. I guarantee I worked ten times harder for my minimum wage at Wendy's when I was a teen, and we sure didn't get tipped.

[lilah]

I just finished reading a book about fundies "In the land of believers" by Gina Welch (which might merit it's own thread/maybe we could start a book club for it) and she mentioned all the fundies she met were also terrible tippers and she was constantly putting down extra money to cover the meal.

I tip between 15-18% depending on the service and my mood. My husband is a big tipper, he will tip 20% usually. We were going through our finances recently I noticed he had eaten out with a group of friends and he had a very high bill, which was the result of him tipping the waitress 30% because he thought she was pretty cute. :roll: :roll:

I have never worked as a waitress, but used to work at a coffee shop where any meager tips we recieved the manager used to rectify the register at the end of the night. GRRRRR. Hated that manager. I also worked at coldstone which is famous for singing if we received tips. I'd average about 3-8 dollars a shift, which was pretty nice, esecpailly after a grueling shift.

[Austin]

But I have become a bit of a curmudgeon about tip jars sprouting up on every counter. I'm sorry, but I'm not tipping every time I get a blasted cup of coffee (which is pretty rare) or ice cream cone. Jars have even appeared at the 2 local putt-putt places. The sullen teenager at the one we frequent does not deserve any extra money for taking our money and handing us putters and telling us to pick a ball off the rack. I guarantee I worked ten times harder for my minimum wage at Wendy's when I was a teen, and we sure didn't get tipped.

I agree that tip jars have popped up nearly everywhere. The teen handing out putters is already making minimum wage (such as it is), unlike waitstaff, so I don't feel obligated to putter teen. But I take it on a more of a case by case basis: if a counter person has a really great attitude or goes out of their way to give me fabulous service, I don't mind stuffing a dollar into the jar. But on the average transaction, no, not really feelin' it most of the time.

[lisespieces]

Ugh. I don't like tipping and ever since I was an exchange student in Germany and they stare you down as you are supposed to tell them your change (so you include the tip when you give them the money) even for a 1.50 euro ice cream cone; I really, really don't like it. But I do tip and tip decently when I eat out, usually at least 20%. Since my friend and I use coupons/giftcards whenever we go someplace "fancy" we always round up and still end up saving money. But we are also usually very polite and easy going-- one time our sandwich was made wrong and the server kept apologizing, I just laughed and said "I work in food, it happens, we can wait." I believe you can still be cheap and reasonable at the same time. Plus I deal with the church crowd on Sundays at my work. I work at an Arby's which is usually understaffed on the weekends and that is totally fine except for those 2 hours of hell on Sunday. You'd think those people would be more understanding considering they are walking in in their Sunday best, but nope.

Oh and tip jars? I despise them. You should report them if you see them. Most companies have policies against this. Like every single place I've ever worked for. So I can imagine the others do too.

[SquirrelySquirrel]

I forgot to actually comment on the topic at-hand. I think it's perfectly logical, if you look at how conservative vs. how liberal someone is, as evidenced by the political climate in the US, to guess how they will tip. This is obviously a black and white rationalization here and there is plenty of room for grey, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to assume that the more liberal someone is, the better tipper they are going to be. The attitude of conservatives today seems to be, "I got mine, so screw you."

[Guest Anonymous]

Wow, I didn't realise until now that your waiting staff get a lower minimum wage than everyone else. I always tip anyway, but restaurant staff here will be on the national minimum wage like anyone else.

[SimplyMe]

I should have mentioned when I posted this article that I am a church-goer myself and a very generous tipper. I have to get some extremely poor service to tip less than 20%. I have a lot of family members who have waited tables, so I am well aware of how little salary they make and how dependant they are on tips. I also know that they put up with a lot of abuse from customers. I'll never understand how people can be so mean and rude to another person.

So I realize it isn't all Christians that are lousy tippers, but in speaking with friends and family and seeing articles like this, it seems there does seem to be a trend of poor tipping among the Sunday morning church crowd.

[BravaAmica]

..The attitude of conservatives today seems to be, "I got mine, so screw you."

I thought that was always their attitude??? :dance:

[Trynn]

Me too! And in the US, you seem to tip so many people: waiters, taxi drivers, your hair dresser, hotel staff... I hope that European tourists study the etiquette before they go there, or else we must be seen as horrible and cheap customers.

We're supposed to tip our hairdressers? OMG I didn't know that. Mine probably thinks I'm horrible now. :oops:

Tipping at restaurants was something my dad would really stress whenever he took me out to eat. He would explain to me that they didn't make much, and so we needed to leave an appropriate tip. (My dad was always a generous tipper, so it might've been more than "appropriate" but whatever.) So I grew up with mentality of: if you go out to eat, you leave a good tip.

