While I wait for Whomageddon to finish airing so I can download, here's a poll!

[gogmagog]

[Poll #1218262]

I'm just curious about the art of tipping; I'm well-versed in the art of restaurant tipping (having grown up with "home cooking" being various Kansas City restaurants), but I'm always unsure when it comes to those other kinds of tips how much I should give. (I usually end up going for the high side of what I think is acceptable, because I'd rather err on the generous side, but then I wonder whether I'm tipping TOO highly.)

Note that I ask for "on average"; what I mean by that is, how much would you tip for acceptable to good service in this area? Also, if any of these results don't apply, or you have other thoughts about tipping and such, post them in the comments!

Comments

tl;dr answer

[weruletheschool.livejournal.com]

I tend to tip well at restaurants, if the service warrants it. I tip my stylist probably about...20%, but seeing as I don't get the world's most complicated haircut, this ends up being about $5.00. I almost never take cabs, so I'm not really sure.

At a coffeeshop, it varies. If I'm just getting a cup of coffee or a muffin or what have you, I throw the change in the jar. If it's Starbucks and I'm getting a gross girlie drink, anywhere from $.50 to $1.00. If it is a real coffee shop with something fancier, I do a minimum of $1.00 per drink (sort of like at a bar).

I don't demand that my customers tip me for small things, but making a perfect cappuccino is a hell of a lot more complicated than making a gin & tonic, so if bartenders get $1.00 per drink for that shit, then baristas should, as well.

The thing that bothers me is when people go into a coffee shop for lunch and get pretty much the same meal that they would at a typical lunch joint, but don't tip because it isn't a "full service restaurant," never mind the fact that their barista prepped their food, plated it, served it, made their drinks, served their drinks, refilled their drinks, and basically did everything a server does and more, except take their order at the table.

As for the person equating tipping baristas with tipping McDonald's employees...riiight.

Re: tl;dr answer

[yoshitsune.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's another thing I forgot: tipping at bars. I suppose if nothing else, this is illustrating how many opportunities for tipping there are out there.

That tipping continuum for coffeeshop makes sense; and also, yeah, those drinks are more complicated than a lot of mixed drinks, so it does make sense to tip them well for it.

And yes, I see people do the lunch thing and it bothers me as well. Also people who will go to a restaurant, get a full meal, and then tip a single dollar bill. WTF PEOPLE. My dad was like that frequently; we'd go to a nice pizza place, get like two large pizzas for him, me and my stepbrother (plus drinks), running about $25-30, and then my dad would tip $2. It drove me INSANE. Once I started making my own money, I'd usually furtively drop another couple of dollars down on the table as we headed out, especially since it was my favorite pizza restaurant ever and I never wanted it to close (unfortunately it did...RIP Torre's on Wornall, you were awesome, and the hole-in-the-wall in Westport which remains, still carrying your name, just doesn't live up to it).

Re: tl;dr answer

[weruletheschool.livejournal.com]

Once I started making my own money, I'd usually furtively drop another couple of dollars down on the table as we headed out

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who did this! An ex of mine was a horrible tipper, so I would always leave a little something extra. He actually used to tell me that I tipped people too much, and that on all those overnight shifts at a copy-shop putting together mega-projects for people, he never got tipped. When I pointed out that he was also making anywhere from 2-7 times as much as the average server/barista/bartender, he got snippy.

I even leave tips when I stay at hotel. Nothing huge, but a few dollars.

Yeah, Torre's in Westport just isn't the same.

Oh, and Fidel's, the tobacconist in Westport, has a tip jar. That, to me, is truly WTF.

Re: tl;dr answer

[yoshitsune.livejournal.com]

Really? Tipping at a tobacconist's just seems weird, unless he hand-rolls every cigarette to order while you wait. XD