Suu's typical rant on how you should properly tip your waitstaff.

[Suu]

Look, money is tight, I know this. In fact, you can't fucking ESCAPE IT having to deal with the media shoving it down your throat on the hour. However, don't use the "money is tight" excuse to me when you go out to eat at night and only bring gift certificates and coupons not redeemable for cash and assume you can get away tipping me with imaginary money. It just doesn't work that way.

You'll bitch about this country turning "Socialist", but I can't think of anything more capitalist than giving your server his or her fair share of your bill. Maybe I'm not being clear here, we make slave wages to pay our taxes, I personally make $2.89 an hour which is the Rhode Island minimum for tipped positions. Yes, that's right, I make a few cents more than the Chinese kids sewing together your Nikes. If you don't tip me, I don't pay my bills, and the credit crunch gets worse.

Sure, you'll go, "Gee Suu, you must get great tips with this sort of attitude. " Well you know what, I do, because like every other red-blooded human being in the food service industry, I have a hardened facade of a character I put on to make sure you get what you want, when you want it with a smile on my face. I put forth every effort to make sure that I deserve that 20%.

When you get a pay cut, do you not have the God Given Right™ as an American™ to complain? Of course you do! And so do I. Money is money, and money is tight, yadda yadda yadda,well if money is so damn tight, don't go out to eat. I have a better night when it's slow and I get a few good tables who spend the money than a busy night full of cheap fucks ordering grilled cheese at a 3 star to save a buck. And still, 20% of $20 is $4, not $2! Can't you do math? Or are you going to blame the economy on that too? Also, DO NEVER MULTIPLY THE TAX BY TWO.  Stupid idea whomever came up with THAT one...

"So quit." You'll tell me, and then, what if I do? Then what if all the other servers who took their 5% pay cut do as well? You'll have no one left to serve you. That's a real good job you did on the economy there! Restaurants will close, more people will become unemployed, and the only chain to come out of it alive will be Taco Bell. It's true, I've seen it in a movie.

Bottom line is, kids, tip your servers and bartenders 20% of your check. Tip for me, tip for your friends, Tip for Cain, who works in England and gets paid better than I do anyway by custom, tip for everyone you know that works in a restaurant or could have their livelihood affected by someone who works in a tipped position. You'll be thankful the next time you go out to your favorite local restaurant and it's still there.

If it helps, here's a handy Suu Guide to Tipping (my averages are higher since all servers believe in karma)

Exceptional Service or server that reminds me too much of myself: 25-30%
Average Service, nothing of note but still good: 20%
"Where the hell is she?": 18%
"She sucks." : 15%
"You think it's more important to insult my baseball team than get my drink refill": 10% and a nasty note on the charge slip AND telling the manager on the way out.

Insta-20% Formula for tipping: $2 on every $10, an extra dollar for every amount over 5 more dollars.

Example: The check total is $47.24. 20% of 40 is $8. Since it's past 45, you should tip at least $9.















...This message has been brought to you by a really angry server who got her first flat 15% tip average night since she was 19 and waiting on Florida trash and cheap Canadians.

[Kai]

Yeah, I give a dollar for every five dollar range, and one more depending on how close it is to the next dollar mark.

I may be a poor graduate student, but when I go out to eat I go to the same places over and over. I know the servers, I /like/ them, often stay after my meal to converse with them, and I tip them good so I enjoy the time just as much when I come back.

[Cain]

If money is tight, I can survive without a tip.  I'm bringing in very slightly above the national minimum wage, which is roughly....shit, $9.68, or so.  Three times as much.  I like tips, but I don't need them.

You, on the other hand, could literally not survive without them.  I would be angry in such a situation, especially with cheap fucks.

If you cannot afford to tip, in the USA, then you should not be eating out at a place where tipping is expected.  It's as simple as that, really.

[Z³]

I think 18% is considered to be the base standard, most people in the industry just go up to 20% because the math is easier, and we know how it is.

Most people still think 15% is adequate, and a lot of people seem to think that the percentage goes down as the bill increases.
Basically if you want to be flashy and order a 300 dollar bottle of wine, tip like you can afford it.

... but I have to be honest, A persons attitude usually bothers me more than how much they tip.

I recently worked a party where the guests argued the autograt down to 15% beforehand, in the same breath they somehow managed to increase their level of service (basically arguing themselves into a free coffee/tea service). It was evident from the BEO how nitpicky these people were, and its really quite impressive when that impression carries through onto the paper that basically tells us how to set the room.

Luckily, I work somewhere where 15% still represents a pretty good chunk of change... and I'll take what I can get, I've had worse jobs.

[rong]

you might try writing on the ticket: "i only make $2.89 an hour.  Your tip is greatly appreciated"

i don't think many people realize that min wage for waitstaff is so low.

