Americans stink at math
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It may have something to do with the # of alcoholic beverages consumed. 2 double whiskeys x 1.10 = ??
10% tip? Wasn't that from the 70s? I thought today's standard was 15%, with 20% for great service.
My math is getting worse with age.
My math is getting worse with age.
gathermewool
Site Donor 2025
Simple errors are easy to make when a reporter comes up to you and rattles off a couple of numbers to add. Put the same question in front of those people in characters, and I bet the percentage goes up. Maybe I have too much faith in my fellow Americans, but I can't believe people are that dumb...
Originally Posted By: TallPaul
10% tip? Wasn't that from the 70s? I thought today's standard was 15%, with 20% for great service.
My math is getting worse with age.
I figured someone would question that since 20% is the new 15%.
I think they were just trying to make the calculation easier.
10% tip? Wasn't that from the 70s? I thought today's standard was 15%, with 20% for great service.
My math is getting worse with age.
I figured someone would question that since 20% is the new 15%.
I think they were just trying to make the calculation easier.
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Simple errors are easy to make when a reporter comes up to you and rattles off a couple of numbers to add. Put the same question in front of those people in characters, and I bet the percentage goes up. Maybe I have too much faith in my fellow Americans, but I can't believe people are that dumb...
+1
Not being able to see the numbers makes a big difference.
Simple errors are easy to make when a reporter comes up to you and rattles off a couple of numbers to add. Put the same question in front of those people in characters, and I bet the percentage goes up. Maybe I have too much faith in my fellow Americans, but I can't believe people are that dumb...
+1
Not being able to see the numbers makes a big difference.
Go to a cafe and when you pay the bill ask them to give the correct change back to you without looking at the cash register. Duh?
Or if your bill is lets say $12.58, give them $20.58 and see what happens. No clue.
It is very sad.
Or if your bill is lets say $12.58, give them $20.58 and see what happens. No clue.
It is very sad.
gathermewool
Site Donor 2025
Originally Posted By: bigdreama
Originally Posted By: TallPaul
10% tip? Wasn't that from the 70s? I thought today's standard was 15%, with 20% for great service.
My math is getting worse with age.
I figured someone would question that since 20% is the new 15%.
I think they were just trying to make the calculation easier.
Until recently, I've been guilty of leaving 20%+ for most meals. I had a conversation with a friend one day, and now I've decided it should be based on how friendly, competent an efficient the wait-person is, how much I enjoyed my meal and, to great extent, how much the meal cost. At a diner I'll tip 20%+ because they're on their feet all day, deal with obnoxious people - no more than most wait-staff, though, I guess - and the bills are usually very small. At an expensive restaurant, however, it doesn't always make sense to leave a $20 tip for a couple of appetizers, two meals and a couple of drinks. I realize there are fewer overall customers in an expensive restaurant compared to a seat 'em, feed 'em, and beat 'em out the door kind of restaurant, but how much is a service really worth?
I still tend to leave between 15% and 20% for good service, but have been learning that less is acceptable for poor service. My dad and I left a quarter and a breath mint at a Golden Corral one Saturday morning when the waitress completely ignored us for the half hour we were there; all the while serving other customers around us.
I was treated like a stuck up rich kid one night by a middle-aged server at a relatively fancy restaurant. Maybe he'd been stiffed or poorly tipped in the past by youngins, and had no idea that I planned to leave a good tip, but that didn't excuse his attitude nor his refilling the older couple's around us' drinks while ignoring our empty glasses. 10% seemed like a fitting, and easy tip to calculate, in that case.
Originally Posted By: TallPaul
10% tip? Wasn't that from the 70s? I thought today's standard was 15%, with 20% for great service.
My math is getting worse with age.
I figured someone would question that since 20% is the new 15%.
I think they were just trying to make the calculation easier.
Until recently, I've been guilty of leaving 20%+ for most meals. I had a conversation with a friend one day, and now I've decided it should be based on how friendly, competent an efficient the wait-person is, how much I enjoyed my meal and, to great extent, how much the meal cost. At a diner I'll tip 20%+ because they're on their feet all day, deal with obnoxious people - no more than most wait-staff, though, I guess - and the bills are usually very small. At an expensive restaurant, however, it doesn't always make sense to leave a $20 tip for a couple of appetizers, two meals and a couple of drinks. I realize there are fewer overall customers in an expensive restaurant compared to a seat 'em, feed 'em, and beat 'em out the door kind of restaurant, but how much is a service really worth?
