• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Why should i pay $14 to enter the US?

Okay, this is interesting -- one etiquette page I just read says to tip on the total before tax, not the final tally! That's news to me. I usually tip 20% on the whole thing. Huh. So, guys -- which way have you been talking about? Pre- tax, or final count?

I just look at the big number at the bottom of the bill, which includes tax.

I honestly don't put that much thought into it, though.
 
Let me clarify...

if you are on here whining about tips, get a REAL JOB. Start a career. Because a waiting job is just not that stressful...


Not for nothing, but I tended to be much more stressed out during my 7 years at McDonald's than I am most days seeing patients as a doctor.

Yeah, people who say these kinds of jobs aren't stressful have obviously never done them.
 
And I'm glad you guys came around to admit that 15% is the correct tip for normal service. Now all you have to do is quit bitching about wanting your 20%. :mallory:

I never said anything close to that. I said I often expect 15%, but I didn't say it was correct. Hell, I expect lots of things. I expect tables that work me the hardest will pay the least. I expect sunday mornings to be full of cranky people. And I expect if I bring a nice pen to work, it'll be stolen by the end of the day. When I say I expect something, it's a reflection of cynicism in human nature, not a calculation in probabilities. Although that pen stealing thing is a calculation in probabilities, I lost a pen a week.

Once again, if I went by server averages. An average Friday dinner shift had 10 servers. Usually two servers with a range of 15-18, five or six with a range of 18-20, and two to three with over 20%. You can do the math to figure out what the average was.
 
And I expect if I bring a nice pen to work, it'll be stolen by the end of the day.

I actually started keep pens in separate pockets. One pocket for my nice pens. Another pocket for my shitty pens. Nobody was allowed to touch my nice pens.
 
Yeah, I started doing the same thing. For awhile, though, I would tell my co-workers when I had a bad feeling about the table that I wouldn't be upset if they left me a bad tip as long as they didn't steal my pen. Let's just say that all of those tables left me bad tips and usually half of them would steal my pen.

Oddly enough, I once had a table leave me a really terrible pen in its place. I wonder if they felt guilty.
 
The one useful thing about this 'tips/service' debate for me has been that it has fundamentally changed my opinion. And not for the better. Thankfully, feel I've read enough now.
 
My understanding way back when was that 15% was standard, but in the past decade or so it's graduated to 18%. Frankly I usually just make it a whole dollar amount in any case...given the average bill I tend to owe that's a couple of percentage points right there.

I've always understood it to be pre-tax as well.

Service would have to be notably poor (or I'd have to botch my math) to leave under 15%.

Despite my earlier post where I attempted to explain that the word "tip" doesn't necessarily mean what it technically should mean, reading some of the posts in the meantime I feel as though my point ended up getting overlooked or ignored. Oh well.
 
Despite my earlier post where I attempted to explain that the word "tip" doesn't necessarily mean what it technically should mean, reading some of the posts in the meantime I feel as though my point ended up getting overlooked or ignored. Oh well.

Don't worry - it helped me understand better how the system works, so you had one success :techman:
 
So, anyone else heard that with the death of Bin Laden the fee will be reduced to $7?

It's actually going to (at least temporarily) make things for the OP. The dollar will go up, and make the exchange rate marginally worse.
 
After reading the last two pages it sounds like what American servers need is a UNION. You're not getting more than %10 from me, sorry.
 
Yeah, I started doing the same thing. For awhile, though, I would tell my co-workers when I had a bad feeling about the table that I wouldn't be upset if they left me a bad tip as long as they didn't steal my pen. Let's just say that all of those tables left me bad tips and usually half of them would steal my pen.

Oddly enough, I once had a table leave me a really terrible pen in its place. I wonder if they felt guilty.
A lot of the time that's straight-up accidental, though. I've stolen pens from servers without intent to actually do so.

Sean Aaron said:
After reading the last two pages it sounds like what American servers need is a UNION. You're not getting more than %10 from me, sorry.

Make sure to leave some pro-organization literature at the table with the 10%. Servers love pamphlets in lieu of tips.
 
Last edited:
^ :lol:

After reading the last two pages it sounds like what American servers need is a UNION. You're not getting more than %10 from me, sorry.

Enjoy free riding to save money. Once again, as long as people who give 10% regardless are in the minority, the system will function. But I do firmly believe quality will suffer and prices will jump up if the system were changed.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top