Christmas tipping? (different)

[Josh Woods]

Originally Posted by jchometeam

The sanitation truck driver? paper delivery guy? I hope thats not customary because I certainly have never heard of anything like that and I have never tipped these people. Doubt I would even if it was customary, seems silly to me

I believe that tipping "anyone" who brings something to you is the normal for business in the South.

This being the SOUTH, I tip the girl at Sonic when she brings me a drink, the guy at El Torito when he brings me dinner, so why would I not tip the mailman and paper delivery guy who bring me products sometimes in their own vehicles when it's hot, cold, snowy, rainy, ect.

Seems the mailman and paperboy should get tipped before the waitress to me. I know paperboy's who have not had a day off in over 5 years. Think about it, you get your paper everyday.

[rccrain]

Well, the waitress makes $2.15/hr.

[jchometeam]

Well now ill admit im a bit biased there....I dont get a paper, like to go to the post office instead of having a mailbox, and hate the fact that I live in the city so that I have to pay a fee to get my trash picked up instead of taking my own trash to the convenience center. So ive never faced some of these issues.

And I have a funny way of tipping anyway, I will tip the pizza delivery guy or the girl at sonic more than the waitress most of the time.

[jabogitlu]

I always tip heavily when food is concerned. I have tons of friends in food service so I truly understand that tips are their livelihood.

But tipping the mailman who makes more than I do? No, thanks.

[airwair]

Originally Posted by jchometeam

And I have a funny way of tipping anyway, I will tip the pizza delivery guy or the girl at sonic more than the waitress most of the time.

The pizza delivery guy and the girl at Sonic are making minimum wage, at the bare minimum. The waitress is making $2.13 an hour, and typically her checks end up being $0. Sometimes they might be worth a whole $10, but even still... tips are what waitresses live on.

I might be biased because I am a waitress working my way through school, but I know that a lot of people don't realize that we make practically nothing per hour and that our checks are commonly worth nothing or very little.

[jchometeam]

I still tip the waitress, its just that while most everyone tips the waitress and they can make much more than min. wage if they are good, most people forget about the sonic delivery person and they probably make less than a waitress. Pizza delivery guys are using their own vehicle, their own gas, and doing what I would consider a lot less desirable job than waiter/waitress, and again I bet they end up making much less than waitresses.

As for the 2.15/hour deal, I have never understood how that is legal, and I wish we would change the laws to change that. Every other company has to calculate their bottom line after taking into consideration payroll. Restaurants get away with paying nothing to their most visible employees.

[Beretta]

I always try to tip wait staff, folks that do hair, etc. at least 20%. As far as Christmas tips for other services, it depends. I don't tip the mailman (now I am thinking I am cheap), the newspaper (I don't take it anymore at home) used to leave a card with their name and address on it which I found both helpful and offensive. I do tip the housecleaner and the hair girl with a Christmas bonus. I take a box of chocolates for all of the girls at the dry cleaners.

[hiknapster]

Yeah. I'm a northerner and I always tip everyone, too.

The waitress gets a very good tip from me. It's the worst job you can imagine. Not only do they bring you the food but later they will scrub the floors and the toilets and roll the silverware. I don't care how upscale the place is, the work is backbreaking and they rarely get more than $2.13 an hour. In fact, if the place is really fancy, the waitress has to give a good portion of her tips to the hostess, the busboys, the food runners, etc.

I'm constantly amazed at how hostile people are about tipping the waitress.

The school bus driver got a gift card when our daughter took the bus. The mailman always gets a McDonald's gift card. The lady that washes my hair gets at least $5. Back in the day of kids delivering newspapers, they made their money only by tips.

And I don't do it because my peers are doing it or because I think the mailman is going to throw my mail in the ditch. I do it because I want to.

I firmly believe that what I give comes back.

[airwair]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

In fact, if the place is really fancy, the waitress has to give a good portion of her tips to the hostess, the busboys, the food runners, etc.

I'm constantly amazed at how hostile people are about tipping the waitress.

Absolutely! I have to give out 3% of my total sales. 1.5% to the bartender, 1.5% to the hostess. We don't have busboys or food runners (that's the server's job!), thank goodness. I'd hate to see what my tip out percentage would be then!

Tips have been steadily declining in the last few months. There's been a sharp increase in "verbal tipping," where the server will hear nothing but praise from the customer and then be left with a 10% or less tip.

If my sales are $500, then I have to give $15 out of my tips back to the restaurant. The tip out goes up with the sales, but unfortunately, due to what I'm assuming is the economy, the tips themselves do not.

[rccrain]

Originally Posted by jchometeam

I still tip the waitress, its just that while most everyone tips the waitress and they can make much more than min. wage if they are good, most people forget about the sonic delivery person and they probably make less than a waitress. Pizza delivery guys are using their own vehicle, their own gas, and doing what I would consider a lot less desirable job than waiter/waitress, and again I bet they end up making much less than waitresses.

I have been a carhop (in highschool), a server (in college), and worked in a pizza joint (in college). So from experience, the average carhop is going to make about $10-12 per hour for what is the easiest job I've ever done. The average server will make $8-15 per hour depending on the restaurant class. The average pizza guy will make $10-15 before car expenses; a good car like a little Honda will knock off about $2 per hour.

I thought serving was the most difficult job of the three (perfectly managing as many as twenty meals at a time for 10 hours straight is NOT easy), but other people note the additional responsibilities and dangers of delivery drivers.

The reason that waitresses are paid so little and tipped so much is obviously to drive incentive. If you think restaurant service is poor now, imagine if servers got $10 an hour regardless of the service they provide.


All this is only JMO, but if someone gives me exceptional service, I write them a letter and send it to corporate. It could get them a promotion or save their job down the road. It always meant more than a tip to me when I was working in services, and it is practically free to the note writer.