Basic Tips on Tipping: How Much and To Whom?
Published on - October 12th, 2006 (Modified on - October 16th, 2006) (by J.D. Roth) Every time I get my hair cut, I’m faced with a dilemma — should I tip the barber or not? I usually get my hair cut in a small-town shop. I tip $2 on a $12 haircut. If I get to hear stories about Vietnam or histrionic political rants, I tip $3, even if I don’t agree with the barber’s viewpoints. (I tip because I’ve been entertained.) Sometimes, if I don’t have enough cash, I don’t leave a anything at all. Are these tips appropriate?
What about when I pick up Chinese takeout? Should I have tipped the guys who delivered our new gas range last fall? What about a hotel bellhop? A parking valet? Out of curiosity, I did some research on tipping practices in the United States. There’s actually significant disagreement about how much to tip for even common services.
For example, you know you should tip your waitress. But how much should you leave? Some people claim that 10% is adequate. Others claim that 20% is standard. But I suspect that most of us learned to tip 15%, and to give more for exceptional service. (The wikipedia entry on tipping currently contains the bizarre claim that “18% is generally accepted as a standard tip for good service”.) Which amount is correct?
After browsing dozens of pages, I drafted the following guide. The amounts listed are based on averages or on consensus, when possible.
Food Service
- Barista
- No tip required, though many suggest throwing coins into the tip jar.
- Bartender
- $1/drink (or 15% of total bill). Pre-tip for better service.
- Delivery person (including pizza)
- 10%, $2 minimum (also, also)
- Maitre d’
- $5-$25 for special efforts
- Takeout
- No tip required unless something special is done (also, also)
- Waiter
- 15% for adequate service, 20% for exceptional service. For poor service, leave 10% or less. It’s okay to leave nothing for exceptionally poor service, but only if you’re sure it’s the waiter’s fault.
Hotel Staff
- Bellman/Porter
- $1 to $2 per bag, $5 minimum. (Or, just as many places say $1 bag, $2 minimum.)
- Concierge
- $5-$20 depending on the service. $20 if he does something exceptional. Nothing for directions.
- Housekeeper
- $2 to $5 per night, paid daily or as a lump sum at checkout. (Most sites suggest you tip daily.)
- Parking Valet
- A wide range of opinions. Everyone agrees that you should pay when your car is retrieved. Some say to pay when it’s parked, too. Most sites say to tip $2, though some suggest $5.
- Room service
- $5 minimum (unless gratuity is included in check)
Travel
- Bus driver (not mass transit)
- $1 to $2, if she handles luggage
- Cab driver
- 10%, $2-$5 minimum
- Chauffeur
- 10-15%
- Gas station attendant
- Nothing. Or $2-$4. There’s no agreement. (I’ve never seen anyone tip a gas station attendant ever.)
- Porter/skycap
- $1 per bag. $2 for heavy items, or if porter brings luggage to counter.
Personal service
- Barber/Hairstylist
- Again, little agreement: 10-15%, 15-20%, etc. One person recommends $5 to each individual who shampoos or blow-dries your hair! (also)
- Manicurist
- 15%
- Spa service
- 15-20%
- Masseuse
- 10-15%
- Shoe-shiner
- $2 or $3
Other
- Building superintendent
- Varies —read more.
- Coat checker
- Most sites recommend $1 per coat, though one said $2 to $5 upon retrieval.
- Furniture deliverer
- It depends. Most of the time $5-$20. Some recommend simply offering cold drinks. (also)
- Grocery store bagger
- One site recommended $1-$3, though I’ve never seen one tipped in my life.
- Mover
- $10-$25 per person (also)
What about tipping at holidays? Tipping service people with whom you have regular contact can build goodwill. I found these recommendations:
Holiday Tips
- Babysitter: one week’s pay
- Doorman: bottle of wine or box of chocolates
- Garbage collector: $15 to $25
- Gardener: one week’s pay
- Housekeeper: one week’s pay
- Janitor: $15 to $25
- Mail carrier: $15 to $20 (up to $20 non-cash)
- Nanny: one week’s pay
- Newspaper delivery person: $15 to $25
- Parking attendant: $15 to $25
- Personal trainer: $20 to $50 (tip discreetly)
Some points regarding tipping etiquette:
- If you use a coupon or gift certificate, calculate your tip based on the total before discount.
