# Tipping **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 21, 2009, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/514582 "2009-10-21T06:42:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/514582/21 "2009-10-21T16:10:21Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > But is it more or less than you tip the guy who declaws your cat? That depends. Is the declawer a pedophile? Is he being a jerk? ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/514582/22 "2009-10-21T16:40:17Z")
A wise man once told me if you can hear your tip hit the counter, it probably isn’t enough! ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/514582/23 "2009-10-21T17:01:07Z")
My personal guidelines: [ul][li]$1 minimum[/li][li]20% baseline tip[/li][li]Dropping closer to 15% for mediocre service[/li][li]Honestly bad service will get you 10%[/li]Truly abyssmal service results in no tip (I’ve done this only once or twice in my life)[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/514582/24 "2009-10-21T17:06:11Z")
I agree with your scale, except this: [quote=“Shot\_From\_Guns, post:23, topic:514582”] [li]Truly abyssmal service results in no tip (I’ve done this only once or twice in my life)[/LIST][/li][/QUOTE] I’ll leave something like a nickel for reprehensible service. I don’t want there to be any question about whether or not I forgot to tip, or if I’m cheap. I want my tip to state clearly, “I think you suck, and that you should never wait tables again.” ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/514582/25 "2009-10-21T17:41:04Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > I’ll leave something like a nickel for reprehensible service. I don’t want there to be any question about whether or not I forgot to tip, or if I’m cheap. I want my tip to state clearly, “I think you suck, and that you should never wait tables again.” The one time I can actually remember leaving no tip, I wrote a comment on the tip line of my reciept. Hopefully, that got the message across. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/514582/26 "2009-10-21T18:05:55Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > A FAT doctor on a FAT woman, right? Then you’ll hit just about all the thread nightmare factors 🙂 Well, as an abortion doctor, I find it’s well-received to just offer to perform an abortion, gratis, if my waitress is fat enough to probably be pregnant. Except those three times. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/514582/27 "2009-10-21T18:12:07Z")
> [@Eternal](#): > > Is there any reason to tip if you’re not a regular? Basic human decency? ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/514582/28 "2009-10-21T18:20:29Z")
> [@Eternal](#): > > Is there any reason to tip if you’re not a regular? > [@bouv](#): > > Basic human decency? It begins… ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/514582/29 "2009-10-21T18:25:58Z")
Nice Guy Eddie: C’mon, throw in a buck! Mr. Pink: Uh-uh, I don’t tip. Nice Guy Eddie: You don’t tip? Mr. Pink: Nah, I don’t believe in it. Nice Guy Eddie: You don’t believe in tipping? Mr. Blue: You know what these chicks make? They make shit. Mr. Pink: Don’t give me that. She don’t make enough money that she can quit. Nice Guy Eddie: I don’t even know a fucking Jew who’d have the balls to say that. Let me get this straight: you don’t ever tip? Mr. Pink: I don’t tip because society says I have to. All right, if someone deserves a tip, if they really put forth an effort, I’ll give them something a little something extra. But this tipping automatically, it’s for the birds. As far as I’m concerned, they’re just doing their job. Mr. Blue: Hey, our girl was nice. Mr. Pink: She was okay. She wasn’t anything special. Mr. Blue: What’s special? Take you in the back and suck your dick? Nice Guy Eddie: I’d go over twelve percent for that. ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/514582/30 "2009-10-22T15:22:09Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > It begins… Dun, dun, duuuun! ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/514582/31 "2009-10-22T15:37:29Z")
I used to be a generous tipper. About three years ago, though, I started picking up on an interesting meme–waitstaff hustling me out of the place, even if I was a good-tipping regular. This was coupled with several online screeds from waitpersons griping about customers overstaying their welcome and such. The current zeitgeist seems to be that customers are there to order, eat quickly, and tip 20%+ regardless of whether the order was right or they were checked on whilst eating. I grew up in a family grocery store. My mentality was that I worked for the customer, and anything the customer wanted (within reason), they got. They put food on our table, they kept us in business, we owed them a living. The concept of automatic entitlement isn’t something I can digest, and it’s damn sure not something I will subsidize. So, I just don’t go out much any more, and when I do, I tip adequately, but not well unless the service is exceptional, which it rarely is. I’m sure the inevitable protests will come; they’ll just turn me off even more to tipping well. ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/514582/32 "2009-10-22T15:52:34Z")
