Take The Tip; Don’t Ask About The Tip

I’ll start off annoying all servers by saying that I’m not a standard tipper. Average service will get you an average tip, outstanding service will get you an outstanding tip, subpar service will get a crappy tip, and awful service will get you a shiny penny.

That said, years ago, my mother, kids, and I frequented a Chinese buffet that was, at the time, highly regarded. Although it was a buffet, they had workers coming to clear plates, refill drinks, etc. As such, it was our custom to only tip 10%. Also, since tips paid with a credit card are counted toward your income tax in our state, we always tipped cash.

One night, we had a fairly inattentive person assigned to our area of the dining room. Plates piled up, waters went dry, and napkins never appeared. We weren’t messy customers. Usually, if a plate was getting the same dish or only had dry foods on it, we’d bring it back to reuse it, and I always cleaned the table after my messy boys.

We decided our attendant was only getting 5% instead of the usual 10% we’d leave, but we realized no one had change to leave the tip, so as Mom and the boys wandered off to pay the tab and get change, I was a little behind sweeping up crumbs of the table.

As I grabbed my coat and turned around, the attendant swooped down onto the table and loudly exclaimed, “No tip?!” in a nasty tone. So, I turned around and looked her right in the eye and said, “Not now that you’ve said that.”

I have intentionally left 25-30% tips in my life, and I have made sure a truly awful waitperson has seen me place a penny on the table. But never before or since have I had anyone try to insult me into giving a tip.

To be fair, in my state, if your tips don’t add up to minimum wage by the end of the week, your employer is required to make up the difference. So, it’s to your advantage to provide the best service you can so as to earn more than that.