# Who Should We Tip? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 23, 1999, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-tip/17100 "1999-12-23T15:53:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 1999, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-tip/17100/21 "1999-12-24T16:27:00Z")
I tip waiters and my hairdresser. The few times I’ve used a bellhop or valet parking, they get tipped too. My mom tips the mailman, the newspaper delivery person, the garbage guys, the people who pick up the recycling, her lawn care people, hairdresser, her cleaning ladies, the UPS man – pretty much anyone who ever sets foot in or near her house. I think it’s a “Lady Bountiful” thing with her, and therefore patronizing. She won’t let anyone do anything for her without insisting on paying for it – which has resulted in people being reluctant to help her out, believe it or not. Can’t she just let people have the pleasure of being helpful without being paid? Grrrr. ---
**Author:** ![Cooper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@Cooper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cooper)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 1999, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-tip/17100/22 "1999-12-25T06:18:00Z")
> [@](#): > > He’s of the mindset that the cheapskate employers should pay the employees’ salaries. I agree, but until our system changes, I will continue to tip. Uhm, in every single industry the customer pays the employee’s salary. Its not like businesses just have ‘money of their own’ thats not from sales that they can spend on salaries. The whole point of tipping is that it creates an immediate cash incentive for the wait staff to do a good job with a smile even when they are in a rotten mood. If by royal decree we did away with tipping you would see all restaraunt prices rise by 10% or so to offset the costs of having to pay the wait staff more (and they wouldn’t make as much as they do now - at least as much as the good ones do now, which means more of the good ones would leave the industry). ---
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 1999, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-tip/17100/23 "1999-12-24T20:46:00Z")
About tipping the newspaper delivery person, I have in the past and have also not tipped, mostly because I didn’t know what was appropriate. I read in the paper (not Miss Manners, but a feature like it) that you needn’t tip the delivery person if all they do is throw it in your driveway, which is what mine does. So no tip this year. ---
**Author:** ![timmar68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@timmar68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/timmar68)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 1999, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-tip/17100/24 "1999-12-25T03:46:00Z")
I LOVE this time of year! Tips are so awesome. I get envelopes with extra cash in them, I’ve gotten candy and cookies, gift certificates… A former coworker of mine used to get a great gift from one of her regulars. She got her hair done once a week, and instead of giving her the tip, she would put it in a jar at her home. Then, on her last appointment before Christmas, she would give her the money that was in the jar. That all added up to quite a chunk of change. * * * MaryAnn No, stupid, it’s a boat! ---
**Author:** ![Court\_Jester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/65b543/32.png) [@Court\_Jester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Court_Jester)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 1999, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-tip/17100/25 "1999-12-25T05:32:00Z")
David B says: > [@](#): > > Nobody has ever said to me, “David,you wrote a great report. Here’s a sawbuck.” I’m expected to do my job properly, or I get in trouble. The same should, it seems to me, go for these other folks. Maybe you haven’t, but a lot of people get bonuses at the end of the year, above and beyond their salaries. In a way, that is tipping. I once read that tipping your mailman was illegal. I have no idea where I read it, or if it is true, but it gives me comfort when I stiff him. Of course if he didn’t put half the blocks (junk) mail in my box, I might be more inclined to tip him, or maybe if I tipped him I wouldn’t get my neighbors catalogs. * * * A hat with bells on is not funny, it is the jester underneath. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 1999, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-tip/17100/26 "1999-12-25T05:56:00Z")
I’m usually an overtipper. I didn’t overtip the woman who cut my hair yesterday because she did a lousy job and got an attitude when I tried to explain what was wrong with it, but I still gave her something … service usually has to be **really** bad before I’ll just stiff them, and I’ll always let them (and their manager) know why. Anyway, one thing I’ve always wondered about is food establishments where you order at the counter and they bring the food to your table when it’s ready - are you supposed to leave a tip for them? ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 1999, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-tip/17100/27 "1999-12-25T13:31:00Z")
Court Jester said: > [@](#): > > Maybe you haven’t, but a lot of people get bonuses at the end of the year, above and beyond their salaries. In a way, that is tipping. Not really. Tips come directly from customers. Bonuses come from your boss. There is often quite a difference between how your boss thinks you did and how a customer thinks you did. > [@](#): > > I once read that tipping your mailman was illegal. I **think** that the act of tipping the mailman is not illegal, but if you use your mailbox to leave a tip, that may be the illegal part. I also know that a mailman was busted a few years ago for leaving “happy holidays” cards, in envelopes with his name & address on them, in the mailboxes of people on his route – he didn’t pay the postage for 'em! ---
