Here’s a BIG Tip
Serve It - Deserve It!
“Keep The Change” is a phraze that used to be heard before the advent of the ever present “tip jar”. Dropping your money into a jar crammed with dollar bills is not as rewarding as putting it into the hand of a person giving you great sevice. It can also lead to some stupid behavior.
While in a Starbuck’s the other day, the clerk handed me a cup of coffee and said, “That will be $2.03 “. I paused for a minute considering how much of my 97 cent change I wanted to put in the tip jar. The clerk then reached into the tip jar, saying, “That’’s okay, I have it here” and took out the 3 cents, leaving me with no change to put in the tip jar. That act really devalued the intention of someone before me. I also thought it was a dumb (although nice) enough move to not warrant a full dollar tip, as I now had no change to drop into the tip jar. I had to wonder how often that happens.
“Here you go”
Then there was that coffee place on Maui where I ordered a medium size cup of coffee and was handed an empty cup. I played dumb and said, “No, I wanted it full.” Being even dumber than I was acting, she said, “Oh, you have to get it yourself, over there”, pointing across the room to four large pots of coffee to choose from. I asked, “What’s this tip jar for?” She didn’t quite know how to react.
I’d also like a real cup when sitting in a coffee shop. Sorry about the “Andy Rooney attitude” here, but I am still a big fan of service, and when I get it, I am about as big of tipper as you will see anywhere.
May 10th, 2008 at 6:45 am
Ron, Do the world a favor and always say exactly what you are thinking to salespeople thereby letting them in on how a customer thinks. Maybe the clerk thought she would get the whole dollar not just the fifty cents. What did you wind up putting in the jar anyway?
Also, if you say out loud exactly what is going on in your mind, then I won’t be the only one.
Have you ever tried mixing coffee and tea together. It is wonderful, especially cold with cinnamon and a couple packets of stevia and soymilk.
May 10th, 2008 at 8:32 am
I was told that the word TIP stands for “To Ensure Promptness”, and to tip according to meaningful and prompt service. Has anyone else heard of this?
May 10th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Runaway - I considered tearing one of the dollar bills she gave me back in half and dropping it in there to make the point, but I opted for zero. A $1 tip on a $2 tab just wasn’t deserved, and I didn’t feel like asking her for change. She made just leaving the easiest thing to do.
May 14th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Way too many wait people think that the tip is due them just because their hourly rate is low. The tip must be earned. If more people refused to tip lousy service I think things would improve in a lot of service establishments.