- Tip above the norm if:
- Service is exceptional,
- You’ve been a burden, or
- You are a regular client.
- Don’t tip if it’s not deserved. Poor service should not be rewarded.
- In some circumstances, if you offer an initial tip — especially a large initial tip — you’ll get better service.
- If you take up a restaurant table for a long time, tip extra.
- Tip discreetly.
- When in doubt, tip.
What about public officials? When is a tip a tip, and when is a tip a bribe? My wife and I tipped the judge who married us, but even then we had trouble deciding how much to give him. (We gave him $50.)
I suspect that tipping practices vary widely from region-to-region and, especially based upon the size of the city. As always, do what works for you.
Other articles about tipping:
- How to tip in a foreign country
- International tipping etiquette
- Is it better to tip with cash or with credit?
- Tipping at weddings
- Tipping relieves guilt more than it provides incentive
- Tipping etiquette (which is actually the best guide I found)
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Just a few quick notes. I say that it’s never OK to not tip your waiter, even if the service was crappy. At least give a few bucks.
Also, I work as a grocery store bagger, and we do get tips. Although, people usually don’t tip unless you also carry their groceries to their car for them. But yeah, $1-$3 is about right. I’ve never gotten more than $5.
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I worked as a gas attendant in Oregon for three months (where it is illegal to pump your own gas). I think it is polite to tip the attendant if they do something extra for you like clean your windshields/headlights, provide directions, etc. A dollar would suffice. I eventually stopped providing any extra services, because most of the time people even neglected to thank me for wiping their dirty windshields. Jerks.
Also, my girlfriend informs me that the duration of her hair washing (basically, a scalp massage) at the salon is directly related to the size of her tip to the stylist on the previous visit. She also frequents the same salon.
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tip when somebody does a service for you that is above what they had to do. don’t tip somebody for just doing their job, and tip based on what that extra service is worth to you. pre-tipping is called a bribe, and if i worked in a service industry, i would be insulted to recieve one
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Useful list, had I had it BEFORE I visited the States. I got some very strange looks when I didn’t tip. However, I am very much of the opinion that tipping should only be for good service (as it is in the UK/RSA) and not just because someone’s done their job. Nobody tips me because I’ve done my job.
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I for one think tipping in all its forms should be done away with. You’re forced to make this value judgement and get loaded with the guilt trip that the guy won’t get to feed his family if stiff him for taking too long to bring the drinks.
Include it in the bill. If the service was bad, complain to the manager, and/or don’t go there again.
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For barbers, I tip a minimum of $3 for good service, although as the price of a haircut climbs closer to $20 I may bump that up. I also was taught early on that you’re not supposed to tip the owner of the shop, although I have never had an owner turn down a tip.
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Believing tipping is ever mandatory sucks just as much as buying obglitory Christmas gifts. Just don’t do it, no matter to whom. Would you want to recieve any gift from someone who only gave it to you because they felt they had to? Not me.
A tip is a gift. You should *never* give unless you are moved to reward someone for exceptional service, kindness, or anything else they do beyond their job description. Do not box yourself into preconceived notions of who you should or should not tip, or how much. This does not mean to be stingy. Give often and generously to anyone you like. I have tipped over 100% of the bill on rare occasions, but I also have no qualms whatsoever about leaving nothing at all.
Do not allow yourself to regard your tip as part of the expected compensation for any type of service. When a tip *is* required, it is automatically generated and added to the bill anyway (“15% gratuity added for parties of six or more”).
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Sky Diving Instructor: 300%
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My experiences..
1) I always tip US bartenders $1 for the entire order. $2 if it’s a big order. It seems to be well received.
2) Grocery baggers REFUSED my tip!
So.. I say don’t tip there.
3) The linked article about tipping around the world is bogus.. it says that in the UK this applies “Service charges usually included in restaurant bills; otherwise, standard U.S. tipping rules apply.”
That’s nonsense. Most restaurant bills do not include service charges, for starters. And standard US tipping rules certainly don’t apply. You never tip bartenders, for instance. And 10% is considered standard. Any more than that is extravagant. Rounding up is also done a lot, rather than work on exact percentages.
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What about tipping your photographers?
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How exactly does one go about tipping, say, a garbage collector or newspaper delivery person? Every Christmastime I run into this dilemma and have yet to figure out what I’m supposed to do.
