I like MY perfume, lol, and the only sport I can watch is baseball. It's appeals to my OCD side in a way that things like football and basketball can't. Plus I like that it is slow because I like doing other things while I'm watching TV. Everyone here is into college football, and I haaate it. I seriously feel like my disinterested in football hurts me in job interviews, which is total bullshit.
These are all the things I love about baseball too. I love going to games, even though I barely watch the actual game.
Tipping, up here in Canadaland wait staff have to make at least minimum wage, so it's not like they're living off your tip. I'm already paying 13% tax, so you're only getting a 15% tip, unless your service is exceptional, then maybe 20-25$. Aint nobody got money for more.
I think it is silly how the standard tip percentage keeps going up. First it was 15, then 20, and now I am hearing it really should be between 20-30%
I'm all for tipping for good service, but for goodness sake. The prices of the meals go up, so the amount of the tips go up anyway since they are a percentage. But now the price of the meal goes up AND the percentage? I mean, are we eventually going to get to a place where you are expected to tip 50%?
How about restaurants pay a living wage and I tip what I feel is appropriate for exceptional service, not based on a minimum percentage?
I've worked in the restaurant/bar industry since I was old enough to work, and I agree that 30% standard tip is a bit much. 20%, however, is not. IMO, it's all relative. If you go to the Oliva Garden and get fine service in your $30 meal, leaving your server $6 is decent, standard practice. If you're eating at a more high end establishment though and having a $60 steak and $150 bottle of wine, you should be receiving excellent service. Mostly because your server has gone through extensive training on wine service and food presentation and higher tips are often expected (and given) because of the experience they provided to their patron.
I think cheddar cheese english muffins are the tastiest of all the english muffins. I'm sad they aren't sold in stores.
I had no idea these existed but they sound awesome.
UOs I haaaaate football too. My husband is obsessed which I know contributes to my hatred of it. But I love hockey!!! I also don't really like Saturday Night Live
I think Dane Cook is hot AND funny. This might be more of a flameful
And I have NEVER been paid more than $3.25 an hour bartending in my life. That is NOT a wage. My tips are what paid my rent, so saying that you don't need to tip me well (even though you had top-not h service) because I receive a wage, is laughable and total BS.
I've worked in the restaurant/bar industry since I was old enough to work, and I agree that 30% standard tip is a bit much. 20%, however, is not. IMO, it's all relative. If you go to the Oliva Garden and get fine service in your $30 meal, leaving your server $6 is decent, standard practice. If you're eating at a more high end establishment though and having a $60 steak and $150 bottle of wine, you should be receiving excellent service. Mostly because your server has gone through extensive training on wine service and food presentation and higher tips are often expected (and given) because of the experience they provided to their patron.
This is a bit off topic, but what do you typically tip when you order expensive wine? I think I am usually a good tipper, but I struggle with notion of tipping 25% on the bottle cost. I mean, I tip for good sommelier service if applicable, but I feel like tipping more based on bottle cost isn't quite fair (to me!).
edit: I would like to clarify that I do not order $150 bottles of wine on the reg, lol. This was more of a general bottle cost/tip question.
And I have NEVER been paid more than $3.25 an hour bartending in my life. That is NOT a wage. My tips are what paid my rent, so saying that you don't need to tip me well (even though you had top-not h service) because I receive a wage, is laughable and total BS.
I think she was saying, how about we switch things up, and waiters/bar tenders get paid a decent wage? Not that she thinks they already make one without the tips.
I love hockey and football. I listen to sports radio whenever I'm driving. I don't know why I think it's entertaining because I can't stand to sit around watching sports on TV all day. I'll watch my team, but that's it.
I'm sorry people think they shouldn't tip a massage therapist. They work very physically demanding jobs and often don't have health insurance. Around here massage therapists that work at Massage Envy make only $12-$15 per massage, and that doesn't count in downtime or people who cancel. An LMT can usually only do 30 massages max per week, and that is really pushing it physically. That's barely over $20K per year at the high end without tips, and with totally killing themselves in the process. I make considerably more than that being self employed, but I also take way fewer clients per week and don't have to worry about health insurance. I don't sweat it when someone doesn't tip me, or tips me low in my practice, but I sure as hell side-eyed people who did it when I worked for someone else. One of my best friends broke her foot and could only take off 3 days, and that was only because her grandma wrote her a check to help her out. Then she was back to massaging 30 hours a week and still has lingering pain from not resting it like she should have.
I think it is silly how the standard tip percentage keeps going up. First it was 15, then 20, and now I am hearing it really should be between 20-30%
I'm all for tipping for good service, but for goodness sake. The prices of the meals go up, so the amount of the tips go up anyway since they are a percentage. But now the price of the meal goes up AND the percentage? I mean, are we eventually going to get to a place where you are expected to tip 50%?
