Eating out is fun, classy, and the perfect occasion for a few laughs with others. No better way to ruin a good social event than to get a deficient server. When I go out to eat I prepare mentally how much I am going to spend. This preparation does not always end up exact, but ballpark works for me. After being seated at a restaurant, the server strolls sluggishly to your table and hardly makes effort to acknowledge anyone while asking for drinks. Yeah, if you’re this type of server, I do notice you. Guess what? The way you act as a server DOES affect the tip I will give you. The tremendous amount of negativity some servers have with the lack of desire to be working pours off of me like I’m sitting front row at a Sea World show.I’m not sure I fully understand why some people feel the need to gracefully give handouts regardless of how the meal went. I hear the argument, “Servers don’t make that much per hour, so it’s important to tip them.” Psh, in theory, if the whole economy was running on a tip-system based system it would ensure professionals will maintain their finest work, or just not get paid. Unfortunately, some people abuse the tip system just because they are cheap. So, if a server does a mediocre job then they will receive a solid amount. I am quick to give less with careless attitudes. However, I do tip openhandedly if the server comes over with a smile and decides for himself - “This is a good day.”
In general, I tip my waitresses and delivery drivers well, as they make next to nothing outside of what they can get in tips...but I don’t see the logic in a system where it’s proper to tip someone who brings you food or parks your car and not a person who can extend your life and help you get over illness. That’s a bit more important and deserves a little “bonus” in my opinion.Paying a normal hourly working wage to jobs normally exempt from the minimum wage and then leaving it up to the customer on whether to tip for service exceeding expectations seems to make so much more sense. A tip-based economy would not only work in theory, but in practice as well if we can just expand the status quo for tipping to include every service provided, but the expectation of receiving a tip needs to be dropped unless the service goes above and beyond. I would love to tip my optometrist for getting my prescription right the first time (they can’t seem to do this for me for some reason) instead of leaving a small tip to a waitress who I don’t think deserves it because it’s expected and she gets paid two dollars an hour.
Overall, tipping is just another of the million social norms that makes me want to just sit inside and make my own food, or park my own car...I may be a touch anti-social, but at least I have reasons.