Jill: I think tipping is essential in the dining experience. The present day server gets paid minimum wage and makes their money from tips, as a former server, back in my university days, I know you need that money for school, so I think when you go to a restaurant, if you have the means, you should tip generously. Bill always tells me stories about servers that do well for them, that own two houses and drive nice cars, but I think that’s the exception, not the rule. When I go to a restaurant, I typically tip between 15-25%, depending on the service, and the total amount of the bill. That's after tax too. Its easier to add up the tax and give them that 15%. When I say the amount of the bill, I mean that obviously if the bill is $150 for two people, 25% tip is excessive, but at a Kelsey's for example, it may be justified. There is one thing I do that drives Bill crazy...if the service is not the greatest, I still tip. Now hear me out on this, I know what it's like to have a bad day, and be swamped, I don't feel that a server should be punished for that. If they are completely horrid, I will leave less, but that is their income...I mean $5.25 an hour? That's not even close to minimum wage! I also always reach for the check, when I'm out with friends. If I have the means to treat them, I don't see why not. Obviously ou can't in all circumstances, but a lunch here and there? I know I sometimes get taken advantage of because I cannot bring myself to ask someone to pay this time, since I paid last time. That's my personality though, I'm giving. That's the person he fell for, so I think he should deal with it. Bill has got to lighten up when it comes to tipping and treating. I don't get what the big deal is. Bill: When Jill says “I don't get what the big deal is” regarding indiscriminate tipping, I think she has parked her brain. Most of us have heard the expression “It’s not what you earn, it’s what you spend.” Both Jill and I have problems with spending but, at least I am aware of what the cumulative effect of what seems to be small amounts can add up to. It’s not just over-tipping its spending money on items that we do not need and will never use. This includes: extravagant gifts for teachers, cleaning ladies, the postman, and all of the nieces and nephews on her side of the family. We do not buy birthday gifts for my brothers (I have four) and my family stopped buying gifts for nieces and nephews (I have sixteen). I don’t even buy gifts for my parents, with the exception of perhaps Christmas, but birthdays are definitely out. Imagine if we bought gifts for both of our families that included all birthdays and Christmas. We would need to purchase a grand total of 70 gifts a year plus an approximately 12 gifts for classmates of our daughter, who have invited her to a birthday party. I haven’t even begun to mention the number of gifts we shower our only child with and I have been more than generous with Jill as she has been with me. Gifts are only part of the problem, if you were to include frivolous tipping, the amount of times we eat out, in addition to the useless items we buy every week from Winners and Walmart the financial impact is staggering. We need to develop discipline regarding our spending. A lot of our spending can be redirected to paying our debts or our mortgage and perhaps in investing ours and our daughter’s future. Jill and I need to become a team with agreed upon goals and the discipline to achieve them, but right now, that’s not the case. |
