Pre-figured tips on the check

Culture, Media, General
84

Hi again, sorry for the slow reply, I’m car shopping (sucks).

But that’s my whole problem with your decision to apply the “you’re a monster” appellation in this thread.

You know what happened to you, in your one case, and you have decided that what happened in that situation justified a no-tip in that case.

Yet you do not know what happened to the HO member you singled out (and, yes, you did say so to one particular member - “it makes you a monster”).

So unless you are able to read minds, and have decided that what that HO member had in mind as lousy service did not, somehow, rise to what you yourself experienced as lousy service, then you’re just judging people based on your imagination. Or your ability to read their minds.

What if their experience of “lousy” service was just as bad as yours? What if it was even worse? How do you know?

Calling other members monsters based on your mind-reading ability, or on your imagination of what they have experienced, smacks of irrational judgmentalism.

I just can’t figure out why it’s okay for you, in your judgment, to do something that you say that others, in their judgment, are “monsters” for doing.

I think perhaps you’re too close to the issue, based on what you’ve written above.

Anyway, best wishes and all that. Etc.

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85

You are putting entirely too much thought into this.

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86

I put a lot of thought into most of what I do, and/or what I do not do.

What I don’t do is call people names.

Except maybe when I’m drunk. Maybe I’ve done that before. (?).

But I hope not.

ETA - I think you’re in Bradenton area +/-. (?)

If you have family coming in who’d like a nice inshore fishing trip fairly decent priced, I’ve used this guy Captain Alex Kirby several times and we’ve always had fun and caught a bunch of fish. He’s about $500 for 2 and $50 per additional up to six. Fun and really nice guy (took it easy across the flats for my pregnant daughter who wasn’t sure if she’d be seasick or not (not, as it turns out)).

My son and I are driving back down for mid-Oct to hit the grouper and snook season.

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87

Back when I read women’s magazines they advised to tip the hair washer a few bucks. I’ve never had that many hands working on me but I agree that 20% on the total, which includes all the services, seems like it should be enough and they can tip out accordingly. What a shitty way to treat a customer.

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88

What area are you from originally? Me - mid Atlantic. Maybe it is partly regional? I don’t come from money but we were comfortably middle class.

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89

I grew up in the Midwest, a foster kid. There in the mid-late 70s was 10% standard tip. Throughout the early and mid-80s, 10-15 percent was most common.

According to this article, 15-18 percent was standard through the 1990s and into the mid-2000s.

Anyone claiming to have been tipping 20+ % as early as the 1970s would have been a really, very strong outlier.

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90

My hair cutter comes to my house . She gave up her chair at the salon . She charges 18 dollars . I give her a 50

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91

Tipping threads do seem to bring out a lot of strong opinions.

I am a situational tipper. The amount I tip is a function of where I am eating and how much I am spending.

There’s a diner type restaurant I go to often on weekends for lunch. My lunch plus a beverage often comes in around $20. 15 or 25% isn’t much of a difference for me either way. Most of the times I’ll just leave $30 as I know the servers there don’t make a lot and I wont miss the extra couple of dollars.

If on the other hand I am at one the the temples of fine cuisine in NYC and we’re having a prix fixe dinner, cocktails and wine, 20% seems plenty as that tip will be well into three figures.

ETA: on the haircut thing, I used to go to a barber who charged $22 for a haircut. Took 20 minutes and I would pay him $30. He closed his shop and retired during Covid. My wife said my haircut looked like a $22 haircut. So she sent me off to a fancy pants salon in Tribeca. Now a young woman washes my hair. I have to tip her $5. Then my new “stylist” charges me substantially more than $22 to spend 45 minutes fussing with my thinning hair. Honestly it does look better. At the reception desk there’s this sheet with QR codes for the staff. I open Venmo on my phone, point at the appropriate QR for each person I have to tip and just tap. Easy peasy.

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92

That brings back memories. Here, it’s not legal for them to do so (to cut hair in a client’s house), but my barber lady I’ve had cutting my hair for the last 30+ years did exactly that when I amputated my foot and was laid up.

She refused any payment for haircuts the 6 months I was laid up. I think we’ve caught her up though, in the years since!

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93

Not sure how the restaurants costs have anything to do with tipping.

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94

Shes retired . And who really gives a ,

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95

That salon sounds ridiculous. To be fair though, every salon I’ve ever frequented was a situation where whoever was cutting my hair was also washing it and doing my color. I do the cut and related work on my credit card and the tip to the stylist in cash. Mostly because I can’t write in a tip on the card in these places, which seems weird because restaurants.

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96

My dad was tipping 20% post tax on restaurant meals out in the 1980s and 1990s. We almost only ever ate out at Chinese restaurants or fast food. I was under the impression my paternal grandparents tipped the same.

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97

Agree, as I think are most people.

I’m reminded we’ve been down this rabbit hole many times before, most recently post the Feb Grub Street article:

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104

Sure, big tippers like your folks/grandfolks, and like Ellen above, and I’m sure many others existed. But they (20% tippers) did not seem to be the norm in the 70s and 80s.

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106

I’m just surprised because some of them were pretty frugal otherwise.

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107

Well yes, that’s what I thought. 20% twenty five years ago was generous. It wasn’t like it was Vidal Sassoon or some well known establishment. Like I said once burned, twice shy.

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108

This was interesting from the same platform: https://www.marketplace.org/2021/02/09/how-end-slavery-two-minimum-wages/

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109

Hard time imagine they stayed in business long. They should have at least printed their list of demands before delivering service.

110

Again, that is what I thought. My first time at that salon and I thought I was going to treat myself. Other aquaintances had similar experiences, I figure I was the test rat. I just checked up on the place and it appears they’ve gone through several owners and ‘inventions’ in the quarter century since I was there. Covid shut them down for good and the last owners moved to Hawaii. The nice little building is now a teeny, tiny restaurant. Conveniently, I moved way far away and haven’t had any experience like that since. Live and learn.

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