Tipping

[hismikeness]

A great scene from the movie Resevoir Dogs had the gentlemen sitting around a breakfast table discussing the tips.

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: 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, 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 never ever tip, huh?
    Mr. Pink: I don't tip because society says I have to. Alright, I tip when somebody really deserves a tip. If they put forth an effort, I'll give them something extra. But I mean, this tipping automatically, that's for the birds. As far as I'm concerned they're just doing their job.
    Mr. Blue: Hey, this girl was nice.
    Mr. Pink: She was okay. But 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.
    Mr. Pink: Look, I ordered coffee, alright? And we been here a long fucking time and she's only filled my cup three times. When I order coffee I want it filled six times.
    Mr. Blonde: Six times? Well, what if she's too fucking busy?
    Mr. Pink: The words "too fucking busy" shouldn't be in a waitress's vocabulary.
    Nice Guy Eddie: Excuse me Mr. Pink, but the last fucking thing you need is another cup of coffee.
    Mr. Pink: Jesus Christ man, these ladies aren't starving to death. They make minimum wage. You know, I used to work minimum wage and when I did I wasn't lucky enough to have a job the society deemed tipworthy.
    Mr. Blue: You don't care if they're counting on your tips to live?
    Mr. Pink: [rubbing his middle finger and thumb together] You know what this is? The world's smallest violin playing just for the waitresses.
    Mr. White: You don't have any idea what you're talking about. These people bust their ass. This is a hard job.
    Mr. Pink: So is working at McDonald's, but you don't see anyone tip them, do you? Why not, they're serving you food. But no, society says don't tip these guys over here, but tip these guys over here. It's bullshit!
    Mr. White: Waitressing is the number one occupation for female non-college graduates in this country. It's the one jab basically any woman can get, and make a living on. The reason is because of tips.
    Mr. Pink: Fuck all that! I'm very sorry the government taxes their tips, that's fucked up. That ain't my fault. It would seem to me that waitresses are one of the many groups the government fucks in the ass on a regular basis. Look, if you show me a piece of paper that says the government shouldn't do that, I'll sign it, put it to a vote, I'll vote for it, but what I won't do is play ball. And this non-college bullshit you're givin' me, I got two words for that: learn to fuckin' type, 'cause if you're expecting me to help out with the rent you're in for a big fuckin' surprise.
    Mr. Orange: You know what, you just convinced me. Gimmie my dollar back!

Myself, I've always strived to tip at least ten percent. However, around here it seems the tipping is getting out of control. I went to a take and bake pizza place, ordered a pepperoni (which they have pre made on a shelf behind the cashier). I was in and out in 2 minutes. When I paid with my debit card, there was a spot on the receipt for a tip. I scratched it out and didn't leave a tip, but still- I was made to look like a prick scratching out the tip before I sign the slip with the girl right there in front of me. And why does the girl making my $4 coffee have a tip jar? I bought a burrito from a convenience store deli... in front of me... tip jar. It's ridiculous.

My mom was a waitress in my grandfather's restaurant, and she worked exclusively on the tips. She made out ok, but she also worked very hard and was deserving of the tips she got. I'm not like Mr. Pink, in that I don't tip, but I won't go over 10%-ish (in fact, I'll usually round to the nearest 5 dollar increment if it's bad service, nearest 10 if it's good sevice. I leave a lot of $7.42 tips, or $8.13). With really good service, I'll tip well, but I will also send a compliment the server's way, in person. That is rare though.

I've never worked in the food service industry, so maybe I'm not terribly enlightened on this, but it seems like tipping is getting out of hand.

[Stevil]

We don't tip in NZ, they pay people proper wages and don't rely on customers to decide if the staff member is performing well or not.
It seems to me that tipping puts a lot of tention between the customers and the staff. I don't like the idea of it.
When I travel overseas, I don't have a clue whether I should tip or not, and how much is appropriate. It is difficult and uncomfortable for me.

[xSilverPhinx]

I don't tip, because I'm incredibly stingy :p.

[BullyforBronto]

http://www.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/002.htm

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires payment of at least the federal minimum wage to covered, nonexempt employees.  An employer of a tipped employee is only required to pay $2.13 an hour in direct wages if that amount plus the tips received equals at least the federal minimum wage, the employee retains all tips and the employee customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips. If an employee's tips combined with the employer's direct wages of at least $2.13 an hour do not equal the federal minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference.

Note that the minimum wage for non-tipped employees is $7.25 per hour.

Unless you had a really crappy experience, I believe the standard tip should be around 20%. If you can't afford to eat out and tip 20%, you should probably just go to the grocery store. Waitstaff can barely pay the rent on their wages.

I do agree that tip jars and tip lines on a receipt at coffee shops and the like is a bit excessive.

[AnimatedDirt]

Unless you had a really crappy experience, I believe the standard tip should be around 20%. If you can't afford to eat out and tip 20%, you should probably just go to the grocery store. Waitstaff can barely pay the rent on their wages.

According to the Animated Dirt schedule of tipping, 10% is the low end and 20% is extremely high.  I nomally tip between 15%-18% for good service, 18% coming when the server is way cool.  If I leave a 10% tip, the server was borderline at best in service, but seemed to be a nice person.  Anything less than that feeling gets zero tip.

[DeterminedJuliet]

I've worked as a waitress, so I pretty much always tip. ~15% is what I am for if the service is decent.

In Ontario wait-staff make about $2.00 less an hour than minimum wage, so they have to bring in that much in tips just to keep up. I also know how horrible and thankless the job can be, and that most people are only in it because they need the money, so I usually tip whenever I can.

When it comes to "tip jars" all over the place, though, I don't feel any obligation. Every now and then I might throw some change their way, but I certainly don't feel like I have to.

[Davin]

I dated a waitress in the state I'm currently in, the legal base is what a lot of them make, which was less than half the federal min wage. Also the place where she worked, she had to spread the tips she made to the cooks, bartender (if the people ordered drinks) and bus boys. Also, many times the place is understaffed, so if the wiatress is handling a lot of tables, I tend to tip a little larger even if he service is not so good.

[Whitney]

If the person is rude or incompetant I don't tip, they shouldn't be working a job that requires tips if they can't at least pretend to be nice.  For normal wait staff I usually just add a dollar to two on; for me that usually is more than 20% because I try not to spend much when ordering; I also try to leave the tip in cash so they don't have to share it with anyone else (some places make wait staff share their tips with the rest of the staff).  I do not leave a tip if all the person did was hand me something form behind a counter and don't feel bad about putting a slash through it; they are not paid below min wage.  If a waiter is especially rude I leave small change as a tip as an insult; but it's been years since I've run into a person who was that bad.

[Crow]

Depends what country I am in. Europe; only for good service, US; always, Japan; never. It all depends on what is custom in that country. I think its bull shit though employees should be paid a good wage.

[Gawen]

I'll tip if the service is good. I don't tip for fast food. But I will tip the pizza deliverer. I've done that before and know what it's like to run up $15 of gasoline and end up the day with $10 or less.

[Ecurb Noselrub]

In Texas, between 15-20%, unless they totally suck, in which case I tip 25% because I figure they've had a bad day. 

[BullyforBronto]

In Texas, between 15-20%, unless they totally suck, in which case I tip 25% because I figure they've had a bad day. 

I like it!