How about restaurants pay a living wage and I tip what I feel is appropriate for exceptional service, not based on a minimum percentage?
I've worked in the restaurant/bar industry since I was old enough to work, and I agree that 30% standard tip is a bit much. 20%, however, is not. IMO, it's all relative. If you go to the Oliva Garden and get fine service in your $30 meal, leaving your server $6 is decent, standard practice. If you're eating at a more high end establishment though and having a $60 steak and $150 bottle of wine, you should be receiving excellent service. Mostly because your server has gone through extensive training on wine service and food presentation and higher tips are often expected (and given) because of the experience they provided to their patron.
So it seems like you're saying paying 20% at a high end place isn't enough? What would be enough? I mean, if you had a $60 steak and a $150 bottle of wine, 20% of that is $40, and that assumes you ate alone. How much more would be enough to cover even excellent service?
Of course, all of this would be a moot point if Congress would just raise the minimum wage for servers. When I was a waitress, we had to give a cut to the rest of the staff, so the measly 10-20% I got would be shared with the hostess, bartender, bussers, and kitchen staff.
And I have NEVER been paid more than $3.25 an hour bartending in my life. That is NOT a wage. My tips are what paid my rent, so saying that you don't need to tip me well (even though you had top-not h service) because I receive a wage, is laughable and total BS.
I think she was saying, how about we switch things up, and waiters/bar tenders get paid a decent wage? Not that she thinks they already make one without the tips.
I don't know if you meant me, but a living wage would be one that an employee can live off of making tips a bonus or supplement. I certainly don't think $3ish is a living wage.
I'm sorry people think they shouldn't tip a massage therapist. They work very physically demanding jobs and often don't have health insurance. Around here massage therapists that work at Massage Envy make only $12-$15 per massage, and that doesn't count in downtime or people who cancel. An LMT can usually only do 30 massages max per week, and that is really pushing it physically. That's barely over $20K per year at the high end without tips, and with totally killing themselves in the process. I make considerably more than that being self employed, but I also take way fewer clients per week and don't have to worry about health insurance. I don't sweat it when someone doesn't tip me, or tips me low in my practice, but I sure as hell side-eyed people who did it when I worked for someone else. One of my best friends broke her foot and could only take off 3 days, and that was only because her grandma wrote her a check to help her out. Then she was back to massaging 30 hours a week and still has lingering pain from not resting it like she should have.
But similar arguments could be made about a lot of jobs. Childcare, for example, is a low-paying job which often doesn't provide health insurance and can be physically taxing as well (no, I'm not saying it's as physically taxing as massage). I think a lot of the confusion comes in because it's hard to know do we tip because it's customary or do we tip because someone does us a service (which is just about anyone) or do we tip because they don't make enough without it (which is also a lot of people now).
I've worked in the restaurant/bar industry since I was old enough to work, and I agree that 30% standard tip is a bit much. 20%, however, is not. IMO, it's all relative. If you go to the Oliva Garden and get fine service in your $30 meal, leaving your server $6 is decent, standard practice. If you're eating at a more high end establishment though and having a $60 steak and $150 bottle of wine, you should be receiving excellent service. Mostly because your server has gone through extensive training on wine service and food presentation and higher tips are often expected (and given) because of the experience they provided to their patron.
This is a bit off topic, but what do you typically tip when you order expensive wine? I think I am usually a good tipper, but I struggle with notion of tipping 25% on the bottle cost. I mean, I tip for good sommelier service if applicable, but I feel like tipping more based on bottle cost isn't quite fair (to me!).
edit: I would like to clarify that I do not order $150 bottles of wine on the reg, lol. This was more of a general bottle cost/tip question.
20% is standard IMO! I don't expect people to tip me more than 20% on wine they order- regardless of the price of the bottle. It's the people who subtract the price of the alcohol off their check and then tip that drive me nuts. Serving booze is no different than serving food. And people who tip less at expensive restaurants send me into a blind rage. If you can't afford to tip your server at least $40 on your $200 check- don't eat at expensive establishments!
I'm not sure if bebeetmoi meant me? I was the one who explicitly said I don't want to have to tip people who make a wage.
I obviously don't consider $2-3 per hour a living wage.
But I do feel that if you work at starbucks and get say $10/hour people shouldn't be expected to tip. Of course, its still nice to tip sometimes but I don't like that everywhere in life now everyone is looking for tips, they are just expected. Even if you make a livable wage.
