I've discussed this with other people before, but I want other opinions. What does everyone think about tipping at restaurants? Do you think tipping is a good thing? Bad?
Vote in the poll and tell me your thoughts, my fellow Orange Beltians.
I tip, and I make it over 10% as a rule. I used to tip low or not at all. When the man pays, I let him tip at will.
BUT
I thought it was totally awesome that food was not only cheaper in Japan, but also we did not have to tip. It's just silly what we pay to eat out. I wish there was no tipping. It is an uncomfortable social nicety, where you either make someone's day or piss them off unknowingly.
Worse, is tipping other people - hairdressers? the girl who does my eyebrows? I'm already paying $15 for 5 minutes in your chair. Do I need to make it 18? honestly? I don't even know who to tip in these cases, or how much. Maybe I should tip the boys who change my oil.
Then again, I worked a tipped job once, and tips were nice. But my employer also paid me very little. The big company made oodles on marked up merchandise, while paying me shit for dealing with the hobos that buy it.
Tipping is not a nicety, it is a requirement. Do not make an assumption that you tip under 15% for poor service, because tipping is an integral part of such services. Waiters are typically paid very poorly (often below minimum wage) because tipping is figured into their earnings.
If you're confused as to when tipping is appropriate: tip when a human being has to go out of their way to serve you. If the restaurant is buffet-style, or you walk up to a window to order and walk back when the food is ready, you don't tip. If a waiter is involved, taking orders and running back and forth and interacting with the cook and bringing the drink orders of three out of four people then the fourth person decides they want a drink after all so the waiter has to make another trip to get the extra drink and all that jazz: tip! If someone's cutting your hair, they get a tip. Again, people in these positions are paid less than most other jobs because the expected tips account for the rest of their wages.
shakeycat: 10% is not a good tip. You need to pay 15%.
Everybody: tip 15%, then if you feel that they deserve a little something extra, pay more according to what you feel is appropriate. Never pay below 15% to send some kind of message. More often than not, your reputation as a poor tipper will precede you. Because it's rude.
Also to everybody: if you don't like the concept of tipping, or are uncomfortable with the notion, you have the choice to not go to establishments with employees that make a living off of their tips. The decision to go to an eat-in restaurant was entirely your own, and you need to account for tips before making such decisions, especially if money is a concern. When I'm short on cash, I usually don't eat at places where you tip.
I apologize for any vitriol, but this shouldn't even really be something people get worked up about. Tipping is a reality of the system. For the record, I usually tip closer to 20% because it's faster to calculate on the fly. ^__^
"I DON'T GET TIPPED FOR DOING MY JOB, WHY SHOULD THEY?"
YOU DON'T GET TIPPED BECAUSE YOU GET PAID A SHIT-TON MORE THAN THOSE WHO DO, AND YOU GET BENEFITS AND FLEXIBLE HOURS AND PAID VACATIONS AND ALL THAT OTHER SWEET STUFF.
I think that tipping in concept is a good idea if someone has done a particularly nice job. But I don't like the idea of requiring tips, which is pretty much what it is these days.
EDIT:
YOU DON'T GET TIPPED BECAUSE YOU GET PAID A SHIT-TON MORE THAN THOSE WHO DO, AND YOU GET BENEFITS AND FLEXIBLE HOURS AND PAID VACATIONS AND ALL THAT OTHER SWEET STUFF.
I don't get any of those things! In fact, I'm rather underpaid for what I do! My work goes out to over 30,000 people and I want a tip from all of them.
(As a disclaimer, I have had years of experience in the food and service industry as a teenager)
To me, tipping is a notion that has gotten incredibly out of control. A tip is something extra added to the bill, an afterthought. A tip should be applied to people who have gone above and beyond what is expected. It should be a courtesy. But in several industries it has become an expectation for customers. And I find that to be highly immoral.
I personally just have an objection to restaurants legally paying employees less than minimum wage and expecting customers to pick up the tab. That's a very poor reason, because now we have made it mandatory. We've now inserted guilt into the equation, and so we are expected to pay extra out of guilt? Just because the restaurant wants to save a few extra bucks? I don't buy it.