**Author:** ![GirlFace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecd19e/32.png) [@GirlFace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GirlFace)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-tip/17100/28 "1999-12-29T15:07:00Z")
My son is a waiter, and he relys on tips to make rent, etc. I don’t think it’s right. His boss should just pay him! But that’s the way it is. If they raised the price of the food, you’d still be paying the same amount anyway, so why not? I say, beginning 1/1/2000, NO MORE TIPPING ANYWHERE! And any boss that doesn’t pay a liveable wage should be drawn and quartered! Or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-tip/17100/29 "1999-12-29T16:40:00Z")
Should one tip the flight attendant when purchasing an in-flight cocktail? I never do, but I always feel weird about it. It’s ingrained in me to tip people supplying my drug of choice. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-tip/17100/30 "1999-12-29T19:38:00Z")
_David B: I think that the act of tipping the mailman is not illegal, but if you use your mailbox to leave a tip, that may be the illegal part. I also know that a mailman was busted a few years ago for leaving “happy holidays” cards, in envelopes with his name & address on them, in the mailboxes of people on his route – he didn’t pay the postage for 'em!_ I was spoken to when I was a paperboy about using the mailbox. Some customer didn’t tell me to stop delivery when they were on vacation. After 10 days, there wasn’t any more room in their paperbox, so I put it in their mailbox. The next day, the mailman saw me and gave me a lecture about the illegality of doing that. Now if you “tipped” him at the same time asking that he deliver to you earlier, that would be bribery. * * * Everybody got to elevate from the norm - Rush ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-tip/17100/31 "1999-12-29T19:42:00Z")
Shouldn’t the topic read “WHOM should we tip?”? ---
**Author:** ![Bucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Bucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bucky)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-tip/17100/32 "1999-12-29T19:44:00Z")
I’ve heard from lots of servers/wait staff/whatever we call 'em that the best way to show that the service (or lack thereof) pissed you off is to leave a two cent tip. That way they know that you didn’t forget. I leave that kind of tip only when poor service is combined with a snotty attitude (like the waitress who “corrected” my pronunciation by asking if I meant that I wanted a “Jigh RoW” (dang phoenetic spelling). Bucky ---
**Author:** ![GirlFace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecd19e/32.png) [@GirlFace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GirlFace)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-tip/17100/33 "1999-12-29T19:47:00Z")
Bucky, that’s pronounced “yee-rrrrroo”. Keep yer change. It was a freebie. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-tip/17100/34 "1999-12-29T19:48:00Z")
I tip on the _untaxed_ amount of a restaurant check. It only amounts to a little over 1% of the total, but it’s the principle: I’m going to tip her for adding on the gov’t-sanctioned tax? I don’t think so. I would like to base my tipping purely on the service: number of times I was visited for refills, quality checks, etc. as well as minus credit for being slow with the check, misorders, or rudeness. Unfortunately, this would mean my tip at the greasy-spoon diner would be close to 100% of the bill, and only 5% at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. * * * Everybody got to elevate from the norm - Rush ---
**Author:** ![egkelly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/db5fbb/32.png) [@egkelly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/egkelly)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-tip/17100/35 "1999-12-29T20:05:00Z")
How much should one tip a hooker? ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-tip/17100/36 "1999-12-29T20:16:00Z")
Tracer asked: > [@](#): > > Shouldn’t the topic read “WHOM should we tip?”? I was waiting for somebody to point this out. Yes, it should have been. I was testing you. Nyah! ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-tip/17100/37 "1999-12-29T20:17:00Z")
Egkelly asked: > [@](#): > > How much should one tip a hooker? Just like anything else: Depends on the level of service. ---
**Author:** ![CatInHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CatInHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatInHat)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-tip/17100/38 "1999-12-29T20:20:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Shouldn’t the topic read “WHOM should we tip?”? No, it shouldn’t. * * * Never attribute to malice anything that can be attributed to stupidity. – Unknown ---
**Author:** ![CatInHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CatInHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatInHat)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-tip/17100/39 "1999-12-29T20:42:00Z")
David! “Whom” is the object of a preposition, isn’t it? As in “For whom the bell tolls”. Don’t tell me that my high school lied to me about that, too! Damn, I thought I had finally figured out the rules for this language of ours. Sorry, back from Havana. We stayed in a fancy resort hotel in Mexico once, and the hotel added a charge to the bill for “service”, for the maids, bell hops, etc. It was very convenient, not having to figure out how much to give everyone, but I wondered how much of this charge the maids, etc., actually got. ---
**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-tip/17100/40 "1999-12-29T20:56:00Z")
As a rule, if the answer would have “him” you use “whom”; if it would have “he”, use who. _Who_ did it? _He_ did it. _Whom_ did he do it to? He did it to _him_. _Whom_ should we tip? We should tip _him_. ## For _whom_ does the bell toll? It tolls for _him_. “I believe it is easy to loose sight of the fact the the Lord has created athiests for a reason…to test our faith. They tempt us with reason and facts… Embrase agnostics!! I would cry it from every rooftop: ‘Embrase an agnostic!’” --“Bell”, on the LBMB [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-tip/17100.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-we-tip/17100.md?page=3)