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Just wanted to say to those of you who mentioned that tipping is not a normal custom in your country of origin/habitation: I hope that when you’re in the States you still tip as often as you see fit or can part with the money. As someone who works at a register job where tipping is seen as “tacky” by the proprietors, tip money is rare but makes all the difference in the world. I try not to let tip amounts affect my service provided to people and, frankly, I’ve never not provided (translation: I’ve always provided) the best service I could at the time given the circumstances. Yet there’s nothing more disappointing than putting in an 8 hour shift and having nothing to show for it except 3 or 4 dollars. (Especially on Mondays.) Service jobs are thankless jobs so I IMPLORE you: Please tip what you can whenever you can. Even if it’s just change.
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No kidding: I’m supposed to feel sorry for people who end up making 20 and hour and have to pay taxes on half that? I’ve bested my ass a lot harder than waiting tables for a lot less than that. And I had to pay tax on all of it.
I’ll tip what’s appropriate if the server does a good job. But how dare servers act like I’m responsible for subsidising their choices?
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Dan: the “tip calculator” that some restaurants print at the bottom of their receipts always seems to be based on the after-tax total. Personally I think this is nonsense. Why tip the server for the state’s job in addition to their own? I always calculate based on the pre-tax total.
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Do people realize that waitpeople/servers do not get paid even minimum wage, and are not infrequently paid under $3 an hour? For people whose paycheck comes mainly from their employers, a “tip” might be just an extra thank you — but for restaurant workers, the expectation is that the customer, not the employer, provides basic compensation. If you’re denying a server a tip because of poor service, please make very sure that it was their fault, and not the fault of the kitchen, management, etc.
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I teach piano lessons, and sometimes I receive Christmas gifts or tips. I have a graduate degree in music and belong to a professional association and give presentations, so I consider myself to be somewhere along the lines of a doctor or lawyer than a maid or nanny, and make somewhere in between those two levels.
I do accept the tips and presents so as not to be ungracious, but frankly, the gifts I receive are usually either jewelry that’s not as nice as what I normally wear, or gift cards for places that are not where I would go to buy something nice for myself, and I actually end up recycling much of this into tips to my hairdresser and cleaning lady.
Basically, I judge my piano student’s families on these points:
Does your child practice between lessons or do they come and waste my time?
Do you read my studio policy that says you don’t get a credit or make-up with less than 24 hours notice, and if you do, do you accept it and not try and get me to make an exception whenever you “forget” or the lesson time is “inconvenient”?
Do you pay your monthly invoice on time the first time you receive it, or do I have to waste my time reminding you to pay what you owe me?
Basically, if you treat me professionally all year, I don’t really need a gift or a tip, and if you don’t, I probably won’t take you back next year no matter what you give me at the holidays. And tipping/gifting will not change the fact that my studio policies apply to you, and that your child is not getting any extra time or attention beyond the excellent attention I give all my students. And if you think you are not getting my best, I invite you to change teachers rather than attempt to bribe me into doing “better”.
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What are opinions here regarding leaving tips at buffets (Indian restaurants, etc.)?
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[...] Get Rich Slowly » Basic Tips on Tipping: How Much and To Whom? (tags: life lifehacks reference tips money) [...]
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The US is the only place where you might have to worry about tipping more then some change. Yes if the service is above and beyond, they are getting a nice tip. Though I feel that tips should NEVER be mandatory, and waiters SHOULD get paid min wage. You don’t tip the person at McDonalds do you? Why not, they serve you food. I think it should be standard, get paid at least min wage, that would make it a non concern. Oh yea, and maybe get rid of the 4 way stops
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That’s a strange system you have there in the US… It seems really stressful to understand the obscure rituals that correct tipping involves. A suggestion from the rest of the world where you tip because you want your service people to know that you really enjoyed your stay (and they will appreciate that and will not take it for granted): You should just stop tipping completely for a while. All of you. It would lead to a situation where 2$/hr-waiters had to renegotiate with their employers and after a short while labor cost would be where it belongs.
No tip > bad service > no patrons > higher wage for waiters (or closing of business) > prices include labor cost > tips are a sign of gratitude and exceptional service
Aren’t you the guys with the market economy over there?
