So, you go to a restaurant with a friend, a \u201cseparate check\u201d kind of friend. Your meal is $30 \u2013 you tip the waiter $6, 20 percent. Your friend\u2019s meal is $20. His tip is $4. He got the exact same friendly service but paid $2 less for it. I don\u2019t get why the tip amount is based on the price of the meal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now that I\u2019m into it, why did the percentage go from 10 percent to 15 percent and now has settled in at 20 percent. Meal prices have risen, so tips went up without raising the percentage. It\u2019s a double hit on the customer – a higher percentage tip based on a higher priced meal. I tried to discuss this with my wife, to get her concurrence; she told me to get the moths out of my wallet and pay the tip like everyone else. And, while I\u2019m at it, to stop being a cheapskate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sure, I am a cheapskate, most old coots are, but that\u2019s not the issue here. It\u2019s the \u201cservice\u201d cost being related to the meal price. They are two separate transactions, or should be. I tried to negotiate a resolution the other day in a restaurant. Before I gave my order to the waiter, I asked, \u201cHow much do you charge for taking my order to the kitchen, delivering my food and drink, giving me a bill and taking my payment?\u201d He looked at me like I was an alien from outer space and told me there was no charge for his service. If I wanted to leave a tip, he wouldn\u2019t refuse it. Then he rolled his eyes. I tried again, \u201cLet\u2019s settle up for your waiter service now; then I\u2019ll order. Here\u2019s five bucks.\u201d It didn\u2019t work; he wouldn\u2019t accept it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, now I\u2019m on a crusade to enlist support from other restaurant goers to protest tying the tip cost to the meal cost. They should be independent of each other. One based on food cost, the other on how obnoxious and demanding you are. When you order from the pricey part of the menu you pay a bigger tip, which my wife points out is something I never do. I order the cheapskate options, or from the children\u2019s menu if they allow it, and tip accordingly, but I do base my tip on a 20 percent multiplier; I\u2019m cheap but appreciative of good service. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I still think it\u2019s wrong to base it on the meal price. I think a lot of things in today\u2019s culture are wrong, like getting charged to cross the Hudson River on the Tappan Zee Bridge (now renamed to honor Prince Andrew Cuomo\u2019s father, which is wrong too). But, I shrug and pay. In fact, I just mailed in my payment for crossing the river last Thanksgiving. They took a picture of my license plate and sent me a bill. I thought I got through without paying. I can\u2019t win, but I\u2019m still trying. It\u2019s what old coots do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n