tipping

>>“Do you need change?”

>>Funny you should ask, because I just gave you a $10 bill, and my latte and raspberry scone came to $5.75.

that is a little ridiculous, I don't think I have ever had a server ask that in such a situation.

I think this is just a habitual question that servers ask, not wanting to be presumptuous one way or the other. Not worth getting worked up over, IMO.

better phrase: I'll be right back with your change. This gives them the opportunity to stop you and say keep it, without being presumptuous.

No, if someone orders coffee and a scone, you give them their change. No stupid funny games. If they were going to give you a $4.25 tip, I'm sure they would do it even if you handed them change back.

Also, My everyday calculations are pretty simple: 20% for dinner, $1 per drink, $2-3-4 for food delivery (depending on size and some weird perceived difficulty of deliver), 15-20% or whatever I have for cabs.
You probably have this down better than most Americans! I am constantly having to explain to people that 15% for food is kind of a slap in the face these days.

disagree

i dont think anyone has ever actually asked if he wanted change after he bought a scone with a ten

It just occurred to me that I always tip on the total (incl tax) at restaurants...do other people just tip on the food+drink total? Normally the amounts involved mean that it doesn't make much difference either way, but...just wondering.

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

how much of a dollar difference does that usually make?

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).

like $1 on 50 xp

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

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 %

you are right fwiw

I know!

I'm right in all our arguments actually

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?

$2-3

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?

tipping very attractive waitstaff more than your usual% - classic or sad?

Sad, but apparently we do this subconsciously as well.

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.

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?

Yes, precisely. Why do I suspect that this has deeper implications regarding one's political affiliation?

butt towel? what kinda restaurant was this

i am confused about the connection between butt towel and being a dance major

dancing makes your butt sweaty I guess

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

got it

^^^see, I understood completely what was going on here.

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

i was genuinely confused, let's not dwell on how dumb i am

not everyone is familiar with the term "butt towel"

comedy naivety on ilx?

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?

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.

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

I just thought the term 'butt towel' was funny, that's all

sorry that you disagree

Fuck any asshole who doesn't tip on booze.

dance major = somehow knows to do handsprings/prove bendiness whenever the male gaze 'pon dem.

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).

dance major = somehow knows to do handsprings/prove bendiness whenever the male gaze 'pon dem.

that actually describes the male dance majors I know much more accurately than the female dance majors I know

And the most flagrant examples of both sexes generally go to Sarah Lawrence.

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).

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.

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.

a 20 percent tip on a 5 dollar salad alone is one dollar

tipping scales linearly, sorry iatee but you are a disgusting savage when it comes to tipping ;_;

also that is not "all the waiter has to do"

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.