For restaurants, I understand that there are different situations. Some restaurants are small and family owned, and they may not make big profit margins. But larger chain restaurants, Chilis and Applebees and such, make quite a lot of money. They can afford to pay their employees minimum wage. Again this comes from my earlier rants in another thread about income distribution, and the people at the top make way more than the people at the bottom, and a marginal decrease in pay for them would be a major increase for everyone else. The only way waiters will get more than minimum wage is if they demand it. And their demands are not heard when they rack in tips.
I'm not saying we should not tip them out of protest, especially given the economy now. I still tip when I'm in the US, but I'll bitch about it. The problem isn't necessarily in the service people themselves, but in the businesses they work for.
In my opinion, it should be illegal for industries to pay employees less than minimum wage for any reason. Then we can tip only if we think they've done a good job, not just for doing their job.
THAT WOULD BE NICE, BUT IT'S NOT THE REALITY. AGAIN, IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE TIP SYSTEM, EAT AT PLACES WHERE IT ISN'T EXPECTED, OR EAT AT HOME. BOTH ARE CHEAPER ANYWAY, AND IF ENOUGH PEOPLE DID THIS, IT WOULD BE AN EFFECTIVE FORM OF PROTEST INDEED, WITHOUT ANYONE BEING RUDE TO THE WAITERS WHO HAVE NO CONTROL OVER THE SYSTEM AND ARE JUST TRYING TO MAKE A LIVING.
“Yes, because it’s concurrent with the culture and area I live in.”
I would pick that.
I don’t tip because I believe my server or barber has done anything out of the ordinary to deserve extra funds, but because the society I live in expects it. If I had it my way, I would compliment my server personally for great service or complain to the manager for poor service. However, American culture has embraced tipping as the social norm and people who fail to tip are seen as stingy or rude. I really don’t see our practice of giving tips disappearing anytime soon, even though it’s such a subjective means of delivering praise.
Seriously, how arbitrary is the 15% or 20% rule? Who came up with what constitutes as a ‘generous’ tip or not? Is there some culture convention where we decide servers get 15-20%, barbers gets 12%, and my mailman gets a buck every once in while? What does the pizza delivery person get? I’ve read several articles detailing the gratuity amount each service job expects. Such as never tipping a professional or the ubiquitous ‘tip-jar‘. Why? Who says?
There is no convention. It’s just how our culture ebbs and flows with what people believe to be an acceptable tip. It’s times like these when analyzing my culture that I admire another culture’s way of doing things.
Also, I forgot to mention, that the four responses are typically what I hear the most often, so that's why I put them. It seemed a bit better than a simple yes/no poll.
I don't object to tipping entirely; I just object to the societal obligation. This is a crude example, but consider the Hooters plan. I have no idea what the girls get paid hourly there. Maybe it's the same as other places, maybe it's a little better, I dunno.
But most patrons are very happy to tip there. That's because most patrons are men, and they like the "service" they get there, which often includes flirting, interacting, and other miscellaneous activities. As a result Hooters girls tend to get paid quite well I believe, and it's not out of expectation; rather most patrons genuinely want to tip well.
I'm not really a Hooters fan, but I thought this was a good example. I've been in plenty of situations when I've felt perfectly happy to give a tip at restaurants, like when a waiter has been very friendly, funny, taken time to help us, etc.
It seems the main concern in restaurants is the pay issue. So what about tipping in other industries where you do get paid more than minimum wage? Like tip jars set up for coffee, or for getting your haircut?
WHILE THERE IS NO LEGAL OBLIGATION TO TIP, THERE CERTAINLY IS A STANDARD AND A STRONG EXPECTATION, AND A SYSTEM HAS BEEN BUILT TO ACCOMMODATE THIS EXPECTATION SUCH THAT A WAITER COULD NOT SURVIVE ON THEIR WAGES WITHOUT TIPS BEING A STANDARD. ALSO IT'S EXCEPTIONALLY RUDE TO NOT TIP, NO MATTER WHAT THE SITUATION. YOU PROTEST BY NO LONGER GOING TO THAT ESTABLISHMENT, OR REFUSING TO BE SERVED BY THAT PERSON IN THE FUTURE, SUCH THAT THE TIP THEN GOES TO A MORE DESERVING WAITER. I WILL CONTEND THAT I AM UNFAMILIAR WITH THE TIP SITUATION IN COUNTRIES OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES, BUT FROM WHAT I HEAR IT'S GENERALLY CONSIDERED OPTIONAL (OR EVEN RIDICULOUS) ELSEWHERE.