It's a Catch-22. I worked as a bartender and made 2 something an hour from the restaurants/bars I worked at. I was guaranteed at least minimum wage if I did not make minimum wage in tips. I made far, far over minimum wage, though. On Thurs-Sat nights, it wasn't uncommon to walk out the door with $300 or more a night. I actually kept bartending 5 months after I graduated college because the money difference between that and starting a career in my field of study was a pay cut.
I'm not sure if bebeetmoi meant me? I was the one who explicitly said I don't want to have to tip people who make a wage.
I obviously don't consider $2-3 per hour a living wage.
But I do feel that if you work at starbucks and get say $10/hour people shouldn't be expected to tip. Of course, its still nice to tip sometimes but I don't like that everywhere in life now everyone is looking for tips, they are just expected. Even if you make a livable wage.
Agree. Tipping should be for excellent service, not to make up someone's income.
The way it is now, I feel like I have to tip even if the waiter/waitress is terrible, just because they don't make enough otherwise. But I wish it didn't have to be that way.
I think it's ridiculous that waitstaff is somehow exempt from minimum wage laws. I hate fixed percentage tipping - it makes no sense to me from a philosophical standpoint. I understand why we do it, because someone has to pay those poor servers' salaries. But I would rather the cost of food go up to cover higher wages than rely on tips.
It happened in the 70s when Congress raised the minimum wage. They left out restaurant staff because it would have been a hardship on the restaurants. Sadly, too often businesses matter more than individuals.
I feel like being a wait person/bartender is so variable in terms of how lucrative it can be. some people CLEAN UP, usually because they got into a great place that gets a lot of business.
however, usually the people who work at great places got and keep that job because they are GOOD at what they do.
I think sometimes people assume that waiting tables/bartending is somehow easy and they should be happy to get any tip since they are "unskilled" but to me it seems to require a great deal of skill. I could never do it as I'd be fired immediately after paying all my first days tips to cover the glasses and plates I broke.
It makes me ragey when we are out to eat with people who I know to be cheapskates/bad tippers because I worry somehow our good tip will be absorbed in the putting all the money together and the waiter will end up with 15% or something. We try to do split checks as I don't want myself associated with a crappy tip.
I'm not sure if bebeetmoi meant me? I was the one who explicitly said I don't want to have to tip people who make a wage.
I obviously don't consider $2-3 per hour a living wage.
But I do feel that if you work at starbucks and get say $10/hour people shouldn't be expected to tip. Of course, its still nice to tip sometimes but I don't like that everywhere in life now everyone is looking for tips, they are just expected. Even if you make a livable wage.
Agree. Tipping should be for excellent service, not to make up someone's income.
The way it is now, I feel like I have to tip even if the waiter/waitress is terrible, just because they don't make enough otherwise. But I wish it didn't have to be that way.
well yeah. they don't make ANYTHING otherwise. AFter taxes they come home with nothing.
If I have a bad day at work I still get my salary, my boss isn't like "oh you didn't get xyz done? I'll be docking your pay then. Good luck with your mortgage payment!"
20% is standard IMO! I don't expect people to tip me more than 20% on wine they order- regardless of the price of the bottle. It's the people who subtract the price of the alcohol off their check and then tip that drive me nuts. Serving booze is no different than serving food. And people who tip less at expensive restaurants send me into a blind rage. If you can't afford to tip your server at least $40 on your $200 check- don't eat at expensive establishments!
Thanks! I always wonder what is expected on bottles since opening a $100 bottle is the same as opening a $50 bottle, and bottle markup tends to be pretty high. But I don't want to offend so I always tip 20-25%, lol.
This reminds me of something else annoying. I hate when you are out to eat in a group and you are doing a combined check/people are handing you cash. There is always someone/more than one person who looks at the check and says "hmm oh yes I had the salad 9.99" and they put in $12 "FOR THE TIP!" but umm hello didn't you drink a soda that you forgot? what about TAX? And just because you only ate one bite of the shared app doesn't mean you can forget it existed! aaargh.
You round UP people! If you aren't doing the tedious job of collecting everyones pennies and adding it up YOU FREAKIN ROUND UP.
I get irrationally angry that restaurants put it on their customers to pay the wages of their waitstaff. Waiters bartenders, etc should never be exempt from minimum wage.
I think it was Europe where I was at where they get paid normal wages and then you can tip for good service but it was like $1-3 not like 20%.
I feel like being a wait person/bartender is so variable in terms of how lucrative it can be. some people CLEAN UP, usually because they got into a great place that gets a lot of business.
however, usually the people who work at great places got and keep that job because they are GOOD at what they do.
