smokey - You are incorrect. Tipping in cash may make it easier for tipped employees to cheat the system, but taxes are to be paid on income, not just income that it's easy for the government to track.

Smokey, No that is not correct.

Well - here the counter staff at Mickey D's - almost all high school kids - get $10 plus per hour - so I don;t see any need to tip them. Nor do I tip at Starbucks unless I ask for something extra difficult - don;t know what they earn but assume it is the same.

This is completely different from the way restaurants work - where I always tip at least 20% - unless the waitstaff is either rude or really incompetent. And then I'll tell them why.

I understand not tipping at McDonalds type places.

But -- if you went into a regular restaurant..a wait person comes over to take your order...then that person gives you your drinks...then brings you your food...takes your dishes away [or a bus person does] and then gives you your dessert...then gives you a check and you pay your check either via that person or at cashier...You LEAVE a tip for that person -- correct??

Then why would you not do the same thing [via the tip jar] for what amounts to the same services just carried out in a slightly different format by more than one person??

Just because you are ordering at a counter...the same amount of effort goes into getting your meal to you in a well prepared, timely manner.

Luckily, my daughter ends up making at least minimum with tips...somedays more, but usually not much more. And quantity of customers served doesn't help if all people are putting in is change from paying. 15% is really reasonable.

And to those of you who don't get tips, it's true...no one tips you for what you do...but then...no one every hired you and said you would get tips to help make up your weekly pay.

Debi

I was at the Clyde's Restaurant at Tysons Corner a few weeks ago and a magician performed for the table for about ten minutes. Should I have tipped him? If yes, how? Pull out a ten spot in front of everyone in the room?

We pay our restaurant bill with a credit card but we pay our tips in cash. Since the cc company takes a percent of every charge we assume that this percent is absorbed by someone and we don’t want it to be absorbed by our server if a certain restaurant has that policy.

I do not tip if I go up to a counter, order my food and take it to my seat or out the door or even if someone brings a tray to my table (though I don’t believe I go to those places). If anyone or anyone’s child is getting shortchanged they should have a talk with the boss or find an employer that treats the employees with more fairness.

We are always friendly and reasonable. I am not happy when I am greeted by a surly/semi surly waitperson but I go out of my way to help them change their attitude at least toward me because a surly waiter can ruin your meal. I prefer to cajole them out of their mood so at least my meal will be enjoyable. It really isn’t even that hard most of the time. ;)

I don't get the tip jars either. I find them really annoying. I go to get a slice of pizza, take-out, and there is a tip jar (for putting the slice in a bag I assume). Now Duncan Donuts too--for a coffee TO GO. Tip also for putting in a bag.
It is out of control. So, when I get my large coffee from DD, it comes to $280 and I put the 20 cents in the cup. Am I really supposed to support them with tips as well?
The worst is in the ladies room. You wash your hands, they hand you the paper towel that you could easily pick up yourself, and it costs you $1. It is insulting after spending $60 per person for dinner.

A counter person making minimum wage should not expect to get tipped the same way that a waitress who has agreed to work for "$2.15 per hour plus tips" does. These counter service and ice-cream-scooping jobs are for high-school and college kids trying to earn some spending money. Too bad parents don't have their high-school kids take a job anymore, they'd rather have them at home on myspace all weekend.

I only tip the bathroom attendant if I use any of the products in the bathroom. I'll sometimes dump the change in the tip jar at D&D if I don't feel like carrying it, but honestly, they get paid an hourly rate that is not meant to be supplemented with tips.

I think the big tip jar on the counter at 7-11 was the final straw for me!

I love the way the employees stuff a few of their own dollar bills into the tip jars....so you feel like a cheapskate if you drop in 50c!

joe- that's an old bartender trick, it's called "seed money"

I live in an unsophisticated but touristy area of northwest Florida. My stepdaughter has been a waitress for several years, both at tourist restaurants, sub shops, and a "yuppie" chain resturant. 15% is customary at most local resturants. More is given only for exceptional service, when you spend a longer time at a table than usual, or ask for a lot from your server. An exception would be at one of the few "fine dining establishments" in our area, where 20% is customary. This is based both on what SD says, as well as my own experiences dining with others. BTW, I am a lawyer, so I often dine with other professionals.
Having said all that, I will express my disdain for tip jars at counters. If I have to stand in line to order, pay for and receive my food, and if I dispose of the paper or styrofoam that it comes in, I will not tip unless I have requested some unusual service, which I can't imagine that I would.

No, I have never been a waitress, but I did teach 8th grade for several years. Rather than complain about teenagers, I put myself through grad school and changed occupations.

My aunt, of beloved memory, waited tables in Topeka from 1926-1969 working for dime tips. She loved her job and was a favorite of local politicians and journalists. I never heard her kvetch about her job.

When she was in her 90s she asked me to sort through savings bonds she had purchased during her working years. It turns out she had invested wisely.

My favorite joke of hers: A guy asks a waitress if she has frogs legs. She replies, "Why, do I walk funny?"

Neo, that tip jar was for the guy OUTSIDE of 7-11. You know the one holding the sign that reads “Will mooch for Beer”? [-o<

If I order food at a counter and then some brings it to me, I don't expect them to come back, refill my drinks, etc.

In my 20s I worked at a few Jazz Clubs and got stiffed a few times by some jerks who ran out after I brought the bill. I had to pay that loss out of my own pocket. After that, I waited at the table.

Joke: Waiter! there's a fly in my soup!!
response: Yes I see and he's doing a back stroke.

Ruth's Chris Is the name of the restaurant. Chris had two steakhouses in N.O. he sold one to Ruth and she named it Ruth's Chris.

The prices in restaurants keep getting higher and higher; why does the percentage tip also increase?

as things get higher so does the cost of living for the server.