[Lijahsbubbe]

When I waitressed I never could pin down who I thought would tip well or not. I was always surprised.

[AppyPappy]

When I waitressed I never could pin down who I thought would tip well or not. I was always surprised.

I had a rommmate who was a died-in-the-wool Southern Democrat. He ALWAYS tipped pocket change. The bill could be $80 and he left 75 cents.

[GilesB]

I used to wait tables at a resort in St. Thomas. Sure, I liked the tips, but I didn't feel like my job was to hustle tips. I figured that over the long run, excellent service would yield above average tips - and I was right.

Two of my most memorable tips:
Two ladies from Denmark, who nobody else wanted to wait on because they tipped poorly; so I took them, gladly. I understood why they tipped poorly (European custom of adding the grat automatically) - but I didn't think they should be given poor service just because they didn't understand our customs. Their last evening there, they gave me a five dollar tip (on an $80 - $100 meal) and since their normal tip was a buck I was overwhelmed with their "generous" expression of gratitude...think about it - they honored me with 5 times greater praise than they gave anybody else.

The other one was a poor guy who got stuck with a $480 tab, after I had rendered impeccable service and expected a C-note in the bill folder. But, when I observed the poor guy getting stuck (he didn't order the most expensive meal, the appetizers or the several bottles of wine) with everybody else's good time, I knew my tip was hosed. I was right - $35. It made my manager mad, because he had watched my service, and he wanted to say something to the guy; but I wouldn't let him, because I figured the poor dude had had a bad enough night as it was - and after all, he wasn't the piker, it was the other 7 people at the table who dropped it all on him.