TIP JARS ARE NOT AT ALL OBLIGATORY. I USUALLY THROW A LITTLE OF MY SPARE CHANGE IF I PAID WITH CASH, BUT I DON'T OFTEN GO OUT OF MY WAY TO MAKE USE OF THEM.
I WAS REFERRING TO PLACES ONE MIGHT FREQUENT, SINCE WAITERS THERE WOULD BECOME FAMILIAR WITH YOUR STINGY WAYS AND MIGHT NOT TREAT YOU VERY WELL IN SUBSEQUENT VISITS.
IF YOU PROTEST BY NO LONGER GOING TO THE RESTAURANT, ODDS ARE THAT THE WAITER WILL NEVER KNOW THAT IT WAS HIS/HER FAULT. IF YOU TELL THEM YOU ARE NOT SATISFIED WITH THE SERVICE, AND DON'T TIP THEM AFTERWARD, THEN THEY'RE PROBABLY GONNA BE MORE CAREFUL WITH HOW THEY TREAT CUSTOMERS FROM THERE ON.
BUT IF THE WAITERS KNOW THAT THEY AREN'T GOING TO GET TIPPED WELL, THEN THEY AREN'T GONNA CARE HOW THEY ACT IN THE FIRST PLACE. OTHERWISE, WAITERS AND WAITRESSES KNOW THAT THEY HAVE TO SERVE THEIR FOOD IN THE BEST, MOST COURTEOUS WAY POSSIBLE.
MY MOM TAUGHT ME THAT THE TIP, AT LEAST IN THE STATES HERE, IS ALWAYS IMPLIED AND SHOULD BE FACTORED INTO THE COST OF THE FOOD. IT REALLY SHOULD BE REFLECTED IN HIGHER MENU PRICES SO THE SERVERS CAN BE PAID MORE ON THE PAYROLL. BUT IT ISN'T SO YOU ARE SOCIALLY EXPECTED TO TIP, AND YOU REALLY SHOULD TIP AT LEAST THAT 15%. IT'S NOT JUST A COURTESY FOR EXCELLENT SERVICE.
ANYWAY, I WAS A PIZZA DELIVERY DRIVER FOR A LONG TIME AND I ABSOLUTELY RELIED ON MY TIPS TO COVER THE COST OF GAS AND MAINTENANCE ON MY CAR, AND BECAUSE OF THAT I ALWAYS TIP SERVERS AND DELIVERY PEOPLE REALLY WELL BECAUSE I KNOW HOW GODDAMN FRUSTRATING IT IS TO GET A PATHETIC TIP (YOUR ORDER IS $11.95... OH, 12 DOLLARS? I CAN KEEP THE CHANGE? FUCK YOU JACKASS).
IF THEY MADE A RESTAURANT WHERE THE PRICES WERE HIGHER BUT YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO TIP BECAUSE THEY ACTUALLY PAID THE STAFF A DECENT WAGE I'D EAT THERE ALL THE TIME.
OR, AT LEAST, I'D EAT THERE IN ALL SITUATIONS WHERE I'D NORMALLY EAT AT THE KIND OF RESTAURANT WHERE YOU HAVE TO TIP, WHICH ISN'T OFTEN. I'M NOT SURE IF THE PREVIOUS SENTENCE MADE GRAMMATICAL SENSE.
WHEN IT'S ALL-CAPS DAY, EVERY SENTENCE DOESN'T SEEM TO MAKE GRAMMATICAL SENSE.
