Interesting thoughts of course. I for one try to tip as much as I think the service was worth. Sometimes the problem is I get a server that obviously doesn't care about what they're doing (no, these are not servers I have ever even come close to having contact with ever in the past). It's odd how often these people are at the places that (for your "convenience") tack on the tip to your bill automagically. That being the case, I try to avoid restaurants that do this like the plague. Yes, I know servers tend to rely on tips to make a decent living, and I'm fine with tipping if indeed the service is worth it. However, I don't like the idea that tipping is a means of insuring you don't get intentionally terrible service like someone spitting in your food or drink. That to me borders on extortion, or at the very least, giving the bully at school your lunch money for fear of getting beat up. The only reason I would tip if I received poor service is if it looks like my server has been having a rough day. But if they blatantly, and for no good reason, give me poor service, the lack of a tip should tell them they need to be doing a better job, not to spit in my food the next time they see me. Otherwise, a tip is just an expectation, and if so, just added to the bill, forget about the service. Do I install a virus on a client's computer if I got treated poorly or didn't feel they paid me enough the last time I worked for them? No. Sorry about the ranting, just tipping sometimes gets to me, and how some servers thingk they deserve a good tip, even if they're slapping you in the face. Best Regards, Joel --- Dave Sherman <dsherman at real-time.com> wrote: > Hi all, > > I haven't really been following the thread too closely, but I noticed > that few of you (of those messages which I read, and of those who > actually chose to talk about it) have ever actually worked in the food > service biz. > > Well, I worked as a waiter for 10 years during and after college. The > restaurants don't matter, although they were here in the cities. I want > to bring up one really interesting point: lousy tippers are remembered > by waiters and waitresses. Not only that, but they warn each other if > one person knows something that the others haven't heard about yet. Not > only that, but groups are remembered even more than individuals. > > The situation of a group that tips poorly (regardless of some > individuals being generous and others being cheap) will rapidly > degenerate, because a server thinks, "Why should I bother giving them > good service if they're just going to stiff me anyway?" Meanwhile, the > cheapskates are pointing at the sub-par service to justify their already > > low or non-existent tipping (even though it is likely that their > cheapness is what inspired the poor service in the first place). Those > sitting on the fence, as it were, may very well be swayed by the > cheapskates' argument, and lower their tip as well, further adding to > the degeneration of service. And those who tip 15% minimum, more for > better service, and less for poor service, end up getting poor service > even though they are perfectly willing to tip well for good service. > > Now let's throw another variable into this mess. What if you get a > not-so-ethical server who already knows about a group or individual? > That person has no problem spitting in your drinks or food, or dropping > food on the floor and then just picking it up and serving it to you. > I've seen it done, and it happens a lot more to the cheapskates than the > > generous folk. So from a purely selfish and pragmatic point of view, it > makes sense to tip well, in order to motivate your server to give you > not only good service, but clean food and drink. > > If I ever actually went to a beer meeting, I would do like I've done at > other group meetings: I personally hand the server my cash tip, so he or > > she knows that *I* am generous, even if the rest of the group isn't. > And, in order to really make a distinction between myself and the rest > of the group, I usually give a 25-30% tip -- that covers at least a > little bit of what is lost from those who don't tip or tip poorly, and > further cements the memory of my generosity in the waiter's mind. The > server will remember me in the future, and tell his associates to give > me good service even if they ignore the rest of the group. > > Just my three cents. I'll not saying anything more on this topic. > -- > Dave Sherman - MCSE, MCSA, CCNA > > Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, > for you are crunchy, and good with ketchup. > > > _______________________________________________ > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > http://www.mn-linux.org tclug-list at mn-linux.org > https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota http://www.mn-linux.org tclug-list at mn-linux.org https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list