To Tip or Not To Tip Part 1

After a nice meal at a nice restaurant, the subject of how much to tip always comes up. There is always 2 sides to this subject. The people who are “For” tipping and the people who are “Not So Fond Of” tipping.

In this post we will explore the First Half of this debate, on the side of the people who are all “For” tipping. Later in the week we will look at the flip side for the second half of this debate.

“I always tip at least 25%.” my friend would always say. After following my friend around to different restaurants the last few weeks, I calculated the average tip he gave that he thought was 25%, was actually averaging out to like 35%. On an average tab of maybe $30 my friend would tip between $10 to $12. I questioned why he gave so much and this was the feedback I got:

“Have you ever worked in the service industry before? Do you know that waiters make lower than minimum wage? They make like 2 or 3 bucks an hour. I know because I used to be a waiter and it would really suck if the person did not leave tip. If you think about it these people RELY on tips to survive.”

Another friend of mine gave almost the same answer, she said:

“I used to tip 10% to 15%. But after I started to bartend and wait tables, I knew how it felt to work hard for tips and you began to think certain people were so CHEAP if I worked my butt off to serve and give good service and only get a dollar or so. Now when I tip, if they did a great job I give at least 20%.”

Another friend of mine who owns a restaurant also gave a similar answer:

“Have you been in their shoes? I mean that is just the way I was brought up. You would give and some way some how that generosity will come back to you. Regardless of how the service was I always give more than 20%. Some of these people, this is the only thing they have as a source of income.”

Summary from what I have gathered (may not be the reason everyone tips), the people who I know that tip a lot tend to have had Service Industry experience of their own. In other words, they “know how it is” therefore they give more to give back. These generous tippers tip between 20% to 40% without knowing it and will defend their fellow Service people.

How about you? How much do you tip? And why? Scroll down and leave your side of the story.

Stay tuned for the other half of this debate. We will explore the flip side of these generous tippers. I will tweet the update so Follow me at www.twitter.com/FeedingTheCrave

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