I think sometimes people assume that waiting tables/bartending is somehow easy and they should be happy to get any tip since they are "unskilled" but to me it seems to require a great deal of skill. I could never do it as I'd be fired immediately after paying all my first days tips to cover the glasses and plates I broke.
It makes me ragey when we are out to eat with people who I know to be cheapskates/bad tippers because I worry somehow our good tip will be absorbed in the putting all the money together and the waiter will end up with 15% or something. We try to do split checks as I don't want myself associated with a crappy tip.
I agree. I worked at a less than stellar restaurant and I made less than my fiends at nice restaurants. But I was really good at serving and made more than a lot of my lazy, unfriendly coworkers.
I'm not sure if bebeetmoi meant me? I was the one who explicitly said I don't want to have to tip people who make a wage.
I obviously don't consider $2-3 per hour a living wage.
But I do feel that if you work at starbucks and get say $10/hour people shouldn't be expected to tip. Of course, its still nice to tip sometimes but I don't like that everywhere in life now everyone is looking for tips, they are just expected. Even if you make a livable wage.
Agree. Tipping should be for excellent service, not to make up someone's income.
The way it is now, I feel like I have to tip even if the waiter/waitress is terrible, just because they don't make enough otherwise. But I wish it didn't have to be that way.
It's not your responsibility as a customer to "make-up someone's income". If you receive shitty service and don't want to tip, then don't tip. It's not illegal. It is within your rights. It's part of the job- you can't always make everyone happy and some people just suck at waiting tables. But just because someone works in the food service industry doesn't mean they are poor and need pity tips. It was not uncommon for me to make $400-500 a night on a weekend shift back in NYC. I may have been a bartender, but my bills were always paid and I was able to save some money and still go uptown now and again to indulge my retail habit.
I think it's ridiculous that waitstaff is somehow exempt from minimum wage laws. I hate fixed percentage tipping - it makes no sense to me from a philosophical standpoint. I understand why we do it, because someone has to pay those poor servers' salaries. But I would rather the cost of food go up to cover higher wages than rely on tips.
It happened in the 70s when Congress raised the minimum wage. They left out restaurant staff because it would have been a hardship on the restaurants. Sadly, too often businesses matter more than individuals.
Businesses are people too! I kid, mostly.
I don't think it is as simple as just raising minimum wage. I do think wait staff should make at least minimum wage. But, the truth is that smaller restaurants (not chains) will struggle with paying their servers more. Overhead is huge on the restaurant business. I don't think that losing some businesses means we shouldn't pay waitstaff minimum wage, but I do think it should open a conversation about how to pay people fairly while allowing small businesses a chance to grow.
Agree. Tipping should be for excellent service, not to make up someone's income.
The way it is now, I feel like I have to tip even if the waiter/waitress is terrible, just because they don't make enough otherwise. But I wish it didn't have to be that way.
well yeah. they don't make ANYTHING otherwise. AFter taxes they come home with nothing.
If I have a bad day at work I still get my salary, my boss isn't like "oh you didn't get xyz done? I'll be docking your pay then. Good luck with your mortgage payment!"
Ya but it's not my responsibility to pay their mortgage. If they don't make enough serving then get a second or different job.
Maybe I have a slightly different opinion because in CA servers make the same minimum wage as everyone else.
This reminds me of something else annoying. I hate when you are out to eat in a group and you are doing a combined check/people are handing you cash. There is always someone/more than one person who looks at the check and says "hmm oh yes I had the salad 9.99" and they put in $12 "FOR THE TIP!" but umm hello didn't you drink a soda that you forgot? what about TAX? And just because you only ate one bite of the shared app doesn't mean you can forget it existed! aaargh.
My brother is the worst offender of this. I have to tell him what to put in or he will "forget" about the tax.
I hate being out to eat with a group and not getting separate checks. There's always someone that never leaves enough.
Hockey is the only professional sport that's consistently fun to watch. Soccer too, but only outside of the U.S. Basketball is the most boring sport created. Even golf is more entertaining.
I waited tables, bussed, and bartended for almost a decade. Those were the most difficult jobs I've had - physically exhausting, mentally demanding (keeping orders straight; timing six table's soup, salad, appetizer, entree, dessert, drinks, etc.; remembering the fifteen water, napkin, and condiment requests I got on each pass through the dining area; dealing with the kitchen guys' shit; and managing it all with a smile), and emotionally wearing (I worked my butt off and they only gave me 10%. Why do they dislike me?). I tip everyone - delivery guys, all beauty services, and anyone who gives me a special service (like a host fitting us in or the UPS guy when he carries heavy boxes into my apartment, rather than stopping on the stoop), but I rarely tip at Starbucks or sandwich shops - only if I'm a total PITA about my order.