Good old Tightwad Gazette :) I always leave a decent tip unless the service was noteably terrible, and my reasons for doing so are based on my understandings of minimum wage. The minimum wage for someone who can get tips is much less than the minimum wage for someone who doesn't make tips. The tips the worker receives are supposed to make up the difference between his minimum wage and the national minimum wage. Back when the minimum wage was $5.25 an hour, the "tip wage" was $2.13 an hour.
However, employers don't often make up the difference fairly. In addition, I know enough people who don't tip well to know that waiters in most restaurants don't make enough from their tips to make up the discrepancy. It's different in a fast-food restaurant because foodworkers there make the standard minimum wage, not the "tip wage." That said, I will leave a small tip for terrible service. I never leave no tip because it's too easy to assume that I forgot it - I'm making a point here. However, I think in my life, I've done this once, and it was in a situation where I felt personally insulted by this woman's service. Dave ----- Original Message ----- From: "Erika L. Walker-Arnold" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "CF-Community" <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, January 10, 2005 3:48 PM Subject: [didyaknow] #3 To Tip or Not to Tip: That is the Question. > To Tip or Not to Tip: That is the Question. > > Once upon a time, tips were intended as rewards for excellent service. > More often then not, however, tips are given from feelings of guilt or a > desire to impress others, hardly an honest reason to spend money. The > standard service tip today is between fifteen and twenty percent, which > can increase a bill quickly. When it comes to tips, many people have > strong feelings. If you've ever made friends with a struggling waiter > or waitress, then you probably feel a unique obligation to tip > generously. Perhaps you live in an area of the world where it's simply > not done. Maybe you feel pressure to tip generously when you dine with > others. Donating a financial gratuity beyond the required price of a > service is an individual choice. Whenever you give a gift, it should be > considered on a case by case basis, and before you tip, you should > examine your motivations. If you give tips out of a sense of fairness > to service workers, then perhaps you should be giving tips to fast food > workers, after all most of them are financially ignored and can use the > money better then anyone else. If you tip a worker at a place where you > dine routinely, then you may want to motivate the workers for your next > appearance. Quite honestly, tipping after a meal, does nothing to > improve service and really can only be considered a reward for good > service or as a show for others. If you dine with others and you are > obvious about your frugality, you may make them feel uncomfortable. In > such a situation, your tip can be confidential if you pay the bill. > Tipping is very useful in some circumstances, but usually more effective > before the service and not after. If you must have someone park your > car, tipping someone before service, makes more sense then after. > > Unusual Money: Motivation 4 Less > The most creative way to reduce the cost of tipping is to tip with > unusual money. In my case, I went to the bank and got a stack of two > dollar bills, which are not circulated anymore, but are legal currency > and still available. I used to use Susan B. Anthony dollar coins, but > these are too easily confused with quarter dollar coins. Two dollar > bills have enabled me to give much less in tips, while better motivating > workers. Many people collect these bills and see them as a sign of good > luck to receive them. In addition, if you are concerned about > appearances, friends or associates that may be watching will be > impressed instead of disappointed. > > Motivation: Not Employee Enrichment > If tips are for motivation, then motivation is what you are giving, not > employee enrichment, since that is clearly the duty of the employer. > Are customers supposed to fund the payroll for someone else's employees? > Just who is the tightwad here? With that thought in mind, I believe > that motivation should be your focus, not tossing around free money. > Using the two dollar bill motivators, I use three bills ($6.00) when I > have a bill that traditionally calls for an eight dollar tip. When a > situation calls for a five or six dollar traditional tip, I give two > bills ($4.00), thus saving a percentage in actual money while getting a > higher motivation value. My results have always been very well > received. In some cases, you would think I left a twenty dollar bill! > The two dollar tips are always appreciated and usually saved as > keepsakes. (I give fresh bills) Using this technique, I motivate > employees, reward good service, calm those watching, and appropriately > save finances. Of course, if you really want save money, why are you > eating out! > > From: > http://www.tightwad.com/tips8.htm > > > > Cheers, > Erika > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Sams Teach Yourself Regular Expressions in 10 Minutes by Ben Forta http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=40 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:141933 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
