Tipping people who provide regular service to you is the subject of many a media report. Magazines, newspapers and TV reporters suggest either cash amounts or, in some cases, personal gifts. They deal in percentages of what your cost is for each service, but sometimes that advice is unheeded.
Those who eat out should know that the wait staff depends on tips for a sizeable portion of their income. People who don’t tip well in restaurants usually don’t tip enough during the December holidays either. Maybe they’re just cheap, or frugal, or maybe they just don’t know what a decent tip is. So, a guide to December tipping will be wasted on these folks. The delivery people, mail carriers, salon staff and others will probably be given far less than they deserve.
During this month of heavy decisions, there’s a totally different end of the pay scale crowd that are in "hot stove" baseball salary negotiations. Take Curt Schilling, a pitcher with the Boston Red Sox, who just signed for $8 million for one year’s work – work that involved resting four of every five days, being provided with upscale hotel and restaurant accommodations. He also had a clause put in his contract for the team owners to pay for childcare on the days he’s pitching. Think he’s a big tipper?
Or, take Alex Rodriguez, the highest paid baseball player in history. He stays in more luxurious hotels than his teammates do and his travel arrangements are way better than other players who ride buses and trains. Think he tips well?
How about all those athletes who get millions on top of their salary in product endorsement fees? Are they giving really good tips this month?
Then there are the politicians.
Hillary Clinton got a lot of negative press when a waitress recently claimed she was stiffed by the candidate. Actually a $100 bill was left as a tip for a meal but it wasn’t shared evenly, so the waitress aired her gripe and got a lot of attention.
On the other end of the scale, we had a friend who had become rather successful in his field after a poor financial start. He tipped the person who checked his oil at a gas station and he wrote generous checks to every charity that solicited him as well as doling out huge cash tips to the doorman in his apartment building and virtually every other service provider he knew.
We’ve known people who are bright, fun to be with and live a generally comfortable lifestyle.. But when it comes to tipping others, like a valet car parker, they’re just plain cheap.
It’s commonly known that waiters and waitresses (servers, as they’re called now) and salon workers leave the most generous tips. Being on both the receiving and giving side of tipping, they are well aware of how much it means to the recipient of a good tip.
Long ago, wisdom was "it’s better to give than receive." It’s a good axiom, especially when you choose to give a bit more to those who’ve served you well.
