Comments on: Tipping Makes no Sense

By: Flying LlamaFish

Flying LlamaFish — Fri, 22 May 2009 05:05:58 +0000

Marelisa:I think it’s the latter.

Cody: Thank you. Glad to have you in the Pun Intended universe!

Emeraldas: That is a nice thing to do.

By: Flying LlamaFish

Flying LlamaFish — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:52:16 +0000

Don: Viewing the waiter as a salesman working on commissions is a very interesting perspective.

Writer Dad: Thanks

Jesse Hines: Good point.

MaRie: We’re on the same page. Give my regards to Germany.

lain Broome: That would certainly make the world a more simplistic place.

By: Emeraldas

Emeraldas — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:48:12 +0000

Good points all around. One thing we make sure we do is to leave something nice in the tip jar when we go to pick up our takeout (Chinese, Outback, etc.). Even though we didn’t get the full waited-on table experience, they do a nice job of prepping our food, putting it in containers, and so on. It occurred to us awhile ago that not giving a tip is almost like penalizing the staff, who we would have tipped if we ate on-site.

By: Cody Dream-Life-Coaching

Cody Dream-Life-Coaching — Sun, 17 May 2009 15:46:51 +0000

Nice site, my first visit, good stuff, I’ll be back!

By: Marelisa

Marelisa — Thu, 14 May 2009 19:22:34 +0000

I guess part of the reasoning is that if you’re ordering a really expensive meal you can afford to leave a larger tip. Or maybe it’s just one of those random things that isn’t really supposed to make any sense

By: Iain Broome

Iain Broome — Thu, 14 May 2009 12:14:18 +0000

Maybe it’s high time the world agreed on a specific figure and made it compulsory so that we all know it’s going to happen and we never feel awkward about it or spend any time dilly-dallying over how much to tip.

I vote for three English pounds and sixty-seven pence.

By: MaRie

MaRie — Thu, 14 May 2009 08:34:13 +0000

I’m far away from you in Germany, but I had the same thoughts last weekend. I think it was the the first time that I thought about tipping seriously, and my conclusion was, that giving a fixed percentage is not reasonable, because, as you said, more expensive food and drinks are not necessarily more work for the waiter.

By: Jesse Hines

Jesse Hines — Wed, 13 May 2009 20:56:14 +0000

Don makes a good point that the “waitperson is essentially a sales person working on commission. The more they sell the more they make.”

It makes all the sense in the world from the servers’ and their managers’ perspectives, but, yeah, I can see where it doesn’t make as much sense on the customer’s end.

Nevertheless, in American culture, most of us know if we go out to a restaurant or order pizza delivery, that tips–so long as decent service is provided–are expected.

It makes sense. Since most servers and food delivery drivers are paid at or often, well below, minimum wage, tips are the only incentive for people to do these jobs. And if people can’t make decent enough income from their tips, they won’t do the job, thus limiting the availability of these services.

Probably the only way their employers could pay them well enough to make tips irrelevant would be to raise menu prices dramatically.

So, to keep these services widely available for us to enjoy, we ought to tip well.

By: Vered - MomGrind

Vered - MomGrind — Wed, 13 May 2009 19:21:19 +0000

Back in my early twenties (I feel so old when I say that) I used to be a waitress. I relied on tips – I was making minimum wage without them. Perhaps it’s not logical, but unless service is horrible, I always leave 20%.

By: Writer Dad

Writer Dad — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:08:08 +0000

A cocaine filled baton? ROTFLMAO! Awesome Llamafish, awesome.