some of the biggest arguments I've had with my wife involve me tipping on food and drink and her tipping on the total incl tax
― Bunsen burner, bubbles, IT'S ALIVE! whaaaaa-? (HI DERE), Monday, 1 March 2010 18:21 (fourteen years ago) link
how much of a dollar difference does that usually make?
― max, Monday, 1 March 2010 18:24 (fourteen years ago) link
If you tip on the total including tax, you're more likely to err on the side of generosity. If you have great service, do it J's way and if the service is mediocre or just dinery, do it your way. This seems like a good married-folks' compromise (but may not fool J).
― ned ragú (suzy), Monday, 1 March 2010 18:25 (fourteen years ago) link
like $1 on 50 xp
― iatee, Monday, 1 March 2010 18:26 (fourteen years ago) link
haha i mean, id say, "why are you arguing about it if its only a dollar," but i am in a relationship, and i know the answer
― max, Monday, 1 March 2010 18:26 (fourteen years ago) link
the argument I get in w/ my gf is tipping on really small totals...I think there should be a minimum tip and she thinks it should always be a %
― iatee, Monday, 1 March 2010 18:28 (fourteen years ago) link
you are right fwiw
― call all destroyer, Monday, 1 March 2010 18:32 (fourteen years ago) link
I know!
― iatee, Monday, 1 March 2010 18:35 (fourteen years ago) link
I'm right in all our arguments actually
― iatee, Monday, 1 March 2010 18:38 (fourteen years ago) link
What do you guys do on pre-tax totals between $5 and $10? It seems sort of petty to calculate an exact percentage, especially if you're paying in cash. So do you just always round up to $2?
― dylan's craggy larynx (jaymc), Monday, 1 March 2010 18:47 (fourteen years ago) link
$2-3
― FIST FIGHT! FIST FIGHT! FIST FIGHT IN THE PARKING LOT! (milo z), Monday, 1 March 2010 18:48 (fourteen years ago) link
This may be insane, but I think the extra dollar I give the Waffle House waitress on my $7.59 ($3) breakfast makes almost no difference to me but probably brightens her day because at least one person was marginally nicer than usual?
― FIST FIGHT! FIST FIGHT! FIST FIGHT IN THE PARKING LOT! (milo z), Monday, 1 March 2010 18:50 (fourteen years ago) link
tipping very attractive waitstaff more than your usual% - classic or sad?
― he often deploys multiple browsers and constantly replies to himself (velko), Monday, 1 March 2010 18:50 (fourteen years ago) link
Sad, but apparently we do this subconsciously as well.
― ned ragú (suzy), Monday, 1 March 2010 18:51 (fourteen years ago) link
worked with a super-cute girl who was a dance major, she always took off her butt towel when she had a table of men, claimed that she didn't realize she did so.
― FIST FIGHT! FIST FIGHT! FIST FIGHT IN THE PARKING LOT! (milo z), Monday, 1 March 2010 18:52 (fourteen years ago) link
xp yeah milo i've always kind of thought that--like it everyone rounded up on their tips that waitress would see a big benefit compared to all our small losses?
― call all destroyer, Monday, 1 March 2010 18:53 (fourteen years ago) link
Yes, precisely. Why do I suspect that this has deeper implications regarding one's political affiliation?
― FIST FIGHT! FIST FIGHT! FIST FIGHT IN THE PARKING LOT! (milo z), Monday, 1 March 2010 18:56 (fourteen years ago) link
butt towel? what kinda restaurant was this
― iatee, Monday, 1 March 2010 18:56 (fourteen years ago) link
i am confused about the connection between butt towel and being a dance major
― horseshoe, Monday, 1 March 2010 18:57 (fourteen years ago) link
dancing makes your butt sweaty I guess
― iatee, Monday, 1 March 2010 18:58 (fourteen years ago) link
butt towel - folded napkin waiters carry on the back of their apron to clean up spills, wipe hands, etc.
dance major - she had a rockin' booty
― FIST FIGHT! FIST FIGHT! FIST FIGHT IN THE PARKING LOT! (milo z), Monday, 1 March 2010 18:59 (fourteen years ago) link
got it
― horseshoe, Monday, 1 March 2010 19:00 (fourteen years ago) link
^^^see, I understood completely what was going on here.
