IT was laugh out loud funny, but was it fair? Ross McGuinness writes that waitress, Jess Jones, was serving a table at a bar and grill. Instead of leaving her a tip on a $112 tab, they left her a note: “1 hour for food, lol.”
She posted it on Facebook and wrote “I would have preferred a zero dollar to a laugh-out-loud tip; but as a waitress, bad tips and harsh notes are part of the job. Sure, they did wait an hour to eat,” Jess said, “but they were satisfied with filled drinks and a proper notice that the kitchen was a bit busier than usual. I’ve worked in the service industry for five years. I take pride in providing great service.”
She relies on tips to pay her bills. People close to me have worked as waiters, so I know. It is a hard job, especially if it includes being the busboy who carries out the dishes.
Jess said, “My experience with this table was cruel. Waiters are mere messengers. It is wrong to shoot them, however bad the news.”
My own rule of thumb is the smaller the bill, the bigger the tip because it takes the same amount of time and effort to serve a beer as a dish.
A general rule is to give as much as your idiot son tips the waiter to impress the slut he’s dating.
Basically, what you spend without giving it a thought—say for a gewgaw—is the fair amount of a tip. If a haircut costs P400, give a P300 tip at the very least; if it costs P1,000, give P1,000. Why? Because you throw that money without a thought; why not throw it to the people who serve you as none of your social friends have ever done or ever will do, especially if you’re down on your luck?
I really appreciate people who leave giant tips, especially the big-mouth loud ones who want to be heard by the entire restaurant. That’s fine with me if their volubility is matched by their liberality with the waiters.
I feel the same way about household help. Anything they need, give it to them. Any medical costs they incur, pay it, and send them to the same doctors and dentists you frequent. You have the same kind of teeth and organs. Remember, no one in your social or business circles, and no one in your family has ever consistently served you well as the household help.