And aren’t there any retaurants that treat their employees fairly and have an explicit anti-tip policy? I for one as a patron would honor that…
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[...] 43f Links for Saturday, October 14th music: NOISE: Tarrying, tangling with Long Winters’ John Roderick “Indie fame is the kind of fame that will never impede your freedom to go jogging in Central Park without wearing a disguise.” (tagged: indierock sanfrancisco thelongwinters johnroderick) Basic Tips on Tipping: How Much and To Whom? I sometimes think visitors to the US are willfully dense about tipping. Yeah, it’s a dumb system, but it _is_ a system. Not tipping is unspeakably lame. (tagged: worldofwork customs service tipping) d3 – a ‘kinkless’ GTD system “This system attempts to capture the essence of a ‘kinkless’ GTD system using TiddlyWiki.” (tagged: webapps gtd kinkless kgtd) [...]
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A delivery driver should be tipped at least the same as a waiter. There are some serious expences and risk involved in delivery. The typical delivery charge generally only covers fuel mileage. As a pizza driver, I had a commercial insurance policy that changed my rates from $50/month to $95/month. There are the risks of robbery and road hazzards. 40-60,000 miles of city driving on a car doesn’t help either.
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“So if you spend $300 on dinner, tip the $60, because at the end of the night the waiter is probably making more like $20/hr.”
That’s the waiter’s employment/salary decision then.
Regardless, you are missing my point entirely. Your statement and point of view is that it is reasonable for a person to hand a waiter $60 to do the following over the course of 1 hour:
* Walk witha tray of food for 4 people from 50ft away
* Check on the table a few times
* Fetch and deliver drinks as necessary
That’s insane, and any past-waiter (always the ones who object to my philosophy on it) supports their justification of it with a complex tree of events that flow from patron all the way practically to the poor poor cost of gas the waiter had to spend to make it to work.
$60 for carrying a tray, picking up dishes, being cordial, and carrying drinks is insane for 1 table of 4. Now… 8 people with mixed drinks? Different scenario.
I pay 20 percent 95% of the time. I will never feel badly about handing a waiter $30-$40 for their 10-15 minutes of actual work at my $300 table, nor do I care if they feel I am cheap because of it.
I do find it comical that people who wait tables consider themselves a working class above a grocery bagger or checkout person. I don’t think I’ve ever come across personnel more over-self-important than wait staff. It’s an honest job, and good for you, but get OVER yourselves.
If I chose to wait tables, I’d be very damn happy with $15/hr.
Licensed massage therapists in the Tampa, FL region make $18-$20/hr.
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In response to #42:
I got taxed on 8% of the food that I served. So if you bought lunch and the bill came to $24 – I got taxed 8% on that meal which is $1.92.. doesn’t sound like alot – but if you left a %15 tip would be $3.60 means I made $1.68. I’m guessing you probably would have only left $3 tip for a $24 lunch. Means I only made $1.08.
They don’t base the taxes on your tips at all. They base it on the food you sell. All food tickets are entered into the computer and they know how much you sell.
What percentage of tax do you pay on your income? 50%? Why would taxing half of my tip be OK then?
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I find the $5 minimum for room service a bit excessive. Most hotels include a line item for the service fee and gratuity. There’s also a place on the bill for an “extra gratuity”. Is the $5 recommendation over and above what’s already charged?
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Weekly Roundup – 10/13/06…
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I didn’t bother reading through the numerous replies as this is simply directed at the “author,” or collector of this information.
On military bases, at the “commissary,” or supermarket, all baggers work soley for tips. I always put a dollar in the basket, considering being single I generally don’t buy a lot, and I make less money than most. However if I’ve gotten a lot of items I tip closer to 5 dollars, depending on if I’m carring or carting the bags to my car (eg how many bags there are), and if they smashed my bread or not.
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74 debra- Everyone is taxed on their income. I pay my tax rate on 100% of my income, which usually amounts to about 33%. And you are complaining that they are taking 8% of the food bill? If 15% of the food bill is the average tip, you are only paying tax on half of your income. So quit complaining.
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I would like to add Lifeguards to the list. If your a regularly attend a pool a tip is most appreciated at the end of the summer. I would only tip though if the lifeguard made an extra effort to help you in some way.
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I have tipped many times to Gas Attendants. Sometimes, I might not have any change and I do not tip. But especially if its at night time; I definitly make sure I break a 10 or 20 ; just to tip them
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Hey its NJ, and if they are doing the work… Y NOT??
