Tipping

I read a scathing letter on Facebook about tipping and disagree with it wholeheartedly.  I once worked as a waitress and refused tips so you can see that I come by disliking tipping honestly.

The open letter insulted small tippers and demanded to be tipped lavishly because they feel it's their right and not a generosity provided by diners.  Bullcrap!

Do we tip the firefighters and police officers who risk their lives to keep us safe?  Do we tip the store clerk or the mailman/mailwoman?  Do we tip the trash collectors?  Do we tip any other occupation than the ones who bring us our food and drinks?

I have no idea when this habit came to be but it's completely illogical.  I tip 10%+ but only because I feel forced by a societal norm to do so.  But when I see a letter like the one written by a server who feels we owe it to her, I get my back up.

Somehow, restaurants and bars have developed the concept of paying starvation wages to their servers and then putting the onus on the customer to top it up.  I think they should add a couple of dollars to the cost of the meal and then give the server a decent wage instead of expecting the customer to do it.

I've had a few nasty servers in my day and didn't leave a tip because of it.  One I'll never forget, though.  My sister and I had gone out for brunch at "The Egg And I", ordered our meals and coffee from an obviously very busy waitress.  She brought our coffee but not any milk so I asked her to bring us some.  5 minutes later I asked her again as she rushed by me.  Another 5 minutes and I asked again...and then another 5 minutes which, by this time, my coffee was cool.  The last time I asked her, still politely because I could see how busy she was, she stormed off and brought some milk which she slammed down on the table and then walked away in a huff.  I didn't report her because I didn't want to see her lose her job but she got no tip and I wasn't happy going back to that particular restaurant for a very long time.

Tipping used to be a voluntary gift for exceptional service but now even the worst server expects a huge tip.  They're not going to get it from me!