ALSO, IF A FRIEND OF MINE DOEN'T TIP, MY WHOLE FRIEND GROUP RAILS ON HIM. HE EITHER PAYS THOUGH PEER PRESSURE OR IS ASSIGNED DOUCHE-BAG STATUS FOR A TIME.
I'M FINE WITH TIPPING, ALTHOUGH I'LL ADMIT I HAVEN'T HAD MUCH EXPERIENCE. MOST OF THE TIME I'VE BEEN OUT TO EAT THE PAST FEW YEARS TO A SIT DOWN RESTAURANT, IT WAS WITH ERIC AND HE PAID FOR EVERYTHING, HA. I WENT OUT TO EAT WITH FRIENDS OCCASIONALLY TOO, AND I'D LEAVE A 15% TIP, BUT THE THING THAT BOTHERED ME MOST WAS TRYING TO RACK MY BRAIN TO FIGURE WHAT 15 PERCENT IS OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, WHEN I'M NOT USED TO THINKING ABOUT SUCH THINGS.
I TOOK THE TIME, OF COURSE, BUT A NEW THING IN AUSTIN THAT HAS WEIRDED ME OUT A LITTLE BIT IS THAT A LOT OF RESTAURANTS HERE REQUIRE YOU ORDER YOUR FOOD AT THE REGISTER, TIP THE WAITER, AND THEN GET YOUR FOOD. NOT ONLY DO I NEED TO FIGURE OUT A 15% TIP REALLY FAST, BUT I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW MY SERVICE WILL BE... AND IF A DON'T TIP HIGH ENOUGH, THE WAITERS THEN HAVE THE OPTION TO SPIT IN MY FOOD BEFORE EVEN SERVING ME. I USUALLY DON'T TIP AS HIGH AT THOSE RESTAURANTS JUST BECAUSE I'M WORRIED I'M TAKING TOO LONG (THE LINE DOESN'T MOVE ALONG UNTIL YOU'VE SIGNED FOR THE MEAL AND GIVEN YOUR TIP), AND I FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE TIPPING BEFORE I'VE RECEIVED ANYTHING.
IS IT COMMON FOR RESTAURANTS TO WORK LIKE THIS? I HADN'T COME ACROSS ANY BEFORE AUSTIN, SO I FIGURED IT WAS UNCOMMON. THERE MIGHT JUST NOT BE A LOT IN DALLAS.
WHOA, THAT IS WEIRD. I'VE NEVER RUN INTO ANY PLACE THAT WORKS LIKE THAT. WHY DON'T THEY JUST FIGURE IN THE TIP RIGHT FROM THE GET-GO AND THEN SAY THAT NO TIP IS REQUIRED?
ACTUALLY, THAT'S JUST A REALLY WEIRD SYSTEM. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO THINK OF THAT.
ALSO, IF A FRIEND OF MINE DOEN'T TIP, MY WHOLE FRIEND GROUP RAILS ON HIM. HE EITHER PAYS THOUGH PEER PRESSURE OR IS ASSIGNED DOUCHE-BAG STATUS FOR A TIME.
WHAT A SILLY WAY OF DOING THINGS! (PAYING FIRST WITH TIP) CAN'T YOU PAY THE BILL, SKIP THE TIP, AND LEAVE COINS AFTER IF YOU WERE SATISFIED? MAYBE IT IS JUST THERE FOR CARD USERS.
I ALSO DON'T LIKE WHEN I AM FACED WITH "TIP?" AND I WAS JUGGLED BETWEEN THREE DIFFERENT WAITERS. DO I WRITE ON THE BILL WHICH ONE WAS CUTEST? I DON'T REMEMBER !!!
USUALLY IF I DO NOT TIP I HAVE NO INTENTION OF RETURNING. IT WAS THAT BAD.
THE WAITRESSES IN THE PUB I USED TO WORK NEXT TO WOULD MAKE OVER $100 IN TIPS ON TOP OF THEIR $8-9/HR WAGE. THEN THEY WOULD COME TO MY LIQUOR STORE AND BUY BOOZE AND CIGARETTES. ONE OF THEM HAD A DAD WHO SMELLED LIKE POT. HE CALLED HER PICKLE PUSS. I THINK THAT IS REALLY GROSS.
