Online Now 772

O'Connell's Off Topic

The place for discussion on topics not related to the Oklahoma Sooners

On this Board 27
Record: 506 (3/9/2012)

Online now 615
Record: 4487 (2/14/2012)

Boards ▾

OUInsider - Owen Field

The place for the most trusted source for reliable, accurate information on OU Sports

Basketball & Other Sports

Men's & women's basketball, baseball, softball and other OU sports

O'Connell's Off Topic

The place for discussion on topics not related to the Oklahoma Sooners

Tickets Exchange

The place to buy, sell or trade tickets

Reply

Tipping...

  • The 1% story got me thinking about tipping again and I have always wondered a few things.

    1. Do you tip on the subtotal, which is the actual food cost, or the total after tax? I personally have always tipped on the subtotal because the restaurant just passes the tax onto the government and isn't anything they worked for.

    2. Why do we still have separate wages and basically mandatory tipping? Just pay the staff the same wage as everyone else and raise the prices. We're still paying the same thing and then no one gets stiffed. Tipping can then go back to what it was supposed to be - a reward for extraordinary service.

    3. Why do checks for large dinner parties have a 'gratuity' added when it isn't free? Do they not understand the meaning of the word? Why not just call it what it is - a mandatory tip?

    4. Why is it called a tip?

    signature image

    Live On University!

    ImaSoonergal ●

  • My attempt at some answers - or at least opinion...

    1. Most people probably tip the full amount (after Taxes) - I usually do because I'm usually in a hurry and I also had some sisters who 'waited' for a while and the tips were definitely appreciated...

    2. Tipping has become such an ingrained part of our culture that (as the 1% tip story proves) to not tip is 'news worthy'... It will probably never go back to what it once was, because salaries of wait staff have not (markedly) changed in a VERY long time - they actually rely on the tips... The restaurants would just pass the added cost (to them) on to the customer - in effect a mandatory tip to all staff with no regard to quality of service...

    3. I hate the 'automatic gratuity' thing... I never know if I'm still expected to tip or not - and if the service sucks you really have no way to say so...

    4. (from wiki:)
    Etymology
    There are common inaccurate claims[2] that "tip" (or "tips") is an acronym for a phrase such as "To Insure Prompt Service", "To Insure Proper Service", "To Improve Performance", "To Inspire Promptness" or "To Insure Promptness." These false backronyms contradict the verifiable etymology, as follows.

    According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word tip originated as a slang term, and its etymology is unclear. The term in the sense of "to give a gratuity" first appeared in the 18th century. It derived from an earlier sense of tip, meaning "to give; to hand, pass", which originated in the rogues' cant in the 17th century. This sense may have derived from the 16th-century tip meaning "to strike or hit smartly but lightly" (which may have derived from the Low German tippen, "to tap"), but this derivation is "very uncertain".[3]

    so basically - no one knows...

    Taun

  • I tip on the subtotal. There is actually an app that will figure out what you should tip and judging from it, it is common to tip on the subtotal.

    I defer to Taun on the rest. :)

    ss182

  • I only recently got a cell phone - these 'app' thingies are just too new fangled fer me!

    (my co-workers are dragging me - kicking and screaming - into the 21st century)

    Taun

  • Taun, thanks for the info. Don't know why I never think to look in Wiki for these things. :)

    In both Washington or Oregon and their servers were paid standard wage. A couple of the restaurants we were in actually posted notices that tips were not required. I don't know the exact breakdown, but federal law basically says the the combined hourly wage and tips must equal the $7.25 minimum wage. This is why a certain % of tips has to be reported as taxable if the restaurant pays a lower hourly wage.

    Basically, it seems to be a state issue. Some states have been proactive and are paying full wages with the menu price reflecting the increase and others are letting the tips make up for it.

    signature image

    Live On University!

    ImaSoonergal ●

  • Taun said...

    I only recently got a cell phone - these 'app' thingies are just too new fangled fer me!

    (my co-workers are dragging me - kicking and screaming - into the 21st century)

    You'll be a pro in no time at all! I held out on getting a cell phone for a long time, now I don't know how I lived without it!

    ss182

  • I get about three or four calls a month - mostly people telling me that while there is no problem with my credit cards I can still pay them off (I have no credit cards)...

    I grew up in a house with only 1 phone and with 5 sisters.... I never used the thing - and still don't really care much for them when it comes to just 'chatting'... I would rather visit and talk face to face...

    Taun

  • That's so funny. You made me realize I don't ever really talk on my phone. I text, use apps, search the internet, and use the camera!

    ss182

  • I tipped the girl I had over last nite. I threw a twenty on the bed and walked out

    powervault ●

  • ss182 said...

    That's so funny. You made me realize I don't ever really talk on my phone. I text, use apps, search the internet, and use the camera!

    dont get me started on people who still leave voicemails (not businesses but friends)

    waynepayne

  • If you got to think about it then something is wrong. Pay according to what you get and remember they have bills to pay also. No thought process required.

    OURuss

  • oh...thought this was a thread about cows....never mind...

    wilsonIII ●

Oklahoma
247Sports
Features
Resources
Connect

247Sports In partnership with CBS Sports