Christians behaving badly is scandal and, as the article days, places huge stumbling blocks. This pastor has come up with a creative outreach. I wish him well.
If it is automatic and part of the bill, why not just add it to the price? Why pretend its some type of “tip”?
Because she’s cheap.
I understand why they add the tip to larger party’s bill , because, to be quite honest, larger parties generally don’t tip as well for some reason. In Germany, the tip was already in the receipt, but we always tipped, anyway. The waiters there are not college students working in an entry level job. (Mostly, that is true.) They get to know their customers very well if you frequent their restaurant and some are good at predicting what you will choose! No kidding! We always tipped on top of their gratuity that was included because it was so low to begin with. This is their real job and they have families.
Anyway, the point is this. Even if the tip is already included, one should at the very least round up to the nearest dollar or nearest 5 or 10, depending. I have NEVER regretted leaving a larger tip, and you don’t know what the server/waitress/waiter might be going through. Today, many a waitress & waiter have lost a regular job and this is what is available to them for the present time. I figure that if I can afford to eat out, I can afford to give a good tip. In fact, that griper might have considered the fact that by tipping over the amount already on the sales slip she might have been doing God’s work. To write what she did on that receipt was denigrating to me as a believer, and doesn’t do anything for God, either! What was she thinking, anyway?
Real Christian churches are on the wain, no matter what the attendance roles say. There are even Baptist churches in Texas, no less, that have ordained gay deacons.
I'm sure tipping is an important topic to come from the pulpit, but somehow I think Religion has bigger fish to fry right now. How could someone council the person on suicide grief if they aren't even saved themselves? IMO, Angels are nailing signs with "Ichabod" printed over the doors of many churches today.
And for most of them, they aren't waiting on tables to get material for their novel, or to tide them over until they get their next trust fund check. Most of them have minimum skills and kids to feed, that's why they have to work in such a thankless and poorly paid job.
I personally tip 20% rounded up if the service is good, so 18% for a group of ten people is certainly not excessive. The only issue here seems to be that the "tip" (which is actually a service charge) is added into the bill automatically.
Restaurants usually implement this kind of policy after a number of complaints from the wait staff about people with large groups either NOT tipping, or leaving $5 on a $250 tab. It's NOT that they are trying to alienate their customers, it's they are trying to keep their staff from walking out them.
What Jesus demands has nothing to do with tipping your waitress. If the reverend had an issue with the policy, she should have paid the bill and then taken up the issue with the management, not lay it on the waitress.
Just my humble opinion...
My in-laws taught me about how Christians should tip. They NEVER left a table without tipping, and the ONLY reason a tip might be lower than normal would have been because of really, really bad service. Not only that, they’d always leave the table with a “God bless you” to the server.
From "UnknownUzer":
"I used to manage a full service gas station and was unlucky enough to be the one that had to work the Sunday morning shift.
Without fail there would be at least one church goer who would stop in to have me pump their gas, check their oil, clean their windows, and then explain to me how I was going to hades for working on Sunday.
I would always explain to them that I wish I didn't have to work on the Sabbath, but that my boss said that so long as there are sinners needing fuel to get to church, we would be there to help them make the journey.
The looks on their faces was priceless."
Waiters pay “tip-share” (a percentage of total sales) to the bartender, hostess and busboy. Large parties often “lose” the tip in the confusion over separate checks, who’s paying what, etc.. In such instances it’s conceivable the waiter will have to PAY to wait on the table.
Thus one reason for added gratuity.
Saint Francis (IIRC) stated, "Preach the Gospel at all times. And if necessary, use words." This is powerful in that it reminds us that our actions speak far louder than our words. And if the two don't align, then there's a problem with our walk.
That having been said, the only people I've heard complain about my tipping have been some of Mrs WBill's Liberal friends and relatives. It's happened maybe a half-dozen times over the past years.
They don't understand why I leave so much. One actually pocketed some of what I put on the table, saying loudly "Service wasn't that good." Of course I made it a point to square up with the waitress, who I've known for 15 years or more. She just shook her head sadly, which made me wonder how many other times this has happened to her.
I am split, on this. Once, my wife and I went to dinner to celebrate her girlfriend’s BDay, it was a party of 10, no built in gratuity. When the check came, I passed the GF’s husband more than enough to cover our portion, plus 20%.
I was mortified, when he left a $10 tip FOR THE ENTIRE GROUP, and explained, “hey, I’d be happy if someone handed me $10”. Never went out with that crowd, again.
On the other hand, I was with a group where the 18% was added in, there was inadequate staffing to cover the table, and the waiters were practically non-existent. It was pretty obvious there was no motivation to provide service, as the tip was automatic. Never went back to that place, either.
Thanks for posting this. I think the website is an interesting idea and I liked the video the pastor put together on the site.