D.Currie wrote:
> We went out to dinner tonight to a local place. When it came time to pay, I
> needed the waitress to make change so I could tip her. She came back with a
> five and a ten, and muttered something about "sorry, no change." Grrr. Five
> bucks was less than 15 percent, but even though she wasn't a spectacular
> waitress, I didn't want to leave that little. We go to this place often, and
> we've had this waitress before. But the full $10 was more than 20 percent
> and that bugged me. Half of me was thinking she was just a little too dumb
> to understand that I needed the singles for the tip, but the other half of
> me was thinking that she was pushing me to make the choice between the $5
> and the $10 and figuring she'd get the better tip.

At the one restaurant where we are regulars, I tip very well, but
expect great service. If my son and I go there for lunch, and the bill
is $10, I tip $2 for marginal service, $3 for good service, or most
likely, $4 for excellent service. The servers know this, and bring me
salsa before I run out, and always keep my water glass from running
dry. If my wife is with us, the check will likely be ~$18, for which I
leave $4, $5, or more likely $6. Is $2, $3, even $5 or $10 too much to
pay for VIP treatment?

Let's take the $18 check. 15% rounded up to the nearest dollar would
be a $3, making the meal total $21. A $6 (which is ~33%) tip would
bring the meal total to $24. $24 is only ~14% more than $21, but that
extra 14% has a huge effect on the overall pleasure of the dining
experience.

When we go in there and are assigned a server who doesn't know us,
(s)he brings water and chips&salsa, just like for every customer.
After the server goes back to the back, (s)he acts differently,
obviously having been told by other staff that I am a huge tipper, but
only for spectacular service. I also often tip with $2 bills, which
just serves to highlight the size of the gratuity.

In addition to the benefits I derive, there's the plus of knowing
you've done a good thing, even if your motives were not primarily
altruistic.
>
> Considering I specifically asked her to make change, I was more annoyed than
> when a server has come back with just big bills. The smart ones will usually
> break at least one of the bills down so you've got a ten, a five, and
> singles instead of a twenty, but sometimes they just come back with the
> change in whatever form is easiest. But I don't think I've ever asked
> someone to make change and had them say there was none.
>
> I did some waitressing when I was a teenager, and one of the things I
> learned early was that you made sure the customer had good change to leave a
> tip.
>
> In this case, DH went to the cash register and got change. Didn't seem to be
> a shortage there. Next time we go there, I'll make sure I've got the right
> change for tipping.
>
> --
> Donna

--Bryan