Tipping in the U.S. - Quick Guide to Tipping

Tipping in the U.S - A Quick Guide to Tipping Well I’m in San Diego and I found myself at a neighborhood coffee shop… I ordered my coffee, but didn’t put a tip in the jar that was sitting on the counter.

“Cheapskate”, I heard the barista say…

I wanted to turn around and ask him why he expected a tip for making me a coffee. A coffee that wasn’t brought to my table, that didn’t have some fancy decoration in the cream and had to be made twice because for some reason… ordering black coffee is some kind of crime in this little coffee shop. But I didn’t… instead I did what I always do when frustrated with the stupidity of others… I‘m writing about it. But his lack of manners does bring up a good issue, when do you tip, how much and to who? Traditionally and when I say traditionally I mean before the Milliniuals and Gen X and even before the Beatles… tipping was only done for people who worked for tips… usually wait staff and bartenders… this tipping everyone thing is getting out of hand. Well there are those who say you shouldn’t tip anyone, other people use a calculator app that tells them exactly how much to tip someone…. I think both are idiotic. I’m from the old school of tipping… you get what you DESERVE or I’ll give what I can AFFORD. Let’s start with the later of my two tipping methods; tip what YOU can afford. Some would say that its better not to tip than to leave a tip less than the industry standard… I say $*#@! there opinion. And before I go any farther, if you plan on leaving a quarter or a dollar…. I want you to stop reading this and go look in the mirror… what you’re seeing is a 'jackass'. Tipping small is one thing, but leaving a tip of $1 or less is insulting… so don’t. They ONLY exception to this rule is if you are tipping at an eatery and YOUR bill was less than $5. In that circumstance a $1 tip is acceptable for a $5 bill When you travel and are on a tight budget, yet you really want to tip someone because you liked there service or you just feel you have too… do this: Discretely hand them the tip and say,”You deserve more, but I’m on a tight budget.” Service staff understands ‘budgets’ most of them have to scrape by on minimum wage. By giving a tip however small in this way, you are telling them that you recognize the good work they did, you just cant show them with money… most service persons will appreciate that you left them a tip at all in this circumstance. Now the more difficult tipping method of Tipping what they Deserve: Now there is a Calculator App that will tell you exactly what to tip according to service provided… taxis driver, wait staff, housekeeping, etc… throw it away unless you’re made of money. Now a days everyone with a service job thinks they deserve a tip…. not true and in fact it wasn’t until the PC (Political Correctness NOT Personal Computer) Revolution that these finicky service people even got considered for a tip outside of High Priced Hotels or Restaurants. I’m not putting anyone down, I’m just saying that along with Political Correctness came a lot more tipping… Let’s go down the list of service jobs and I’ll tell you what I tip and when. You can come up with your own formula for tipping that works for you Waitress/Waiter: Tipping in this area should be based on politeness, speed of order taking, did they give the correct item to each person, did they offer you something to drink when you were seated. NEVER and I mean NEVER tip based on the Taste of the food or the Speed it took to get to you. These service people are the middle man and have NOTHING to do with food preparation… they get it to you as soon as the cook makes it available. There has been a time or two that I complained to a manager about the food, yet still left a generous tip for the wait staff for being patient and trying to be helpful. Now of course if you see your plate sitting on the warming table while your wait staff is laughing it up in the corner… then tip accordingly. But if they generally tried to make you’re experience pleasant, I’d do the 20% of the bill total Taxi Driver: I only tip my cab driver under two circumstances; first did they take the fastest most direct route to where I’m going? (You should always know where your going and approximate distance before getting into a cab.) Did the driver give me information that I didn’t previously have? Such as if I asked for a good place to eat or a fun place to take the kids…. if the driver was helpful, tip accordingly. When I do tip I usually give 10% of the fare approximately. Housekeeping: When you stay in a motel, hotel, B&B or Inn, housekeeping can often be overlooked. They usually service your room when your out, so you really have no contact with them. Because of this most housekeepers don’t expect a tip… but they should get one for the following things. If your in the room when they arrive and you ask them to service the room… meaning clean towels, change sheets, dump trash… I tip $5. If they just stop by and all you want is a roll of toilet paper or towels… then I don’t tip. Now if your room is being serviced while your gone, this can be tricky… you’ll of course realize that your beds are made etc… so if you have no contact with your housekeeper what do you do???? There one of two solutions… leave a tip with the desk clerk … they’ll know who to give the tip too. Or you can you can do what I do, I leave a handwritten note saying ‘thank you housekeeping’, and a tip with it. In this case I leave $2 for every day that I found my bed made. The reason I tip less in this circumstance, is because there's no guarantee that the correct housekeeper receives the tip.

My method isn't perfect, and maybe to some is not fair compensation. Yet it works for me, and I hope it helps you find what works for you.