By kickntrue on 1/11/10

The act of tipping is interesting to me- in that it seems to be a general rule to tip based on the price/value of an item, not on actual service. For instance- you can go get breakfast at an old-school diner with a total bill of $8. You drop a $10 and you're giving a "big" tip- regardless of how many times they've refreshed your coffee. Really they do the same amount of work of someone at a nice restaurant that may cost $30 a plate, but that person you'll tip $6/person just because the meal cost more. Someone can refill your Coke 5 times and that's "worth" $.50 while someone getting you 5 beers is worth $4.00?

Why?

To bring this to golf- some courses have guys to load and clean your clubs at the end of the round. You're generally expected to either tip these people or sound like a douche by telling them, "I'm good" and rushing them away. The thing is- the service itself is not worth more than $1 or $2, but if the course is more high end- don't you find yourself pulling out a $5, especially if that is all you have?

Are you really given better service at a high end club or restaurant or are you just following archaic principles set forth by someone else? I think I'm going to make an effort to start doing the opposite. I'm going to leave a $10 tip at IHOP and a $4 tip at Ruths Chris... unless someone can give me a reason not to.


photo source