[Cramulus]

we were just discussing this at a diner:

how do you (wait staff) people feel about tipping with change? If there's a pile of dimes and quarters, is that better than nothing? We don't have a 1-euro coin over here, so coins are basically trash unless you have a good fist full of them.

[Cain]

I'm good with change, if its in a large enough amount. I myself often carry and use coins more than notes, especially silver (50 pence and below), so that's often what I leave behind, especially since I'm not spending big anyway at the moment.

[Cainad (dec.)]

Food service people handle my food, often in places where I can't see them. This alone is reason enough for me to be courteous and to tip healthily.

[fomenter]

please don't jump down my throat.... i thought the standard was  15% for breakfast and lunch (20 % if fine dining) an 20% for dinners (and more if fine dining)..
it has been a long time sine i lived off tips, i am surprised to hear they still do the 2.98 a hour crap, i thought they outlawed "servers wages" years ago..

(i just asked a restaurant owner and they are outlawed in CA, min wage is enforced here)

[Suu]

you might try writing on the ticket: "i only make $2.89 an hour.  Your tip is greatly appreciated"

i don't think many people realize that min wage for waitstaff is so low.

That's a great way to get fired...though I wish it wasn't. In fact, I wish a news article could be posted on this.

we were just discussing this at a diner:

how do you (wait staff) people feel about tipping with change? If there's a pile of dimes and quarters, is that better than nothing? We don't have a 1-euro coin over here, so coins are basically trash unless you have a good fist full of them.

Change isn't bad, just don't tip me in all pennies. A few dollars in quarters or loose change is actually helpful to my bank and then I can just cash it out with the bar at the end of the night.

Food service people handle my food, often in places where I can't see them. This alone is reason enough for me to be courteous and to tip healthily.

Do never piss me off. If you do, I hope you like sriracha or your soup bowl microwaved to the point it's boiling.

please don't jump down my throat.... i thought the standard was  15% for breakfast and lunch (20 % if fine dining) an 20% for dinners (and more if fine dining)..
it has been a long time sine i lived off tips, i am surprised to hear they still do the 2.98 a hour crap, i thought they outlawed "servers wages" years ago..

(i just asked a restaurant owner and they are outlawed in CA, min wage is enforced here)

It varies. In CA since minimum wage is enforced, then 15% is the standard. Any place where server minimum is still in effect the minimum is 20%

[rong]

you might try writing on the ticket: "i only make $2.89 an hour.  Your tip is greatly appreciated"

i don't think many people realize that min wage for waitstaff is so low.

That's a great way to get fired...though I wish it wasn't. In fact, I wish a news article could be posted on this.

my bad.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

The tipping courtesy standard in Oregon is 20%, with a 15% minimum. 10% would be "your service sucks ass, dickhole". At bars, if paying cash, almost everyone tips a dollar per drink, with good beer being usually $4/pint. Most people I know tip $1.00 for cheap beer too, which means that sometimes the tip rate is 100%. If you run a tab then you usually go with the 20% rule, rounding up as applicable.

We don't have a server's wage; minimum wage is $8.40. Server jobs are coveted and very hard to get, especially bartending.

I try not to tip with coins, but I'll round out a tip with quarters if I don't have enough bills. When I'm dating someone, I judge them based on how they treat service employees and how much they tip, because someone who's a dick to servers will surely be a dick to me eventually, too. And no matter how much of a dick I think someone is, if I see them make eye contact and speak courteously to those who serve them, and tip well, it'll go a long way toward changing my mind.

I can't stand people who need to make themselves feel "above" people doing customer service. Obviously I'm biased because I spent 13 years as a customer service wage slave, but still. Man. Those people cheese me off.

[Suu]

Only ONCE did I have an issue with someone giving me the high-horse attitude and pull the, "Just how hard is your job anyway?" bit. Then she didn't realize how SPICY our entree was, especially when I wouldn't refill her water for a while.

There's ways to get your tables back, and I'll sacrifice a shitty tip for it. None of them are disgusting as what they do in Waiting, but at least I know that movie struck fear into the hearts of many people.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I almost never see people being actively dickish to servers, though I certainly got plenty of that over the years. What I consider "being a dick to the server" includes not looking at them, speaking to them in a peremptory tone, and not saying thank-you. Treating them like machines, basically, instead of using the basic courtesy that should be extended to anyone.

[rong]

i used to bar tend at a bowling alley in the UP^TM

we did get minumum wage which, at the time, was $5.19/hour i think.  

but talk about shitty tips - the regulars (and all the customers were regulars) would should up around 3 or 4 pm and drink til close.  they would leave a dollar tip.  the bowlers didn't tip shit - especially if they ordered food.  the college kids would tip pretty good - but they only came out for $3 pitcher night.  on a *really* good night, i'd go home with $25 or so.

i remember i worked a 14 hour shift one sunday and split 50 cents with the cook.

so don't gimme your crap about not getting enough tips  

/rant