{"id":1325,"date":"2007-09-21T05:00:28","date_gmt":"2007-09-21T12:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/getrichslowly.org\/blog\/2007\/09\/21\/three-questions-about-money-and-ethics\/"},"modified":"2018-11-20T23:44:45","modified_gmt":"2018-11-21T07:44:45","slug":"three-questions-about-money-and-ethics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getrichslowly.org\/three-questions-about-money-and-ethics\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Questions About Money and Ethics"},"content":{"rendered":"
Lady Kemma recently wrote with a question about money and ethics:<\/p>\n
Last week I went out with my work department. After feeding 30 people, all with individual checks, I left the harried waitress a generous tip. My colleague said, “You’re leaving too much tip.”<\/b> I said, “The poor lady earned it.” I left the money on the cash tray and got up to leave. My colleague proceeded to take some of the money off my cash tray and put it in her pocket. Since I only have to deal with this lady once a year, I let it go. Thoughts?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Dilemmas like this fascinate me. There are so many things going on at once, it’s difficult to make a smart decision on the spot. I like to think I would have challenged my colleague \u2014 I’ve waited tables, and if I leave a tip for someone, nobody had better touch it. On the other hand, I’m often afraid to make a scene, so maybe I would have kept my mouth shut. I don’t know. Just two hours after Lady Kemma sent her question, Kris and I faced a similar situation, but in reverse.<\/p>\n
I took Kris to lunch at my favorite Chinese restaurant last Saturday. The bill was $10.25. I left a $1.75 tip. “That’s not enough,” Kris said. “Why not?” I asked. “There’s a certain minimum you need to leave, no matter what the bill,” she told me.<\/b> “That’s crazy,” I said. “I usually leave $6 when I order a $4.50 lunch on my own. That’s 33%!” When we got up to leave, she put an extra $2 on the table. Is there a minimum tip amount? What is it? (I’m not asking about 10%, 15%, 20% \u2014 I’m asking about actual dollars and cents.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n