On Sat, 8 Dec 2018 17:47:24 -0500, Dave Smith
> wrote:

>On 2018-12-08 5:08 PM, cshenk wrote:
>> Dave Smith wrote:
>>
>
>>> FWIW.... there are minimum wages for servers here. It is lower for
>>> those serving alcohol, but it currently $12.20 /hr here.
>>
>> A waitress may only make 1.25 an hour and be expected to 'make of the
>> rest in tips' which she then has to split with the cook and bus boy
>> (cook and busboy make over minimum wage already).
>>
>
>I remain perplexed by the attitudes that I see being expressed here.
>People feel obliged to leave a tip that is based on a percentage of the
>cost of their meal and drinks, some claiming to tip 30% or more, but
>reject the suggestion that the price of service being included in the
>meal. They prefer to pay a percentage of their bill as a voluntary
>gratuity to having a smaller amount added to the menu price.
>
>Having eaten in places like Germany and the Netherlands, where
>restaurant prices are a little higher than they are here, but include
>tax and service, I like the idea of looking at the menu price and
>knowing that we had two appetizers at $10, two entrees at $20, and a
>bottle of wine for $30, then dessert and coffee for $10 each and the
>bill is $110 than to have get see the menu prices 10% lower and then
>getting a bill with taxes as (14% here) and then being expected to tip
>$15 or more on top of that.
>
>I think that you have to admit that there is a degree of sticker shock
>when you get your bill and see the tax added and then being expected to
>add 15% or more.
>
I don't like the tip added in style - no guarantee the servers really
get it, no encouragement for them to be pleasant. I like to decide
for myself how great the service was. I do a percentage because
that's the easier way to do it.