When you’re in a small mom and pop and the owners wait on you? They aren’t working for waitress minimum. If they are then they won’t be in business long anyway.

If they took the order, brought/refilled my drinks, delivered my food...in other words, if they waited on me, I'm tipping them.

Tipping culture is out of hand, I'll be the first to admit, but I'd also assume mom and pop work their fucking asses off for small margins.

That distinction isn’t something I’d even think about. If I am in a restaurant, I tip the wait staff. When I cannot afford to do that, I will stay home and fix my own meals.

In my own small town I consider tipping generously to be a way of directly helping people who are working for a living rather than being parasites and not sending money off to a pit someplace that benefits everyone except those who need it.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeGLI:
If they took the order, brought/refilled my drinks, delivered my food...in other words, if they waited on me, I'm tipping them.

Tipping culture is out of hand, I'll be the first to admit, but I'd also assume mom and pop work their fucking asses off for small margins.

Yep it's out of hand because data processing companies for CC have found that putting that Tip in front of checking out allowed businesses to reap 15 to 20% increases in gross margin on every over the counter sale.

It's getting to the point I'm going to carry cash to pay for any restaurant/coffee/drink purchase over the counter or in a car line because of it. Especially if it's mom and pop stores, putting that on the CC machine to force you to pick no or an amount is a psy-op, it preys on peoples good nature.

Maybe I should just be the a-hole I've been accused of being more often.

I usually tip well when I tip provided the service warrants it. We have a bunch of mom and pop places we like and the owners wait on us sometimes. I tip them like I would tip any wait staff. I'm not tipping the wait staff because of how much money they get paid, I'm tipping because of what they have done for me above and beyond just taking my order and bringing me the food. Are they personable, knowledgeable about the menu, keeping track of the drinks for timely refills, checking the order before they bring it out to make sure it is right, checking to see if we need anything, and my favorite; when I pay with cash, say "I'll be right back with your change", instead of asking if or assuming they can keep the change.

I don't tip for counter service, drive thru, or any place I have to do the work. I will tip for take out orders at a sit down restaurant and the pizza delivery guy. I went through the Dunkin' Doughnut drive thru to pick up some K-cups for the wife and they had a cup sitting on the ledge with Tips handwritten on it. Sadly, it didn’t surprise me.