Tips

The exception I make to the 20% rule is for drinking. I think at least a $1.00 tip per drink even for a canned beer should be standard. My reasoning is that if you're going broke from drink tips then you have bigger problems. Not only that, the sound of that clink of the quarter in the tip jar just doesn't sound right. I know somebody who used to get canned Southpaw light for $1.25 a can. The most stomach turning concoction of hops and malts ever devised. All night long you'd hear clink, clink, clink, clinkity-clink. Technically speaking. .025 is 20% of $1.25. If you're going to be cheap and clueless, you could at least run a tab and pay with something that doesn't go clinkety-clink.

There was never a stereotype when I waited tables, they all got broken. Snowbirds, couples with young kids, and black people are just as likely to tip well as anyone else.

Regardless of the customer the moment you heard something along the lines of, "You are one of the best waiters we've ever had" then you knew you had just gotten your verbal tip.

Perhaps some of you who don't tip on to-go, and from what I've noticed in this area, really anything else, ought to spend a day or two working those same jobs and imagine how you'd feel if you waited on someone and gave them attention and service and they didn't leave you squat and that's what you rely on to pay your bills. I'd put money on the fact that you'd start tipping them. The only reason not to would be if they were rude.

I should also point out that many places in this area get VERY busy and it causes back ups at the bar and the kitchen and taking that out on the server or bartender and tipping them less is really not fair. Most of them, including myself, are working VERY hard under pressure and stressful situations to make sure our guests are well taken care of so that they a) return, b) tell a friend so we gain more business and c) so we can pay our bills. Just because we work in the service industry does not make us second class citizens. Many servers in this area are college educated, some even have masters and are very intelligent, perhaps even more so than the guests they serve, but in a troubled economy, we are almost stuck in that industry. Keep in mind, in the morning, we both have to shower, and put one leg in our pants before the other, just like you.

When I first reached adulthood & began tipping, I was taught that the "standard" was 10% for a restaurant meal. I complied w/ this custom. I then spent several years in Europe where almost all restaurants had an "all inclusive" notice on the wall/window/menu, meaning that no tip was required. However, the custom was to leave most or all of coins (not folding money) you got in change. When I returned to the US, the "standard" had become 15%, on which I had not been consulted. I now comply w/ the 15% "standard," but prefer the European system.

please tip whenever you can!
Starbucks, as well as other coffee shops, gives me very good coffee when I need it and I appreciate their service. If I can tip, I will!

Teresa:

I agree that they (sell) me good coffee, as does McDonald's; to be honest, I like the flavor of McDonald's regular coffee more than that of Starbucks' Pike Roast. The small size at McDonald's is $1.00, while a small Pike Roast at Starbucks is $1.50. According to payscale.com, the median wages for fast food workers/servers/cashiers at McD's range from $7.30-$7.58, while the wages for a barista at Starbucks range from $8.04-$9.45. As I mentioned earlier, the Starbucks drive-thru has a depository for tips, while there are no tipping facilities at McDonald's in the drive-thru or inside the restaurant. Why are we supposed to tip a higher-wage-paid server at Starbucks for handing us a cup of coffee in the drive-thru but not someone at McDonald's? And I'm not trying to argue; I'm just trying to understand the rationale of tipping expectations for drive-thru service.

Perhaps some of you who don't tip on to-go, and from what I've noticed in this area, really anything else, ought to spend a day or two working those same jobs and imagine how you'd feel if you waited on someone and gave them attention and service and they didn't leave you squat and that's what you rely on to pay your bills. I'd put money on the fact that you'd start tipping them. The only reason not to would be if they were rude.

I should also point out that many places in this area get VERY busy and it causes back ups at the bar and the kitchen and taking that out on the server or bartender and tipping them less is really not fair. Most of them, including myself, are working VERY hard under pressure and stressful situations to make sure our guests are well taken care of so that they a) return, b) tell a friend so we gain more business and c) so we can pay our bills. Just because we work in the service industry does not make us second class citizens. Many servers in this area are college educated, some even have masters and are very intelligent, perhaps even more so than the guests they serve, but in a troubled economy, we are almost stuck in that industry. Keep in mind, in the morning, we both have to shower, and put one leg in our pants before the other, just like you.

Wow, I missed the part in this thread where someone stated they didn't tip on to-go orders. I believe the discussion at hand was tipping for coffee.

From my experience most people tip very well on 30A. Locals especially tip very well as we understand the stress of working through major holiday weekends and season.