THAT IS EXTREMELY GROSS. I THINK NEXT TIME I GO TO A RESTAURANT WHERE THEY ASK FOR A TIP BEFORE THE MEAL, I'LL ASK IF I CAN TIP AFTER I EAT AND THEN JUST CARRY CASH ON ME SO I CAN PUT SOME IN THE TIP CUP WHEN I'M DONE. IF THEY DON'T LIKE THAT... THEY CAN CHANGE THE WAY THEY SERVE PEOPLE.
FIRST, I'D LIKE TO STATE FOR THE RECORD THAT I AM A GENEROUS TIPPER. I DON'T BOTHER DOING ANY MATH, I JUST GIVE WHATEVER GETS ME TO THE NEXT MULTIPLE OF 5 OR 10, DEPENDING HOW MUCH. I USUALLY END UP GIVING 25-30%. IF I HAVE BREAKFAST AT A DINER, THAT'LL TYPICALLY BE $10 OR SO, I END UP GIVING 50% OR MORE IN THESE SITUATIONS. HOWEVER, IF I HAVE POOR SERVICE (LIKE I SEE THE WAITER/WAITRESS ONCE THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE MEAL AND THEY DON'T GET ME SOMETHING I ASKED FOR OR JUST SEEM TO HAVE FORGOTTEN ABOUT ME), I JUST TOSS THEM A FEW BUCKS. IF THEY'RE RUDE OR GENERALLY UNPLEASANT I LEAVE THEM A NICKEL SO THEY DON'T THINK I JUST ACCIDENTALLY FORGOT TO TIP, THEY KNOW I DID IT ON PURPOSE. I UNDERSTAND WHAT MARIO'S SAYING, BUT IF I GO TO A SIT-DOWN RESTAURANT, IT'S NOT JUST TO EAT, IT'S TO ENJOY A NICE MEAL WITH GOOD SERVICE. I PAY THE BILL, THAT COVERS THE FOOD. THE TIP COVERS THE SERVICE. IF THE SERVICE SUCKED, I'M NOT GIVING THAT GUY MONEY FOR NOT DOING HIS JOB. IF THE SERVICE WAS GOOD AND THE FOOD SUCKED, I STILL HAVE TO PAY MY BILL, BUT I'LL TIP THE WAITER/WAITRESS TOO, IT'S NOT THEIR FAULT.
Comments
BUT
I thought it was totally awesome that food was not only cheaper in Japan, but also we did not have to tip. It's just silly what we pay to eat out. I wish there was no tipping. It is an uncomfortable social nicety, where you either make someone's day or piss them off unknowingly.
Worse, is tipping other people - hairdressers? the girl who does my eyebrows? I'm already paying $15 for 5 minutes in your chair. Do I need to make it 18? honestly? I don't even know who to tip in these cases, or how much. Maybe I should tip the boys who change my oil.
Then again, I worked a tipped job once, and tips were nice. But my employer also paid me very little. The big company made oodles on marked up merchandise, while paying me shit for dealing with the hobos that buy it.
If you're confused as to when tipping is appropriate: tip when a human being has to go out of their way to serve you. If the restaurant is buffet-style, or you walk up to a window to order and walk back when the food is ready, you don't tip. If a waiter is involved, taking orders and running back and forth and interacting with the cook and bringing the drink orders of three out of four people then the fourth person decides they want a drink after all so the waiter has to make another trip to get the extra drink and all that jazz: tip! If someone's cutting your hair, they get a tip. Again, people in these positions are paid less than most other jobs because the expected tips account for the rest of their wages.
shakeycat: 10% is not a good tip. You need to pay 15%.
Everybody: tip 15%, then if you feel that they deserve a little something extra, pay more according to what you feel is appropriate. Never pay below 15% to send some kind of message. More often than not, your reputation as a poor tipper will precede you. Because it's rude.
Also to everybody: if you don't like the concept of tipping, or are uncomfortable with the notion, you have the choice to not go to establishments with employees that make a living off of their tips. The decision to go to an eat-in restaurant was entirely your own, and you need to account for tips before making such decisions, especially if money is a concern. When I'm short on cash, I usually don't eat at places where you tip.
