tipping jarWhat do you consider a good tip? Something around 15 to 20 percent, right? Depending on the service? And if the wait staff goes above and beyond the usual you leave even more. That's what I do.
More from The Stir: If You Can't Leave a Decent Tip, Stay Home & Cook Your Own Damn Food
Well apparently I'm behind the times. According to a new report from Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, workers are now expecting tips around 25 percent -- or even more. And people are tipping that much, too! The study looked at 9,000 receipts from a restaurant in Poughkeepsie, New York and found that 30 percent of the diners tipped over 20 percent. So dig deep, everyone. Can you afford to be a "good" tipper in the age of tipping creep?
Honestly, I don't know if I can. Look, I know housing and gas and other necessities keep getting more and more expensive. It's tough making a living and getting your wages to stretch. But it's tough for customers like me, too! Adding that five or ten percent to my bill kind of bites.
And it's not like, along with this shift to higher tips, I've also noticed a shift to better service. Customers are not getting anything out of tipping more. Not that I can tell, anyway.
More from The Stir: Your Waiter Can't Wait to Get Rid of You
So I don't know... Is this higher tipping thing permanent? I hope not. And who are these 30 percent of people tipping higher, anyway? I sure would like to have a conversation with them. My first question would be: What the hell, man?
Do you ever tip over 20 percent? If so, under what circumstances?
Image via Jeffery Turner/Flickr
Written by Adriana Velez on CafeMom's blog, The Stir.
More from The Stir:
7 of the Most Wicked Restaurant Tip & Bill Stories of the Year
Terrible Tippers Outed on Website -- Are You on the List?
Fluffy No-Bake White Chocolate Cream Pie
8 Dessert Porn Pics to Really Turn You On (PHOTOS)