― ned ragú (suzy), Monday, 1 March 2010 19:01 (fourteen years ago) link
I have a pretty fast and hard 1$ per 5$ rule for meals (inc drinks) and $1 per drink for drinks alone. My wife, if I would let her, would likely tip 100% all of the time because she briefly worked as a waitress. I have actually used the good vs bad service rule to decide when I tipped pre- or post-tax; I have also used the "woah she is cute" rule.
xp: kinda confused as to how ppl were confused by milo's story? unless it was comedy naivety
― Bunsen burner, bubbles, IT'S ALIVE! whaaaaa-? (HI DERE), Monday, 1 March 2010 19:03 (fourteen years ago) link
i was genuinely confused, let's not dwell on how dumb i am
― horseshoe, Monday, 1 March 2010 19:04 (fourteen years ago) link
not everyone is familiar with the term "butt towel"
― max, Monday, 1 March 2010 19:05 (fourteen years ago) link
comedy naivety on ilx?
― iatee, Monday, 1 March 2010 19:05 (fourteen years ago) link
i sort of figured out butt towel from context clues but i didn't know dance major was code for nice butt! then i was like, was it a restaurant/dance studio? what is the significance of the dancing?
― horseshoe, Monday, 1 March 2010 19:06 (fourteen years ago) link
lots of xps - Chicago has a 10% sales tax, incl. on food/drinks at restaurants, so it can make a significant difference when calculating the tip. I basically will calculate tip based on the pre-tax bill if I didn't like the service, and calculate tip based on the bill w/ tax if I did like the service.
Jeff and I went out to dinner with a causal acquaintance and her husband one night (they were buying us dinner for some reason) and the husband made a big production about how it is improper to tip on alcohol sales at a restaurant, and that you should only calculate the tip based on the food bill, minus booze, which he then proceeded to do despite our pleas to let us leave the tip, as he had been so generous with the bill. I have no idea where he got that crazy idea, but we were mortified. And if anybody had pulled that bullshit on me during my server days, I would have been really, really grumpy about it.
― she is writing about love (Jenny), Monday, 1 March 2010 19:06 (fourteen years ago) link
brb, opening a potato restaurant/dance studio covered in Jennifer Beals iconography
it will be called Mashdance
xp: I used to do that but then realized it was bullshit
― Bunsen burner, bubbles, IT'S ALIVE! whaaaaa-? (HI DERE), Monday, 1 March 2010 19:08 (fourteen years ago) link
I just thought the term 'butt towel' was funny, that's all
― iatee, Monday, 1 March 2010 19:09 (fourteen years ago) link
sorry that you disagree
Fuck any asshole who doesn't tip on booze.
― FIST FIGHT! FIST FIGHT! FIST FIGHT IN THE PARKING LOT! (milo z), Monday, 1 March 2010 19:09 (fourteen years ago) link
dance major = somehow knows to do handsprings/prove bendiness whenever the male gaze 'pon dem.
― ned ragú (suzy), Monday, 1 March 2010 19:10 (fourteen years ago) link
Oh no Jenny! The only reason I ever used to shill drinks is it was the easiest way to double your tip in a jiff (and it was pretty lol in Mormon country as it was way easier to get someone to buy a strawberry lemonade than a beer).
― How to Make an American Quit (Abbott), Monday, 1 March 2010 19:11 (fourteen years ago) link
that actually describes the male dance majors I know much more accurately than the female dance majors I know
― Bunsen burner, bubbles, IT'S ALIVE! whaaaaa-? (HI DERE), Monday, 1 March 2010 19:12 (fourteen years ago) link
And the most flagrant examples of both sexes generally go to Sarah Lawrence.
