A Good Tip

An Excerpt from Reaching for Insights: Stories of Love, Faith, and the Kitchen Sink, by Mitch Rosenzweig

I am forever trying to calculate tips. It doesn’t seem to matter how good or bad the service is, a tip of fifteen to twenty percent is expected – at least in this country. In Europe, it is a bit different. They just round up the bill and add a few dollars (francs, lira, etc.), regardless of the total. Although we like to think that it’s a reward, it really isn’t-at least not to the server. What started as an incentive (“to insure prompt service”) is now critical to their livelihood. I can’t even imagine making a living on the minimum wages that service workers earn. And of course, our generosity helps some servers to far exceed the minimum wage. I talked to a bartender in a mountain resort who astounded me with his earnings. But most of us don’t begrudge gratuities. It’s our way of alleviating the guilt for letting someone serve us.

If you think about gratitude, it is kind of a peculiar thing. We are supposed to be ...

http://kajama.com/a-good-tip/