Phunny... never thought I'll have enough material to start an "Etiquette" series. But why not?? I'm in audit... compliance is my middle name these days.
We begin today with a story from The Sports Leader... where during the slowest sports day of the year... we hear the story of a golfer who won a championship and pocketed $1.29M for his winnings. The rule of thumb is, you give your caddy 10% of your booty... in this case, $129,000. But the golfer hired a temporary caddy, down in Mexico no less, and ended up giving him only $5000. Which triggered me to wanna jot down... some recent thoughts on tipping. (added one day later -- The golfer ended up giving the caddy $50k. Short of the $129k....but better than $5.)
Growing up... restaurant tips has always been 10%. It's easy math. But over the years, the 10% has climbed up to 15%. Nowadays, restaurant almost always print out 18%, 20%, 22% as suggested tipping amounts. Having been in the service industry... and dad being a waiter all his life, a lot of workers live and die on the tip, not the salary.
Some restaurants have learned to automatically add an 18% tip to parties of 6 and more. Which I'm totally against... There goes the incentive of quality service, right???
Well... how much do you tip???
Hotel cleaning service - This comes up all the time at work. A couple bills daily?? Or do you leave a big amount when you leave? Problem being... hotels rotate cleaning persons. The day you don't tip... might be one person. And the next day, a different person who cleans pockets a bigger tip. I personally don't like ppl coming into my room during my stay, so I leave the "Do Not Disturb" sign up on the door until I checkout.
Valet/Bell Service - I hate both of these. I can park myself, thank you very much. And give me a cart, I'll take up my own luggage. But when some hotels force you to valet/bell service... do you slip a $5 (OUCH!?!?) Or do you go with number of people in your party?? The $1 doesn't even go anywhere these days.
Room Service - in the spirit of the hotel stay... how much do you tip if you want some towels, a blowdryer, or some extra linens?? But what gets me is...these amenities should be in your room already. By them failing to have it prepared, I'm being punished by having to push $1-2 to them??? Hate it... but if I happen to have $1-2, why not.
Haircut - I used to look for haircut places that was $7-$8. That way, my tip is what rounds up to $10. But with inflation and minimum wage rising, haircuts are now $10-$12 (for me). I went to a $10 haircut place where I dropped a $20. The barber had the gall to give me two $5 in change. What??? Does that mean I have to give a 50% tip??? Heck no!!! I asked for change. A more pragmatic barber would give me one $5 and five $1's. I can't blame the guy for trying.
I recently met a friend of a friend who's a hairstylist (not barber) and I asked him what's the Rule of Thumb. His answer.... 10%. Wow... I was floored.
Pho - for the longest time. I was taught to not have to give a tip. What do they do?? They drop off a bowl of soup and that's it. But the past two years... I've upgraded it to 10%. It helps that a lot of Pho places take credit card. If it were cash....
Take out - Here's a conundrum. They did NOT serve me. One bit. So why pay the service charge?? Well.. restaurant rule of thumb is, the tips are shared amount the waiters, busboys and the kitchen staff. So I wasn't exactly served nothing... I guess I owe it to the chef to drop some money. As much as it kills me, I generally go with the round up to the nearest dollar in the 5-10% range. It's embarrassing when I put ZERO, or do the empowering "line". I've also noticed that the cashiers nowadays slyly look at the receipt you just signed. They're expecting it... oh yes... they are.
Buffets - So they come 1-2 times the entire meal to take your dirty dishes away. If they showed me where I can bring my dishes, I don't have to tip at all!!!! Right?!?!? So with Sweet Tomatoes, the buffet place we fancy the most... I generally go with $1 / person.
Taxi / Uber / Lyft - was outside a director's office and I couldn't help overhearing that for a $30 taxi ride, he tipped $10. WOW!! That's 33%. Upon asking him why... his answer was priceless. "We are very blessed for working where we work. These guys really do depend on your tip to live. And trust me, they will remember." I'm not as bold as he is. Nor do I make the money he does. But it makes complete sense, especially when it's part of per diem anyways.
To be continued...
Mood: frugal
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