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You missed my entire point.

Maybe you're just cherry picking what you want.

I NEVER said that a standard tip was a blessing. Nor did I imply that.

In fact, If there is anything that you should have picked up from my post, is that I try to go above and beyond the norm in order to "bless" others.

There are people out there who hold tightly to a 15% tip, which is fine, and the standard tip. They have a little calculator ready to go, to figure the tip, right down to the penny. There are people of the older generation or two, who still believe that 10% is good.

Some people are soooo worried about tipping, that they are concerned about tipping on the pre tax vs post tax.

Remember, I said I'M LAZY. Its EASIER to just look at the bottom number. Thats what I tip on. Works out better for the waitress.

If my standard tip is 20% and my bill is $22.50 that would be $4.50. Remember, I'M LAZY, a $5 bill is much easier to give than $4.50.

When I have a waitress who really is going above and beyond, or at least trying very hard, or maybe just overloaded, I think nothing of throwing an extra $1 or $2, depending on the bill or if its just me. Hey, $1 or $2 EXTRA on top of a 20% tip on a $20-$25 bill can mean the tip is 25%-35%.

2 months ago I was out of town, had dinner at Pizza Hut with some relatives. When I paid the bill, I used my LAZY 20% formula, and rounded the remainder up to the next dollar. The waitress had been very attentive of us, so I added a couple of extra $$. We were still sitting at the table and she caught my eye from across the room and silently thanked me. We continued to sit therefor another half hour to 45 minutes. Though the restaurant was empty and we weren't keeping her from turning another table, I threw a few more $$ on the table.

My 17 year old cousin asked why I threw more money on the table. I explained that we were at the table longer than reasonable, and that it was appropriate to put more of a tip down, because we were stopping her from turning our table and making more tips from others (even though the restaurant was empty).

When I was in my 20's I worked in the restaurant world. I know what waiters and waitresses deal with. Because of that, I go beyond what is expected by societal norms.

Unless a waitress gave me EXTREMELY horrible service, she would never get less than 15%. Otherwise I'm quite sure that most of wait staff would consider me a good tipper and a good customer. Of course there are some who think that life OWES them more, but thats THEIR problem.

Speaking of horrible service. I was at a restaurant one time. The meat dish I ordered came back WAYYYY to under cooked. Enough where I couldn't really eat it. The entire plate was sent back. When it came back, the SAME piece of meat was now OVER cooked, and the rest of the plate was now cold. The manager got involved with the original complaint and was right there when the plate came back and was bad. She went back and made sure a NEW plate was made up and done correctly. She got us both dessert, and then comped both our meals. This whole time the waitress was really doing and TRYING to do a good job. When the plate had to go back the second time, the manager pretty much took over and the waitress was kind of taken away from us. You could see she was upset by the entire situation which she didn't have any control of. When it was time to leave, and even though the manager had given us dessert and comped our meal, I asked to see the manager. I wanted to find out if the waitress had to share her tips, which she didn't. I wanted to make sure SHE got everything. I then paid her a tip OVER my normal LAZY 20%, for the entire comped meal, including dessert.

This young girl was TRYING her best, and was doing a wonderful job. It was the kitchen that was screwing up. You could tell she was upset by it. This girl was working for a living, just like me. She works for tips. I wasn't going to stiff her because of something someone else did. I went to the restaurant expecting to pay for a meal and a tip. The kitchen service was terrible, so the manager comped the meal. That was right. The waitress' service was awesome, so she got what I would have normally given her, plus EXTRA to try to make the rest of her day better. I would have spent money on the bill anyway, since it was comped, the waitress got a little of that.

Now back to part of what I originally posted. You are absolutely correct about the servers not being "entitled" to anything. They CHOSE their jobs. They choose to live within those confines

I used to work in the restaurant field. I now work in construction. I know how hard one works in restaurants and I know how hard I work in construction.

I tip generously by societal norms.

BUT...

BUT...

I CHOSE to work in construction. With that choosing comes the pay. Comes the layoffs. Comes the difficulty. Comes the skill requirements. Comes the work conditions.

I CHOSE all of that.

Likewise, a waiter or waitress, one way or another has chosen their job and what comes with it.

I can appreciate "how hard" a waitress works. But heres the reality. I've worked both, waiting tables is a cake walk compared to what I now do.

If a waiter/ess doesn't like what they are making at Denny's, then get a job at Olive Garden. If Olive Garden isn't cutting it, then get a job at a steak house.

Societal norm is to tip at a restaurant. That norm is 15%. I chose to tip over 15%. That is what I consider part of blessing others.

I tip on the post tax bill not pre tax. Thats part of blessing others. I round up the tip. Thats part of blessing others. I tip even more than MY norm when service is exemplary. Thats part of being a blessing to others. At Christmas time, I double or more, my normalgiving, which is already higher than societal norm. Thats part of being a blessing to others.