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[...] “Basic Tips on Tipping: How Much and To Whom?” [Get Rich Slowly] (tags: Travel Microeconomics) [...]
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I may just be a jackass (quite possible, I suppose), but I never believed you SHOULDN’T tip a person when they had done a bad job. Instead, I left them a penny
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Jeff’s comment #44 is a bullseye!!!
I am a Dir of Info Tech which provides customer service 24X7 and I have yet to recieve a ‘tip’
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I’d never even heard of tipping except in a purely theoretical way until a couple of years _after_ I’d visited the USA. Now I’m kind of leery about taking any kind of future vacation there.
It’s not that I couldn’t afford the tips, it’s just the hassle of having to know ridiculous amounts of background information in order to figure out what should be coming out of my wallet. Heck, even the practice of not including all taxes and fees on price tags is a pain in the ass.
Most other countries, your expenditures will be exactly what’s written down, not that-plus-variable-fed-tax-plus-variable-state-tax-plus-variable-tax-tax-plus-variable-tip. If a meal is going to cost me $30, I want to see “$30″ on the menu, dammit. If it says “$29.95″, I want to be walking out of there at the end of the night with a nickel.
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[...] Get Rich Slowly – Basic Tips on Tipping How Much and To Whom? (tags: resources etiquette reference howto tipping money) [...]
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I valet park in San Francisco, here’s my take:
$1 cheap
$2 not too bad, thanks
3-4, nice, thanks
5-10, quite nice, thanks very much
20, you made me not hate myself for standing out in the cold, thanks so much
People often remember to tip when they’re paying for valet parking, but forget to do so when the parking has been comped by the host (like at weddings, rather than restaurants). But we’re still dependent on tips, regardless of who’s paying.
Tips are shared amongst valet parkers, so if you want to tip someone in particular, give them two amounts, one of them specifically for the recipient. We’re taxed on our tips, so if we don’t actually receive that amount in tips, that tax comes out of our paycheck above and beyond the regular taxes.
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I didn’t read through the comments so it may have been mentioned, but one of the overlooked tipping positions on the list is that of casino dealers. I’m a dealer and I think of all the service positions one can have, no one takes as much abuse from patrons as the casino dealer – and no one gets tipped less than we do. We get called names, sworn at, threats of violence at times, and generally are treated like crap, and if we get $5 from one of these people that’s alot. When people win bigger jackpots they ask, what should we tip you, and I always say “How much do you tip a waitress for good service? I gave you 40 thousand dollars, what do you think you should tip me?” It’s never ever close to 10% let alone 15 or 20. Alot of new players don’t even know they should tip dealers, but we live on tips. Standard hourly rate payed by the company is $4/hr….we need the tips to survive. Please take care of us next time you go to a casino and have a good time, and/or win money. Thank you
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I’ve always told people that they should tip their butcher (if they have a regular one) at least $5 at Christmas. It’s not only appreciated, it seperates you from the herd and ensures great service and preferential treatment in the year to come.
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My goodness, how much money do these suggested tippers have?
http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:NSFoYqH22_gJ:www.law.biu.ac.il/content/sem_fac/tipping.doc+why+is+tipping+inefficient%3F&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=firefox-a
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I do telephone support for a software firm. Since I provide consistent excellent service and never receive tips I NEVER tip anyone else. If the waiters, delivery boys, and cruise ship employees dont like their salary,
they can take it up with management.
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Tip your mail person. As the child of a rual mail carrier, our Christmas’ were brightened by the many boxes of cookies and chocolates our father brought home each year. (I wouldn’t tip cash, except maybe gift cards).
Though I still tire of the endless boxes of cordial cherries I see haunting my dreams.
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Wow, it almost sounds like we should be tipping everyone we come into contact with! Casino dealers and butchers, too! (By the way, if I ought to tip a casino dealer when I win money at the table, should the dealer tip *me* if I were to lose?) It really seems that a line should be drawn somewhere, but evidently, views range widely. Maybe I should join the fray and make a shameless pitch for my own line of work: “tip your college professors!” So there. (And by the way, no, I am not serious about that. At the K-12 level, you might want to give a teacher a small gift if she/he has spent hours writing letters of recommendation for you, but really, it’s part of the salary.)
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My two cents : I don’t care how you frame this debate or justify your position; if you’re inclined not to tip you’re probably not going to tip.