I also baseline at 20%, drop to 10-15% for mediocre, but for abysmal service I speak to a manager - to be fair, if I’m tipping 25%+ I also speak to a manager whenever possible. > [@kayaker](#): > > Nice Guy Eddie: C’mon, throw in a buck! > Mr. Pink: Uh-uh, I don’t tip. > Nice Guy Eddie: You don’t tip? > Mr. Pink: Nah, I don’t believe in it. > Nice Guy Eddie: You don’t believe in tipping? > Mr. Blue: You know what these chicks make? They make shit. > Mr. Pink: Don’t give me that. She don’t make enough money that she can quit. > Nice Guy Eddie: I don’t even know a fucking Jew who’d have the balls to say that. Let me get this straight: you don’t ever tip? > Mr. Pink: I don’t tip because society says I have to. All right, if someone deserves a tip, if they really put forth an effort, I’ll give them something a little something extra. But this tipping automatically, it’s for the birds. As far as I’m concerned, they’re just doing their job. > Mr. Blue: Hey, our girl was nice. > Mr. Pink: She was okay. She wasn’t anything special. > Mr. Blue: What’s special? Take you in the back and suck your dick? > Nice Guy Eddie: I’d go over twelve percent for that. Muppets Version: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9bBXLqmCRs](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9bBXLqmCRs) ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Happy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Mr\_Happy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Happy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/514582/33 "2009-10-22T16:19:35Z")
_token “non-american” post_ Is ther a rason that you think people should be expected to tip rather than the employer should be paying minimum wage? My understanding is that the employer has to legally make up their wages to equal minimum wage if they dont get enough tips. So you know that the waitress at Denny’s WILL get at least as much as the guy behind the counter at Burger King… so why tip one and not the other? ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/514582/34 "2009-10-22T16:24:37Z")
Because the waitress at Denny’s is doing much more than the guy behind the counter at Burger King, and she took the job with the understanding that she’d be paid commeasurately. I think the tipping system is stupid and doesn’t generate results consistently, but that’s how it is in America. If you don’t like it, work to change it, or move to a country that pays flat wages instead of tipping (e.g., Japan). To not tip in a location where tipping is expected makes you a cheap asshole. Period. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/514582/35 "2009-10-22T16:29:06Z")
Also, the waitress at Denny’s is kinda cute, and when she refilled my coffee she leaned way over from the opposite side of the table, and…well, that’s why. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/514582/36 "2009-10-22T16:30:17Z")
> [@fubbleskag](#): > > I also baseline at 20%, drop to 10-15% for mediocre, but for abysmal service I speak to a manager - to be fair, if I’m tipping 25%+ I also speak to a manager whenever possible. We went to a really swanky place a few years ago. The service normally great was terrible. Still tipped 20%, but wrote a letter to the owner letting him know the situation. Got a gift certificate for a free meal - and the service was back to normal the next time. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/514582/37 "2009-10-22T21:16:15Z")
Sigh… am I the ONLY one who likes the tipping system? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/514582/38 "2009-10-22T21:34:17Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > am I the ONLY one who likes the tipping system? 🙂 You like the possibility that people will get paid a less than fair wage for their work? That they can excel at their job but still get stiffed because somebody “doesn’t believe in tipping”? That the money you pay, ostensibly for good service, cannot possibly ensure said service unless you become a repeat and recognizable patron of the establishment, because there is no enforced standard of service-to-tip ratio? That some waitstaff will continue to give mediocre or bad service because they know that some people will tip them the same amount regardless? ---
**Author:** ![happiness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e36b37/32.png) [@happiness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happiness)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/514582/39 "2009-10-22T21:34:23Z")
> [@Mr\_Happy](#): > > My understanding is that the employer has to legally make up their wages to equal minimum wage if they dont get enough tips. This is true… But the problem is that most employers don’t want to pay that extra amount. In my place of work, we have been told that we have to claim the amount of tips that would put us above minimum wage, with little regard to whether or not we actually make that much. On a slow night, or when more bad tippers come in than good ones, it’s very easy to fall short of what would bring us up to minimum wage. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/514582/40 "2009-10-22T22:35:05Z")
> [@stuthehistoryguy](#): > > I used to be a generous tipper. About three years ago, though, I started picking up on an interesting meme–waitstaff hustling me out of the place, even if I was a good-tipping regular. This was coupled with several online screeds from waitpersons griping about customers overstaying their welcome and such. The current zeitgeist seems to be that customers are there to order, eat quickly, and tip 20%+ regardless of whether the order was right or they were checked on whilst eating. I just avoid places like this. I _barely_ tolerate restaurants – and only certain of them – that bring me the bill before I’ve specifically asked for it. Granted, I don’t just occupy the table; I’ll always have a beer at hand at the least. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/514582.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/514582.md?page=3)