You may want to reconsider your original statement that everyone doesn't tip, because it's flat out false. Many of us have and do work hospitality and for tips as well, so we're pretty well versed in how to do it and what is appropriate.

Right now I'd tip that post at about 10%, the person was rude.

The whole point of this thread is that we don't know what is a proper tip is in these situations and we want to make sure we aren't shortchanging people.

Tipping has proven to be more about pleasing the individual leaving the tip than the person receiving it. In all, it makes as much economic sense as charity. Tipping has a greater impact on the benefactor than the beneficiary, so it's not as much about them as it is about you.

Tipping has proven to be more about pleasing the individual leaving the tip than the person receiving it. In all, it makes as much economic sense as charity. Tipping has a greater impact on the benefactor than the beneficiary, so it's not as much about them as it is about you.

Oh please expand on that logic.

Wow, I missed the part in this thread where someone stated they didn't tip on to-go orders. I believe the discussion at hand was tipping for coffee.

From my experience most people tip very well on 30A. Locals especially tip very well as we understand the stress of working through major holiday weekends and season.

You may want to reconsider your original statement that everyone doesn't tip, because it's flat out false. Many of us have and do work hospitality and for tips as well, so we're pretty well versed in how to do it and what is appropriate.

Right now I'd tip that post at about 10%, the person was rude.

Actually, SWGB, the OP was inquiring as to whether or not tips were given for take-out food orders in restaurants. Many people stated that they chose not to tip, as it did not involve actual "service" like a sit-down dinner does. Several of us (in the service industry) have argued otherwise--that it can actually involve MORE effort because we have only one chance to get it right before the customer takes the bag and walks out the door. I feel that it is a personal decision whether to tip but, as a hostess/to-go person in a local eatery, I can certainly tell you that the tips are very much appreciated.

We kind of segued into the coffee discussion from there. I personally tip a dollar per drink at coffee houses, particularly if I've requested a special creamer or additional ingredient. I just think it's good manners and believe in doing unto others, etc.

Tipping has proven to be more about pleasing the individual leaving the tip than the person receiving it. In all, it makes as much economic sense as charity. Tipping has a greater impact on the benefactor than the beneficiary, so it's not as much about them as it is about you.

I will make sure I tell Chelco that I am only giving that tip money to them to make that random person I waited on last night feel good about themselves. Hope it makes them feel as good as I do when my lights dont get shut off.

I think when people are being paid below well minimum wage because they are supposed to receive tips, tipping is much more about them getting paid properly than me feeling good about it.

IMO most good tippers are those who have worked in the service industry, or have friends and family who did/do and educated them.

This is the chance for service folks to educate people about what is the norm and what should be given in odd situations - otherwise many people who would probably tip if they "knew better" will continue to not do so out of ignorance.

I will make sure I tell Chelco that I am only giving that tip money to them to make that random person I waited on last night feel good about themselves. Hope it makes them feel as good as I do when my lights dont get shut off.

I am speaking on an individual basis. The difference between a good tip and bad tip (10% vs. 20%) is about 2% of a server's nightly wages after taxes (serving 20 tables all night), or 0.4% of weekly wages working 5 nights per week. We can expect that the bad tipper is not a frequent patron because returning customers actually have of an economic incentive to tip. Given that "good" tipping is the social norm in the US, a negligible weekly difference in tips is not as harmful to an individual as the social stigma of being a "bad" tipper.

Michael Lynn (former bartender and waiter with a PhD in social psychology) has written more about it, some quoted below from the salmon colored paper.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/be390fbe-a893-11d9-87a9-00000e2511c8.html#axzz1KB1vzjNn

Actually, SWGB, the OP was inquiring as to whether or not tips were given for take-out food orders in restaurants. Many people stated that they chose not to tip, as it did not involve actual "service" like a sit-down dinner does. Several of us (in the service industry) have argued otherwise--that it can actually involve MORE effort because we have only one chance to get it right before the customer takes the bag and walks out the door. I feel that it is a personal decision whether to tip but, as a hostess/to-go person in a local eatery, I can certainly tell you that the tips are very much appreciated.

We kind of segued into the coffee discussion from there. I personally tip a dollar per drink at coffee houses, particularly if I've requested a special creamer or additional ingredient. I just think it's good manners and believe in doing unto others, etc.

Gotcha. I always tip for to-go orders unless it's that persons job (i.e. Carrabba's). Most, if not all, of our local restaurants do not have such a position so I always tip.