I apologize for any vitriol, but this shouldn't even really be something people get worked up about. Tipping is a reality of the system. For the record, I usually tip closer to 20% because it's faster to calculate on the fly. ^__^
Now, do I agree with the structures that make tipping necessary?
Not really. But I've never worked in the food service industry, so I don't understand particulars.
YOU DON'T GET TIPPED BECAUSE YOU GET PAID A SHIT-TON MORE THAN THOSE WHO DO, AND YOU GET BENEFITS AND FLEXIBLE HOURS AND PAID VACATIONS AND ALL THAT OTHER SWEET STUFF.
JUST SAYIN' IS ALL.
EDIT: I don't get any of those things! In fact, I'm rather underpaid for what I do! My work goes out to over 30,000 people and I want a tip from all of them.
To me, tipping is a notion that has gotten incredibly out of control. A tip is something extra added to the bill, an afterthought. A tip should be applied to people who have gone above and beyond what is expected. It should be a courtesy. But in several industries it has become an expectation for customers. And I find that to be highly immoral.
I personally just have an objection to restaurants legally paying employees less than minimum wage and expecting customers to pick up the tab. That's a very poor reason, because now we have made it mandatory. We've now inserted guilt into the equation, and so we are expected to pay extra out of guilt? Just because the restaurant wants to save a few extra bucks? I don't buy it.
For restaurants, I understand that there are different situations. Some restaurants are small and family owned, and they may not make big profit margins. But larger chain restaurants, Chilis and Applebees and such, make quite a lot of money. They can afford to pay their employees minimum wage. Again this comes from my earlier rants in another thread about income distribution, and the people at the top make way more than the people at the bottom, and a marginal decrease in pay for them would be a major increase for everyone else. The only way waiters will get more than minimum wage is if they demand it. And their demands are not heard when they rack in tips.
I'm not saying we should not tip them out of protest, especially given the economy now. I still tip when I'm in the US, but I'll bitch about it. The problem isn't necessarily in the service people themselves, but in the businesses they work for.
In my opinion, it should be illegal for industries to pay employees less than minimum wage for any reason. Then we can tip only if we think they've done a good job, not just for doing their job.
“Yes, because it’s concurrent with the culture and area I live in.”
I would pick that.
I don’t tip because I believe my server or barber has done anything out of the ordinary to deserve extra funds, but because the society I live in expects it. If I had it my way, I would compliment my server personally for great service or complain to the manager for poor service. However, American culture has embraced tipping as the social norm and people who fail to tip are seen as stingy or rude. I really don’t see our practice of giving tips disappearing anytime soon, even though it’s such a subjective means of delivering praise.
Seriously, how arbitrary is the 15% or 20% rule? Who came up with what constitutes as a ‘generous’ tip or not? Is there some culture convention where we decide servers get 15-20%, barbers gets 12%, and my mailman gets a buck every once in while? What does the pizza delivery person get? I’ve read several articles detailing the gratuity amount each service job expects. Such as never tipping a professional or the ubiquitous ‘tip-jar‘. Why? Who says?
There is no convention. It’s just how our culture ebbs and flows with what people believe to be an acceptable tip. It’s times like these when analyzing my culture that I admire another culture’s way of doing things.
I don't object to tipping entirely; I just object to the societal obligation. This is a crude example, but consider the Hooters plan. I have no idea what the girls get paid hourly there. Maybe it's the same as other places, maybe it's a little better, I dunno.
But most patrons are very happy to tip there. That's because most patrons are men, and they like the "service" they get there, which often includes flirting, interacting, and other miscellaneous activities. As a result Hooters girls tend to get paid quite well I believe, and it's not out of expectation; rather most patrons genuinely want to tip well.
I'm not really a Hooters fan, but I thought this was a good example. I've been in plenty of situations when I've felt perfectly happy to give a tip at restaurants, like when a waiter has been very friendly, funny, taken time to help us, etc.
