InvidiousCourgette,
You should also tip bartenders, and gas attendants if you let them pump your gas. On the off chance that you decide to get a tattoo while on vacation, tip the artist too.
Also, if you’re not sure, you can always ask. I’ve done this in unfamiliar situations (the first time I used a grocery delivery service, for example). I just say “Is this a tipping situation?” or if you know a tip is expected but not sure how much: “what’s the customary tip for something like this?” If there’s a “system” they’ll usually explain it to you. (For example I think you’re supposed to tip bellhops (if you use them) per bag, yes?)
Oh, tip taxi drivers too. Voguevixen, yes you’re right about tipping bellhops and the bag people at the airport (sky-caps I think?) per bag.
But the other nationalities seemed to figure out that tips were expected on their own. If they didn’t, I would politely let them know. I remember, for example, some Aussies being very apologetic when I told them, but Germans and English still left crappy tips. These people would get $3 in change, and then reach in their pockets for the equivalent of a quarter. (One time, I actually threw the tip at the guy!) Twenty-five cents is an insult, no matter how you look at it.
In a word, yes.
I work at a tourist bar downtown here in San Antonio, so most of my clientele is from out-of-state/out-of-country, and it’s a given that you’re likely to get screwed by anyone other than Americans. Germans are the only non-Americans I have encountered who regularly tip a decent percentage. I have never asked why, so if anyone can shed light on the German tipping system I would be curious to know the answer.
Europeans who travel a lot over here, or who are accompanied by Americans, are the exception; they’ve learned to tip.
But people on vacation, particularly Brits b/c we get a lot of them (apparently Texas is quite a popular destination for Brits on vacay) are usually lovely people, but you just know you’re going to get a dollar or two if you’re lucky, and it’s rather demoralizing. I don’t really blame them b/c they don’t know better, but it still crosses my mind that most of the time when they sit down at my bar I’m going to work for free, or for so close to free it’s the same thing.
FYI, though, Uncle Sam is a very poor tipper as well. Anyone on a government credit card is a notoriously bad tipper; I would assume that they have a very strict limit on what they are allowed to tip. Some of them will tip cash to make up for it, but most of them don’t.
Yes, it is slightly irksome when my tax dollars are used to get someone drunk and then I don’t even get a decent tip on top of it. :dubious:
My WAG is it is because Germans are always so well prepared when they travel. They really study their guidebooks, which tell them what to tip in the United States. My experience with Germans was different, which is maybe because I was working in Europe and they assumed the tipping customs were the same as in Germany.
My fav crap tipping story is when a brit-top asked if “this little card that says what to tip your server that you’ve put here on the table” was true. When I said that it was, he nodded and said thanks.
I was left 1 percent on a 100 dollar tab.
Niiiiiiiiice.
Sorry for the Hijack.
I give the same service to all people, but there are DEFINITELY times when you know you’re getting stiffed.
As far as the “living wage” thoery goes, I wouldn’t work as a waiter if I didn’t get tips. If all you’re going to pay me is minimum wage, I can get a job sitting on my ass at a gas station making that. Waiting, at least if you do it well, is work.(Bartending too, but that can be more fun) Making $10 or more an hour is the only way it’s worth it, without tips, you’re not going to make that.
-Weirddave, who spent many years behind a bar and under a tray.
golf claps for dave
Pardon a hijack, but does anyone tip for takeout when you don’t have it delivered? I never do, and sometimes I think I’m getting a funny look. There is also that tip line on the credit card slip that is awkward to leave blank.
Usually no, but occasionally I toss them a buck.
I think that many blacks don’t tip white servers because, like the incorrigble Dad who thinks he’s protesting the whole tipping establishment, they feel that they’re “getting back at whitey” for percieved abuse.
Let’s not be politically correct, here - the vast majority of African Americans walk around with a chip on their shoulder and a sense of entitlement. I’d imagine they think they’re getting their reparations one stiffed white kid at a time.
cite?
Oh come on. This doesn’t have anything to do with political correctness. The majority of posters who have responded to this thread have given their honest observations, based on their own experiences. You THINK you know the reasons behind this, you IMAGINE you know what people are thinking - in other words, you’re pulling this out of your ass.
There probably are black people who have a chip on their shoulder - but I highly doubt very much there’s some kind of national initiative to “get back at whitey” by stiffing food servers.
I like you. No, really, I do. I just wanted to point out that, you know, not all servers are white.
Other than that, I can tell we’re going to be bestest pals.
Taxi-Cab Racism
Interesting - In that back in the 90’s, when a few people (drivers included) whispered to Danny Glover & ex-Mayor Dinkens that part of reason (mostly non-white) hacks weren’t picking up black fares in NYC might have less to with racism / fear and more to do with the feeling they were either stiffed or tipped way below the standard - both refused to even let that point enter the debate.
IMHO
Best tippers: People from the trade (w/w’s), (non-vagrant) Drunks and smokers.
JohnBuck: Who’s spent many years under a barstool and over the toilet.
Hell, why be correct at all? Someone’s going around with a chip on his shoulder, probably even one based on his ancestry. But I think you’re looking in the wrong direction.
Daniel
[hijack] Doesn’t surprise me. I prefer my service this way. I think overly-gracious waiters are annoying, seem to be “playing to the tip”, and in a reverse-psychology thing, kind of come across like they’re above being a waiter. Like “i’m clearly in waiter MODE, but it’s not who I am.” Like they’re ashamed of being a waiter, so they have to treat it like a role.
All I want is a person to take my order, bring it, and bring the check somewhat quickly. He’ll get over 20%, everytime.
I don’t even really care for a greeting. I want him to be a like a by-the-book robot. I’m not there to make a friend.
[back on topic, kind of]
I’ve been to some places in Baltimore (the “Double-T” comes to mind) that are in a majority black area and just add 15% to the check. Works great for me.
Everyone carrying on about how blacks are a bunch of cheap bastards. And now cry because one person offered an opinion on why they were cheap bastards that wasn’t politically correct. I don’t see why race couldn’t factor in on why blacks are cheap tippers (of which I don’t think has any cites, so to speak, either). Hell, it’s possible that the cheap bastards are even cheaper when it comes to whitey being a server.
I’ve never really noticed the whole Black=No Tip. But then, I haven’t been a waitress in almost a decade. Now that I tend bar, I think that blacks tip a similar percentage (about a buck a drink) as everyone else. Also, alot of the black people that I serve now are in gratuitied positions themselves. People in restaurant work/hospitality (valets, bellmen, doormen, caddies, etc) tend to tip really well anyway.
Back when I worked as a waitress/pizza delivery driver, most of the people that I served were college students. So, if I was getting crappy tips from a table of black people, I probably assumed it was because they were broke college kids.
I do. Not like I would have if I had eaten at the restaurant or had it delivered. The waiter/bartender is taxed on the amount of the order whether you take it to go or eat it there. I usually give them a buck or two just so that they don’t have to pay to sell me the food.
As far as the “tip” line on the credit card slip…it just prints that way. We can’t make the computer print the slip differently for dine-in vs carry-out.