Those words still echo. We (I) failed to tip the drivers who took us from our motel to LAX to catch a flight. I should have tipped them.
Although they deserved a tip, many hands are out for tips that aren’t deserved. At Talavera, a local Mexican restaurant (fabulous burritos), after you tap your card a window shows up with possible tip amounts. At the bottom is the word “Other.” If you tap other (I haven’t) I expect that I’ll have a choice to add an amount of my choosing, or, perhaps a window will come up with this option: NO TIP. Instead of voluntarily allowing the diner to choose how much to tip, or whether to tip at all, the guest has to actively choose to select in a two-step process, NO TIP.
I’m accustomed to tipping for service rendered. Selecting a tip amount before the service is rendered defeats the purpose. Making it difficult not to tip makes it even harder. If I like the service and the burrito I will tip. Don’t ask me for that reward before I even sit down.
And who do we tip? Counter workers? I give the lady at Noah’s $1 when I pick up a dozen bagels. That’s an exception. I’m uncomfortable tipping when no real service is rendered. Incidentally, data reveals that people who order at kiosks tip higher than those who order at counters, probably because people order more at kiosks and the bill is higher. Some restaurants add a mandatory service charge of 18-20%, then add a space for “additional tip” on the bill. I leave that blank. The mandatory service charge formerly was applied to parties of six or more. Now two or more may find that a service charge has been included.
Although tipping is customary for services provided, there are exceptions: doctors, lawyers, teachers, plumbers, electricians, and other professionals whose salaries are independent of gratuities, In general, salaried workers.
i give Jenny a generous tip. My hair doesn’t require a “stylist”, but she’s meticulous with the clippers and the scissors. Tipping higher than 20% shows an appreciation for someone who goes the extra mile. I couldn’t have left enough of a tip for the poor maid who went to Jadyne’s and my hotel room in Madrid, as we both became violently sick during the night. We tried to leave a tip the next morning. We were turned down.
When Jadyne and I were engaged I worked room service at the Hyatt House in Burlingame, a hotel comprised of five or six outbuildings. Taking meals to a guest in one of those buildings was a chore. I carried four meals once, and the guest didn’t tip. I brought his blll to the front desk, wrote on it, “Add 15% tip”, then signed his name, an action that could have resulted in my being fired. I wasn’t. I brought James Brown a slice of pie. $20.