It seems the main concern in restaurants is the pay issue. So what about tipping in other industries where you do get paid more than minimum wage? Like tip jars set up for coffee, or for getting your haircut?
I myself refuse to tip when the service has been just below average.
TIP JARS ARE NOT AT ALL OBLIGATORY. I USUALLY THROW A LITTLE OF MY SPARE CHANGE IF I PAID WITH CASH, BUT I DON'T OFTEN GO OUT OF MY WAY TO MAKE USE OF THEM.
WELL SAID SIR...
ANYWAY, I WAS A PIZZA DELIVERY DRIVER FOR A LONG TIME AND I ABSOLUTELY RELIED ON MY TIPS TO COVER THE COST OF GAS AND MAINTENANCE ON MY CAR, AND BECAUSE OF THAT I ALWAYS TIP SERVERS AND DELIVERY PEOPLE REALLY WELL BECAUSE I KNOW HOW GODDAMN FRUSTRATING IT IS TO GET A PATHETIC TIP (YOUR ORDER IS $11.95... OH, 12 DOLLARS? I CAN KEEP THE CHANGE? FUCK YOU JACKASS).
OR, AT LEAST, I'D EAT THERE IN ALL SITUATIONS WHERE I'D NORMALLY EAT AT THE KIND OF RESTAURANT WHERE YOU HAVE TO TIP, WHICH ISN'T OFTEN. I'M NOT SURE IF THE PREVIOUS SENTENCE MADE GRAMMATICAL SENSE.
ALSO, IF A FRIEND OF MINE DOEN'T TIP, MY WHOLE FRIEND GROUP RAILS ON HIM. HE EITHER PAYS THOUGH PEER PRESSURE OR IS ASSIGNED DOUCHE-BAG STATUS FOR A TIME.
I TOOK THE TIME, OF COURSE, BUT A NEW THING IN AUSTIN THAT HAS WEIRDED ME OUT A LITTLE BIT IS THAT A LOT OF RESTAURANTS HERE REQUIRE YOU ORDER YOUR FOOD AT THE REGISTER, TIP THE WAITER, AND THEN GET YOUR FOOD. NOT ONLY DO I NEED TO FIGURE OUT A 15% TIP REALLY FAST, BUT I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW MY SERVICE WILL BE... AND IF A DON'T TIP HIGH ENOUGH, THE WAITERS THEN HAVE THE OPTION TO SPIT IN MY FOOD BEFORE EVEN SERVING ME. I USUALLY DON'T TIP AS HIGH AT THOSE RESTAURANTS JUST BECAUSE I'M WORRIED I'M TAKING TOO LONG (THE LINE DOESN'T MOVE ALONG UNTIL YOU'VE SIGNED FOR THE MEAL AND GIVEN YOUR TIP), AND I FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE TIPPING BEFORE I'VE RECEIVED ANYTHING.
IS IT COMMON FOR RESTAURANTS TO WORK LIKE THIS? I HADN'T COME ACROSS ANY BEFORE AUSTIN, SO I FIGURED IT WAS UNCOMMON. THERE MIGHT JUST NOT BE A LOT IN DALLAS.
ACTUALLY, THAT'S JUST A REALLY WEIRD SYSTEM. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO THINK OF THAT.
IS YOUR FRIEND NAMED MR. PINK?
I ALSO DON'T LIKE WHEN I AM FACED WITH "TIP?" AND I WAS JUGGLED BETWEEN THREE DIFFERENT WAITERS. DO I WRITE ON THE BILL WHICH ONE WAS CUTEST? I DON'T REMEMBER !!!
USUALLY IF I DO NOT TIP I HAVE NO INTENTION OF RETURNING. IT WAS THAT BAD.
THE WAITRESSES IN THE PUB I USED TO WORK NEXT TO WOULD MAKE OVER $100 IN TIPS ON TOP OF THEIR $8-9/HR WAGE. THEN THEY WOULD COME TO MY LIQUOR STORE AND BUY BOOZE AND CIGARETTES. ONE OF THEM HAD A DAD WHO SMELLED LIKE POT. HE CALLED HER PICKLE PUSS. I THINK THAT IS REALLY GROSS.