What Tip?

I was cursed with the gift of “gop” as my grandmother called it.  A “gopper” is a people watcher. Good, bad or indifferent….there is not much you can do.  If you hate it, you wish you could turn it off.  If you love it, you wish you had bionic ears.  If you are indifferent, you probably are not one.

I didn’t need bionic ears on Friday night while I was eating dinner out with with my family.  I heard plain as day the conversation at the table next to us.  A couple in their 60s were arguing over what they should give the waitress for her tip.  It went something like this:

Him:  I don’t think I am going to leave her a tip.

Her:  What?

Him:  I’m not going to leave her a tip.

Her:  You will leave that nice young lady a tip.  Now lets go home.

Him:  Why?

Her:  Because its the right thing to do.

Him:  Is it?  Tell me why I should leave her a tip after (and this is where it got interesting) she brought you a glass of wine with lipstick on it, brought me a ribeye instead of a filet and rang our bill up wrong!  That after we waited for 10 minutes before she took our drink order.

Her: Honey, its not polite.  Leave a tip.

Him: He reached into his wallet and pulled out a few dollar bills and placed them in the small folder. He got up from the table with a disgusted look on his face and headed for the door.

Her:  She dug into her purse, pulled out a ten dollar bill and quickly threw it on the table (so her husband would not see her sweetening the pot) and followed him out.

So who was right?  The women thought “it was the right thing to do.”  Good for her for being such a compasionate person.  The man believed that tips are earned not simply “taxes” levied on goods…regardless of service.  Good for him for placing value on service.

There is clearly a vast difference in the level of service you can recieve from one restaurant to the next….  ….from one day to the next…and certainly from one person to the next.  You may not be able to bring yourself to leave a 5% tip when they stink…..or even a 30% tip when they are awesome, but you can always leave them with a review…..I know I always do.