Tipping (No cows allowed)

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about the expectations surrounding tipping standards when eating out.

The standard was, until relatively recently,  10% of the bill before tax IF the service was good.  I, as the consumer and dinner guest, as it were, have the right to expect reasonably good service in exchange for a tip at the end of the meal.  This is a way of saying "thank you" to my waiter/waitress for taking such good care of me and my parties needs throughout our eating experience. Some of the requirements of good service, mean a certain attentiveness without being intrusive and rude.  Drink refills without waiting or having to beg on water, tea and soda.  Getting my food order correct, including any limitations or additions.  It means a smile and an attitude, that says, "I'm here, I'm looking over you and making sure you enjoy yourself with little effort.  Just eat and enjoy".

More and more, I am observing a drastic shift in my restaurant experiences and it isn't pleasant.  There as an expectation now of 20% tip on every bill and the service provided is frequently substandard at best.  There is also an attitude of entitlement and lack of ethics and pride in the jobs these individuals do.  I am so dissatisfied, that one by one I find myself banning restaurants from my list of places to go, based on bad service and bad food alone.

The price of the meals have increased in line with inflation and I can accept that.  If I want to eat out, I have to be o.k. with the premium I pay for the meal.  The portions of food for these increased premiums have decreased.  Portions are much smaller its true, but I am o.k. with this too, after-all portion control is healthy right?

Here is where I am not o.k.  The service industry has seen the same increase in minimum wage/base pay as everyone else.  So if you do a little basic math, and assume that the waiter who can't seem to bring you water throughout your meal and brought you a well done steak instead of medium rare, makes $8.95 hour for sub-par service, then on top of that there is a demand on you the consumer to leave him a 15-20% tip just for doing his basic job, poorly I might add. Now your bill is $40 so he gets $8 (at 20%). He serves -10 tables in an hour and makes on average a12% tip because people are as stingy as I am when they get bad service.  If those ten tables average $40 ea. and he only receives 12% which is considered scrooge and miserly, he would make $48/hr plus his minimum wage placing him at $56/hr.  If he earned his full 20%?  WOW he would earn a whopping $89/hr.

Now I'm not denying the service industry is tough, it has its ups and downs,  but really? Really?  I bust my rump everyday for 10 hours turning out a high performance and work quality, and I make a fraction of this. 

Here is the bottom line,  and you might never want to eat out with me again after you read this, but at most, I will leave a 15% tip and that is for AMAZING service.  My standard remains at 10% and if service is really poor you might see 5% or nothing at all.  The waiter and waitress are not entitled to my hard earned money just because someone somewhere established a totally random expectation.  Take good care of me, get my order right, keep my drinks filled , and bring my appetizer, salad, and dinner at appropriate intervals, and you will get a decent tip.  Fail on any of these and your tip declines exponentially as each failure compounds throughout the meal. Also,  your service is not over Until the bill has been paid.  Giving good service up until the bill and then leaving me sitting for 20 minutes waiting for you to process payment while I am ready to leave, is a great way to decrease and even lose your tip.

I can be reasonable, kind, gracious, and warm.  But I work hard for my money, you should too.