― ned ragú (suzy), Monday, 1 March 2010 19:14 (fourteen years ago) link
Abbot, I know!!! At the redneck bar where I worked, the only way I was able to make anything even vaguely resembling a living was by dumping lots of Bud Light down their gullets. Plus then in the semi-find dining setting, the bottles of wine and cocktails are the real money makers.
I took a totally unscientific poll after that dinner, and most people I knew (incl. some long-timer servers) had never heard of such a practice. Conclusion: dude is wicked cheap (which is a sad conclusion because dude was a six-figure big law associate).
― she is writing about love (Jenny), Monday, 1 March 2010 19:15 (fourteen years ago) link
I think the idea that these iron laws of tipping exist is pretty silly.
I mean it comes down to: this person is getting you stuff and you want to say thanks. 15%ish is the socially accepted guideline, but I mean, if I order a $30 steak instead of a $5 salad and all the waiter has to do is bring me the plate, I don't think the waiter really deserves 6x the tip. so I tend to overtip in case #2 and undertip in case #1.
― iatee, Monday, 1 March 2010 19:20 (fourteen years ago) link
Ugh I just keep thinking of that episode of Friends where Rachel's dad (?) took her and Ross out to dinner and paid for all the huge meal, booze etc but was leaving a stingy tip, so Ross tried to sneak some cash down to bump up the tip and Rachel's dad was all "OH YOU THINK I'M A CHEAPSKATE, PAY FOR THE WHOLE THING YOURSELF IF YOU'RE SO AMAZING"
When a family member visited us in the US it was like that at every meal, without the accusations of cheapskating but it was kind of implied. At least he had the excuse he wasn't from here.
― Not the real Village People, Monday, 1 March 2010 19:21 (fourteen years ago) link
a 20 percent tip on a 5 dollar salad alone is one dollar
― Mr. Que, Monday, 1 March 2010 19:21 (fourteen years ago) link
tipping scales linearly, sorry iatee but you are a disgusting savage when it comes to tipping ;_;
― Bunsen burner, bubbles, IT'S ALIVE! whaaaaa-? (HI DERE), Monday, 1 March 2010 19:22 (fourteen years ago) link
also that is not "all the waiter has to do"
― call all destroyer, Monday, 1 March 2010 19:24 (fourteen years ago) link
I was kind of embarrassed to go out for a meal w/some friends & they all were busting out their little cell phone tip calculators so they could come up w/exactly $0.78 as the 20% tip. And asking the server for change (coins from dollars!) so they cld leave that exact amount for him. Which would not have been so bad if he hadn't had to come up w/8 individual checks, and if we hadn't all been sitting there for *three hours.* I left him over 1000% tip (still not that much) bcz I felt so bad about my friends leaving him a little pile of pocket change.
― How to Make an American Quit (Abbott), Monday, 1 March 2010 19:25 (fourteen years ago) link
I mean over 100%
my range of tipping is like 0-30 tbh
― iatee, Monday, 1 March 2010 19:25 (fourteen years ago) link
iatee you know that waiters are paid less than minimum wage and have to make it up through tips, right?
― max, Monday, 1 March 2010 19:25 (fourteen years ago) link
one thing I am ruthless on is getting short-changed; if that happens, I don't tip, period
― Bunsen burner, bubbles, IT'S ALIVE! whaaaaa-? (HI DERE), Monday, 1 March 2010 19:26 (fourteen years ago) link
(in this age of credit/debit cards, that rarely happens, tho)
― Bunsen burner, bubbles, IT'S ALIVE! whaaaaa-? (HI DERE), Monday, 1 March 2010 19:27 (fourteen years ago) link
my waiter friends make more money than my non-waiter friends who are in crappy jobs, so I don't have much pity over that
― iatee, Monday, 1 March 2010 19:27 (fourteen years ago) link