So far I've written a whole lot about my life being a tipped employee so now I want to talk a little about my life as a tipping customer. I’m going to put myself under the microscope as it were. Now, let me just give you a little history about my upbringing as a tipper.
I was raised in restaurants. From the age of 8 to 18 my parents owned a nice café called "Stevie’s" on the main street of a small town in the Pacific Northwest. "Stevie's" served wonderful, high quality sandwiches during the day and fantastic, homemade pasta and sauces at night. Prior to opening "Stevie’s," my dad was an executive chef and my mom managed the front of the house of several restaurants. I was always the little kid you see in the back corner of the restaurant scribbling in coloring books or playing with a Transformer. Sometimes I would get to hang out in my dad’s office and play on the computer but since this was 1985, computer games weren’t much more entertaining than a coloring book.
At about 5 my parents put me to work just to keep me busy. By the time I was 9, I was working the lunch shift at "Stevie’s." I could work the register, make milk shakes, bus tables, wash dishes, make salads, shit, I even worked the grill sometimes. I guess you could say I learned the value of an honest days work at a young age. There weren't a whole lot of tips coming out of "Stevie’s" so I never really considered them as part of my income.
When I was in college, the restaurant industry was an easy job to get since I had so much experience. I started out bussing tables and by the time I got my degree, I had also graduated to server. Since I had earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in French, there weren't a whole lot of job openings seats when I graduated. Apparently French speakers aren’t in high demand in the current U.S. job market. Besides, I was a musician. I didn't want a 9-5 job. I wanted a flexible schedule and quick easy cash so I could make rehearsals and gigs. Say what you will about waiting tables but quick easy cash and flexible schedules are the two things waiting tables is good for.
I eventually got a job as a banquet server (in which all money is made off of the 18% gratuity added to all large checks in the U.S. to ensure nobody is ever stiffed on a party of more than 6) at the Seattle property of my current company, which made it easy to get my current job as a bellman upon moving to New York City. Basically since college, I have been in a tipped position. In turn, as far back as I can remember, I have been a good tipper.
Since I was a child, I was taught that you tip a Waiter 15-20% based on the quality of service. These days I tip between 10-30% but I typically rest at a solid 20%. When I do tip, I tip in cash since learning about how little restaurants pay their employees and how badly server's tips get taxed. Leaving a tip on a credit card means that your server will only see about 75% of that gratuity. I'd like to think I'm a good tipper, at least in the top 10%.
That being said, if you fuck up my experience at your restaurant, I will let my tip do the talking for how I felt about your service. I know how to wait tables and I know the industry. If the restaurant is full and you have a lot of tables, I understand the feeling of "being in the weeds" and will grant you a large margin of error. I don't expect flawless service when you are exuberantly busy. I will allow for extra time to get my food and get checked up on and still tip a good 20% if you made every effort you could. However, if the restaurant is empty and you are forgetting things or copping an attitude with me when I ask for small things like sides of mayo, I'm gonna tip 10%. I know the difference between someone who is busy and overwhelmed and someone who is just being a cranky bitch (or jerkoff depending on gender.) I will never stiff a waiter unless they have offended me beyond belief.
It wasn't until I got to New York that I really learned how to tip in other facets of life. For example, I tip NYC Cabbies about 10% of the fare. If they are nice, their cab is clean and they don't complain about having to take me to Brooklyn or lock all their doors and ask me where I am going first, I will probably tip 20%. However, most cabbies in this city are ETREME ASSHOLES and will either be coarse and rude when you tell them where you are going or talk on their phones in a language you don't understand the whole way (or both) and to me, that is not worth more than a dollar or two of compensation for their efforts. In addition, if your cab isn't clean and smells like B.O, that doesn't really help your chance for extra money.
Working as a Doorman on the streets of New York City, I deal with the cabbies of this town every day and let me tell you, they are a special bunch. Of course there is always exceptions to the rule. I have met some very genuinely good guys who drive cabs over the years. But, for the most part, they are self serving, greedy people who are on a lack of sleep, too much caffeine in their system and have been sitting in New York city traffic for the better part of 12 hours. Would you believe me if I told you that one time I caught a cab driver shitting and pissing in a jar in the back seat of his taxi? It’s true! I told him all he had to do was ask and I’d let him use our bathroom. Better that than him using our loading zone as a port-a-potty! Cabbies are not the best people to have to work with. I’ll go further into depth on my relationships with NYC cabbies at a later date.
In New York, ordering take out is a huge part of a restaurants business so every business has a Delivery Guy. Now these are the most shit upon tipped employees in all of New York, perhaps the world! I take pity on these guys and normally tip them about 20%. Most of these workers are illegal immigrants or at the very least, employees whose English skills aren’t strong enough to actually work in the restaurant. They may not wait on you and use their charm and wit to make you smile like a server in a restaurant does, nor do they clean up after you when you are done. However, these guys risk life and limb riding their bikes or mopeds through New York City traffic to bring you the food you are too lazy to go pick up yourself. Same thing goes for grocery, cigarette, weed or beer delivery guys (all of which exist in the greater New York area.) Oh yeah, if you order delivery during a fucking rain storm, tip the guy an extra 10% on top of what you normally tip him. How much would you want to get paid to deliver someone’s food to them in the middle of a rainstorm? It goes for getting a taxi in the rain as well. (See earlier blog post “Is it hard to get a cab?”
NYC Bartenders, tip them $1 per drink. If they comp drinks for you or buy you a shot, you better take good care of 'em!
That concludes part I of the series of my life as a tipper. Be sure to stay tuned for my next lesson: "Tipping while at Hotels!"
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