Well, I busted Best Buy's balls on the price and got free delivery, so I gave each guy $10 when they moved my fridge and washer/dryer in. Anyone who is busting their ass doing manual labor so you don't have to deserves to be treated well.
Here is who I tip: Waiters, waitresses & bartenders Valet guys (usually) Barbers Shoeshine men Skycaps at the airport Taxi drivers Coach service/limo drivers Musicians (if they have a tip jar out) I also try to remember to give my mailman and newspaper delivery person a little something during the holidays.
I tip delivery people when they do more than normal. For example, moving other things out of the way, putting the item together, etc. In that case I pre-tip. Here is a paraphrase of what typically happens. Delivery Guys: We do not move existing furniture. Me: OK, I will try and move it. Let me put your tip on the counter. Delivery Guys: What all do you need moved?
Tipping sucks. What a stupid system this is. Why not just charge what a service costs and pay a wage that is fair? How hard is that? I don't understand tipping barbers. With restaurants, one could reason that they paid for the food, but the service must be tipped. With a barber, there is no goods/service dichotomy. It is only a service. Why should I pay twice for the same thing? if you want a couple extra bucks, charge a couple extra bucks. I don't like it in restaurants either. Frankly, waiters in decent establishments are overpaid. There's another dichotomy here. The kitchen staff works as hard as the waitstaff, are as important to the final product, have a large effect on the timeliness of the service -- and yet they are paid a set hourly wage and generally do not make as much as the waiter. That doesn't seem right. To be frank, it seems to me waiters are paid more to be white (preferably) and to speak good english. Because most cooks would be waiters if they could meet those criteria. I do tip at restaurants. Because of my aversion to tipping, my waiter will get 15%, to the penny. It doesn't matter if they're good or if they suck. I just consider that to be the charge. There also seems to be some tipping inflation now, which makes no sense since it is a percentage. Now, 10% is an insult. My waiter-friend tells me that 15% is a bit of an insult too and he won't be happy with less than 20%. Bartenders, sure. If you're buying drinks at a bar, you already don't care about money. Tip away.
i tip waiters/waitresses at most restaurants... barbers always tip them, even though they charge an unholy amount to cut hair... thats why i dont get too many haircuts nowadays...
I agree that tipping is a dirty scheme made up by business owners so they can get away with paying their employees less. I only tip because it's "the thing to do", never because I genuinely feel like I should reward workers for good service, as far as I'm concerned, good service is what they are supposed to do and what they are already paid to do.