[Austin]

I thought that was always their attitude??? :dance:

We should have bumper stickers and t-shirts made for them.

[apple1]

We're supposed to tip our hairdressers? OMG I didn't know that. Mine probably thinks I'm horrible now. :oops:

If your hairdresser is an employee of the shop owner, you are supposed to tip. (You might be amazed at the % of your bill that the shop owner gets to keep- frequently 50% of what you pay).

If your hairdresser is the owner of her own business (this may be the case, even though she may rent her chair space in a building owned by someone else), you technically do not need to tip.

I still tip mine-- a good hairdresser is VERY valuable.

[bananacat]

I'm a big tipper, 20% unless there is something terribly wrong. If the server does something bad, I will express it by talking to the manager, not by leaving a crappy tip. So many people are so cheap that the server probably wouldn't even the get message from a low tip and s/he would just assume I was some cheapwad. I also don't think that not being able to pay rent is a proportionate punishment for taking too long to refill my water glass. Minimum wage for servers is ridiculously low in most states.

Anyway, I do think that fundies really expect that some tract will convert people. They are under the delusional that the vast majority of people have simply never heard of Jesus. I hate it so much when an evangelist asks "Have you heard about Jesus?" Of course I have, being a sentient human living in the United States. They have this odd belief that the story of Jesus is so obviously true that it's basically impossible to not believe it; therefore any non-Christians must have just never heard the story.

[Witsec6]

I agree that tip jars have popped up nearly everywhere. The teen handing out putters is already making minimum wage (such as it is), unlike waitstaff, so I don't feel obligated to putter teen. But I take it on a more of a case by case basis: if a counter person has a really great attitude or goes out of their way to give me fabulous service, I don't mind stuffing a dollar into the jar. But on the average transaction, no, not really feelin' it most of the time.

I have no problems with tip jars at coffee shops. I don't know how many people realize that those of us who work at Starbucks make the same as people who work at McDonald's AND we have to buy our uniforms (black pants, white shirts, and shoes, and spilled milk can do a REAL number on a white shirt or a pair of black pants!). Not to mention the fact that Starbucks is something of a niche market for those of us with masters' degrees who can't get jobs in our chosen fields at this moment (I have a professional degree and I work with two underemployed math teachers and one person with an honours BA in sociology).

I don't think you have to tip, but don't complain that people who are making your $5 coffee might benefit from $0.50 every once in a while.

[Cassandra]

Yeahhhh

I currently serve at a mid-level business casual type restaurant.

As an example...

Today I worked from 11am-4pm. It was a pretty busy day. I made $50 in tips (After I tipped out the host, who gets 10% and the expo who gets another 10%). Without these tips I would have made $18 total for 5 hours of work. So it's very apt to say that I survive on the tips.

I've yet to get a religious tract. But I've certainly encountered people who give me a 10 for a $9.50 bill and act so magnanimous when they say "Keep the Change"

[Cassandra]

Me too! And in the US, you seem to tip so many people: waiters, taxi drivers, your hair dresser, hotel staff... I hope that European tourists study the etiquette before they go there, or else we must be seen as horrible and cheap customers.

How do you know how much to tip?

15% is a pretty good rule all around. However in my own personal opinion 20% for good service, 15% for average, 10% for poor, and 0% if the wait staff intentionally did something offensive multiple times. If you think the service was so terrible the server doesn't deserve a tip you should be speaking to the manager.

If I get a table and the customer has an accent I go in assuming I'm getting 10% or less, and I'm rarely surprised.

The only time this has affected my service (I try to do a damn good job no matter what) was when we had a Middle Eastern customer come eat breakfast everyday for two weeks. He never tipped, so after about 3 days word go around and he was given 3 stop service: Drink, then food, then the bill.

Aaaand now I'll stop talking about waitressing.

[SquirrelySquirrel]

I have no problems with tip jars at coffee shops. I don't know how many people realize that those of us who work at Starbucks make the same as people who work at McDonald's AND we have to buy our uniforms (black pants, white shirts, and shoes, and spilled milk can do a REAL number on a white shirt or a pair of black pants!). Not to mention the fact that Starbucks is something of a niche market for those of us with masters' degrees who can't get jobs in our chosen fields at this moment (I have a professional degree and I work with two underemployed math teachers and one person with an honours BA in sociology).

I don't think you have to tip, but don't complain that people who are making your $5 coffee might benefit from $0.50 every once in a while.