And you’re probably going to drink alone at home, because you’re not welcome to sit at any bar where the staff has an ounce of self-respect.
You might consider tipping as a form of karma, especially in the food and beverage industry. Let’s be honest: do you really want to risk having a bad reputation among the people who feed you?
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Do people (wait staff) not realize that there are other jobs available where you don’t have to make 2 bucks an hour and rely on the charity of others?
Seriously. Quit whining.
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I always tip 20% to waiters and waitresses. If the bill states that a gratuity has been added and it’s less than that amount then I make up the difference, even though I feel it’s presumptuous of the establishment to automatically add a tip to my bill (because the service may have been sub-par). Most hotels add that to the room service bill and I usually get disappointed looks from the server if I tip only the difference to bring the tip to 20%. Not my fault. I also ignore the tax and tip only on the amount consumed.
Pizza delivery gets $2.00 plus the change from the bill. Mail carriers get nothing. Their pay and benefits are far better than mine.
Any profession that gets minimum wage and above will have a hard time getting tips from me.
Any of you that tell others that “if you can’t afford 20% you have no business going there, so go somewhere cheaper”: you are supercilious snots who probably make more money than you’re worth. For a person of small means to forego going to a ritzy place for a special occasion because the service people, from the valet to the maitre d’ to the waiter/waitress demand 20% or above is a mean thing to do. Get over yourselves; there are exceptions.
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What people don’t understand is that waiting tables is essentially a commision job. The commission is determined almost solely by the patron. Whe I waited tables I was taxed on 10% of my food and alcohol sales, I automatically tipped out 3% of sales to the bar and busboys. I collect all of the money for the night and at the end of the night pay out to the tippool and then pay the restaraunt for my food and drink. Anything that’s left over is mine. If a table walks out on it’s check – I pay for it. If the kitchen is constantly in the weeds and I don’t get any tips I have some rescourse but usually my pay suffers. There have been nights where I’ve ended up paying the restaraunt. Usually after a dine and dash, but still I’ve worked 6 to eight hours essentially for nothing. I’ve also had days where I cleared a couple hundred dollars.
It also seems that people who don’t tip don’t know what goes into making a good waiter. I worked as both a waitier and a bartender and I worked a lot harder than I’ve had to in any other job with the exception of farm labor.
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Yes, waiting is a hard job and yes there are nights that suck. But everyone’s jobs suck! I work in IT for a training company, last week someone docked my centre for using ‘yellow’ light as opposed to ‘white.’ My scored are taken into account during my annual review, so you could see that as a loss of cash.
Yet, still, I don’t think I’m entitled to ‘good’ reviews or feedback from the customers. I am here doing a job. When I get fed up with it, I will leave. If I get fed up with IT, I will retrain to do something else.
If a customer compliments me because I’ve gone out of my way, then that’s brilliant and a complete bonus. However, it’s not something I expect or am entitled to.
Similarly with tips. I’d say, if the service is average, 15% is fine. I usually tip around 20% just on basic principle. If the service has been horrendous, I’ve been known to leave pennies in a sad face
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From #95:
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Any of you that tell others that “if you can’t afford 20% you have no business going there, so go somewhere cheaper”: you are supercilious snots who probably make more money than you’re worth. For a person of small means to forego going to a ritzy place for a special occasion because the service people, from the valet to the maitre d’ to the waiter/waitress demand 20% or above is a mean thing to do. Get over yourselves; there are exceptions.
—–
Like buy less food or go to a cheaper place. If you can’t afford to pay the bill you shouldn’t go. What if you get stellar service. the wiater may go above and beyond for your special occasion -even if it isn’t special to him. If the service is good you should still tip. That’s part of the unwritten social contract.
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For Room Service, you suggest a $5 minimum. Every hotel I’ve stayed in already adds an 18% gratuity to your Room Service bill, not to mention several dollars “delivery fee”. Is this $5 meant to be in addition to that?
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I will never tip a counter person for filling up a cup of coffee for me. I will never tip a counter person for reaching into the display case and getting a pastry for me.
On the other hand, for service — simply for bringing the food to my table (which is part of the job requirement) — a server will get no less than 15%, and usually more (calculated on the gross total, not the pre-tax total).
I consider myself a fair tipper, especially now that I bring a toddler to the restaurant (where I know feel compelled to tip no less than 22% to 25%). This is the price of raising a child in NYC, one that I gladly pay.
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