I still tend to leave between 15% and 20% for good service, but have been learning that less is acceptable for poor service. My dad and I left a quarter and a breath mint at a Golden Corral one Saturday morning when the waitress completely ignored us for the half hour we were there; all the while serving other customers around us.
I was treated like a stuck up rich kid one night by a middle-aged server at a relatively fancy restaurant. Maybe he'd been stiffed or poorly tipped in the past by youngins, and had no idea that I planned to leave a good tip, but that didn't excuse his attitude nor his refilling the older couple's around us' drinks while ignoring our empty glasses. 10% seemed like a fitting, and easy tip to calculate, in that case.
Cheap @sses, 15% is customary. Some in the service industry don't even pull minimum wage. They remember.
Originally Posted By: willix
Cheap @sses, 15% is customary. Some in the service industry don't even pull minimum wage. They remember.
I eat at the same places a lot so I tend to tip very well, it pays off. They do remember, no doubt about it.
Cheap @sses, 15% is customary. Some in the service industry don't even pull minimum wage. They remember.
I eat at the same places a lot so I tend to tip very well, it pays off. They do remember, no doubt about it.
gathermewool
Site Donor 2025
Originally Posted By: willix
Cheap @sses, 15% is customary. Some in the service industry don't even pull minimum wage. They remember.
Who? No one here besides me even mentioned an amount they tip...
Cheap @sses, 15% is customary. Some in the service industry don't even pull minimum wage. They remember.
Who? No one here besides me even mentioned an amount they tip...
I usually just look at what the sales tax is and "almost" double it for the tip. Ends up between 15 and 20% I think.
Some places include the gratuity in the total amount. So you have to be careful and read the fine print in their menus.
If they can't figure it out in their heads, they can whip out their iPhones then tap the calculator function.
Not directed at you gathermewool. Just replying.
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$1 for every $6 in the tab is 16.7%. So a $25 tab, $4.25 gets pretty close.
What gets me is when waitstaff rounds change to the nearest quarter, dollar, etc. "Do you need change?" Er, yes, the presumption of deserving a tip is the last arrogant hurdle I encounter before I judge tipworthiness.
My tip deducting criteria:
1) bad/slow food. Yes you aren't in the kitchen. As my "agent" you need to beat on the cookstaff to get them to not cross you, the "queen bee". I've been that cookstaff BTW.
2) too busy/understaffed. Cry me a river. Twice the tables means tons of tips.
3) prejudice. Seeing other patrons get better service because I look like a scruff.
What gets me is when waitstaff rounds change to the nearest quarter, dollar, etc. "Do you need change?" Er, yes, the presumption of deserving a tip is the last arrogant hurdle I encounter before I judge tipworthiness.
My tip deducting criteria:
1) bad/slow food. Yes you aren't in the kitchen. As my "agent" you need to beat on the cookstaff to get them to not cross you, the "queen bee". I've been that cookstaff BTW.
2) too busy/understaffed. Cry me a river. Twice the tables means tons of tips.
3) prejudice. Seeing other patrons get better service because I look like a scruff.
Originally Posted By: MarkC
I usually just look at what the sales tax is and "almost" double it for the tip. Ends up between 15 and 20% I think.
x2. Our sales tax is 8.75% so doubling it gets 17.5% of the meal.
I used to count on my fingers x15 to get the correct tip.
I usually just look at what the sales tax is and "almost" double it for the tip. Ends up between 15 and 20% I think.
x2. Our sales tax is 8.75% so doubling it gets 17.5% of the meal.
I used to count on my fingers x15 to get the correct tip.
hey, leave what you want. But they WILL remember the tightwads.
I'm a big tipper, and to see the wait staff fight over us when we go out is an absolute hoot!
I'm a big tipper, and to see the wait staff fight over us when we go out is an absolute hoot!
When I get a $12 hair cut I will always tip $3 cause I don't want the person to 'accidentally' make a mistake on my next visit.
I tip 20% when we go out to eat.
I tip 20% when we go out to eat.
For places you return to frequently, good tipping is a form of insurance. I have heard stories about what some workers to do the food of jerk customers.
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