I'm sorry that you can't get a job in your chosen field but that does not make you more special than the person at McD's or mean that you work harder and deserve more, as the snooty tone of your post seems to imply. I've had a couple of low-paying jobs that did not offer me clothing to perform said job, and I certainly did receive tips.

[Lillybee]

I remember that the Maxwell's blogged about the family dining at Olive Garden one night. They mentioned that they prayed with the waitress. I wondered if this was in lieu of a tip.

[Witsec6]

I'm sorry that you can't get a job in your chosen field but that does not make you more special than the person at McD's or mean that you work harder and deserve more, as the snooty tone of your post seems to imply. I've had a couple of low-paying jobs that did not offer me clothing to perform said job, and I certainly did receive tips.

I was responding to the comment about the sullen teenagers. A lot of people who put out tip jars are not spoiled/sullen/bored/lazy teens, but rather people of all ages who really do benefit from the extra money. That said, I never give bad service to anyone who doesn't put money in the tip jar. It's just there because some people like to help out.

[Austin]

I have no problems with tip jars at coffee shops. I don't know how many people realize that those of us who work at Starbucks make the same as people who work at McDonald's AND we have to buy our uniforms (black pants, white shirts, and shoes, and spilled milk can do a REAL number on a white shirt or a pair of black pants!). Not to mention the fact that Starbucks is something of a niche market for those of us with masters' degrees who can't get jobs in our chosen fields at this moment (I have a professional degree and I work with two underemployed math teachers and one person with an honours BA in sociology).

I don't think you have to tip, but don't complain that people who are making your $5 coffee might benefit from $0.50 every once in a while.

I actually tip regularly at Starbucks, and also at a deli frequent where they make my food fresh while I wait. I think there's a certain amount of effort to make a fancy coffee or a beautiful salad and I appreciate it and try to show that. My eldest son used to manage a sandwich shop/deli where they also made the food fresh, so I appreciate that it's a little more work than handing out putters at the Putt-N-Play.

[demgirl]

Oh and tip jars? I despise them. You should report them if you see them. Most companies have policies against this. Like every single place I've ever worked for. So I can imagine the others do too.

No. I'm not going to rat out someone who puts out a tip jar, even if they aren't allowed to have one on the counter. First, they could get fired for that, and I have no desire to be the reason someone loses their job, especially not over a tip jar. And especially not in this economy. Two, I don't begrudge them the change people throw in their tip jar, especially because most of them are trying to live on minimum wage, which assuming they work full time (and real full time not the new "32 hours a week" full time) and never take a vacation or sick day, means they are trying to live on about $15,000.00 per year before taxes, which means they are really living on about $14,000.00 dollars a year.

So, yeah, no. I'm not going to be reporting people who put out contraband tip jars.

[desertvixen]

15% is a pretty good rule all around. However in my own personal opinion 20% for good service, 15% for average, 10% for poor, and 0% if the wait staff intentionally did something offensive multiple times. If you think the service was so terrible the server doesn't deserve a tip you should be speaking to the manager.

This is a pretty good rule of thumb, and yes, if the service is that bad you should be talking to a manager.

The one thing that does irritate me is when they assume a large party is going to equal sucky tip (ie, nothing above auto-gratuity) and the service is sort of so-so. I understand large groups can be hard to wait on, but it still sucks. I guess there's also a perception that military are not good tippers, which seems to be about half-true (ie, one half the group will tip well and the other half won't).

[BravaAmica]

I remember that the Maxwell's blogged about the family dining at Olive Garden one night. They mentioned that they prayed with the waitress. I wondered if this was in lieu of a tip.

It probably was.

[Guest Anonymous]

It probably was.

I'm guessing that the waitress prayed for Uriah to fall apart underneath them.

[Kaylee]

15% is a pretty good rule all around. However in my own personal opinion 20% for good service, 15% for average, 10% for poor, and 0% if the wait staff intentionally did something offensive multiple times. If you think the service was so terrible the server doesn't deserve a tip you should be speaking to the manager.

This is pretty much the same rule of thumb I use, although I tend to round up to the highest whole dollar and sometimes go a little over 20 if service is especially good and/or if my son has made I mess (I try to clean up & pick up too) or if the waitress has given us anything comped or brought any extras, which happens often at certain places.

One thing in addition to the already crappy pay, is that the government taxes them based on 10% of the total bill, even if they don't get a tip, so that is the lowest I would consider tipping unless they did something really egregious.

[Lillybee]

When I eat out I always tip at least 15 %, sometimes more.

I know that Starbucks does not encourage tip jars, but at one of the Starbucks I stop at when I travel, everything put in the tip jar goes to local charities. This is in a very small town, so the money has gone to the high school band and what is donated seems to make a small difference.