ron paul 08!

and politicians are meant to represent people?

"undertip"?? Give me a break, if the service by the wait staff in most places didn;t have such a bad attitude, trying to get laid while working or just plain pissed off they have to work there, 20-25% would be easy.

well, he acted like a douche, and then acted like a douche again.
Everyone knows what they say....it looks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck, it must be a duck. I'd say calling him something offensive like a douche just isn't fitting enough for how revolting his actions were...

"Only" 10%. Way to encourage our increasing entitlement society.

Why would 10% be good in 1984 but not now?

It shouldnt be a percent at all. If I order a hotdog or a lobster tail the waitress/waiter does the same amount of work. Why should I have to tip more just because I ordered a more expensive dish? It should be a tip based on the level of service I receive.

@skrom: By your comments, you clearly haven't worked in the service industry where the federal minimum wage for waitstaff is pegged at $2.13/hr

Whenever the topic of tipping comes up, say on Chowhound, I'm dazzled by the invention of people trying to stiff a server -- I didn't have enough money; figuring the tip on the bill minus alcohol; the bill minus tax; etc. -- when, ultimately, a couple of percentage points is usually less than a couple of dollars.

Be a big man (or woman): tip 20% of the whole check, minimum. It's easy to figure (take ten percent and double it), and your date will be impressed.

And if you don't like your meal...is that the server's fault? Take it up with the manager, right there, where your complaint might effect some good.

@hypnotik_jello: By your comments, you clearly have no idea how the minimum wage for waitstaff works.. The waitstaff is paid atleast 2.13 p/h from the resturant (more depending on the state) with the rest being a tip credit. If the waiter earns past both the federal and state minimum wage, then the resturant only pays the 2.13 or whatever per hour. But if their tips do not equal the minimum wage, the resturant pays the difference. So you earn 4 dollars in tips per hour, 2.13 minimum wage, yet your state minimum is 7.50? Then your paycheck has an extra 67 cents.

Then you forget the states that make the minimum paycheck amount 5+ dollars per hour, and the other states that don't allow tip credits. Either way, the waiters get paid atleast minimum wage with the ablility to earn alot more.

Also, because of inflation and rising food prices being reflected in menus, 10% is still more then reasonable for a tip.

@cde: I'll keep tipping my 20-30% thanks. You're free to tip your 10%. Agreed? To each his own, and may your food be free of spit.

@haroldx: "Be a big man (or woman): tip 20% of the whole check, minimum. It's easy to figure (take ten percent and double it), and your date will be impressed."

I tend to agree with an earlier post - why is it if I get great service in a pizza joint where my total bill is $25 would I be tipping that waitperson LESS than if I got so-so service at a steak house where my bill was $125? Are you saying that the waitperson in the pizza shop DESERVES less because they work in a pizza joint?

I'd love to hear what your justification for that "20 percent of the check" thinking is.

Furthermore, I don't care if my date is impressed by the amount of my tip. If you're a gentleman and have class, you take and sign the check and add the tip without your date ever knowing what the total bill was. I prefer my date be impressed by my humor, personality, education etc etc. But hey, if you need to show her the check and point out how much you tipped...

i was a waiter for a few summers back, and i always made at least $11 an hour after i got my cut of the tips. i got paid 3.75 an hour plus tips. going the extra mile, and being more friendly really can make a difference.

most people would at least tip 15% which isnt all bad, but some people would be horribly cheap with tips and barely give 10%. if you are a chronic low tipper and you frequent a certain restaraunt, don't expect great service.

if you wanna complain go ahead, if your food sucks its not the waiters fault (we just bring it out), its the kitchens fault and rarely do they get penalized for it. tell management and dont take it out on waiters. but, if you are getting bad service then you may lower your tip.

10-15% lunch
20-30% dinner

Someone's getting spit bagel for the rest of his career...wouldn't want to be that guy.

As I said in my earlier post: people will go to an awful lot of trouble to justify being cheap.

Twenty percent is a rule of thumb. I'd never tip less than $1.00, even when I'm just having a cup of coffee.

I think you're just being argumentative here; you can't really believe what you've written. But for those who think you're serious: that $125 steak is served in much nicer surroundings than the pizza, most likely, and a 20% tip is just $25 -- not a big deal to such a big spender.

Less in a pizza house (or Denny's, or whatever -- I don't tip in takeout places) isn't really fair. The person serving your pancakes and eggs may be working harder than the one serving that steak, but tipping more than the cost of the meal is more than anybody would expect.

The bit about impressing a date was a joke (if you're unfamiliar with the term, look it up); I tip the same whether or not I'm solo. I feel better being a bit generous; if you get off on stiffing the waitstaff, well, that just makes me look like the Second Coming.

New Zealand is a great country. Great people, great food, great drinks and NO TIPPING!

Wow. And to think it wasn't very long ago that people were talking up Sharkansky as the great new hope of Western Washington Republicans. And now any time his name is brought up, this story is going to follow within minutes.

Oh my.

I like to tip. It is by no means an obligation or a means to avoid spit in my sandwich. It's an appreciation for being served well and an acknowledgement that working food service is a bitch. 20% unless the service (not the food) was crappy; $5 minimum, no matter the bill, if I sit down and get table service.

Being frugal and counting your pennies is something to be admired, especially in such an era of conspicuous consumption. But this is one place where spreading your extra couple dollars around a bit will bring back more than just good karma and hot soup.

As for our Seattle Republican's response: Yikes! (Though, to be fair, the waitress' original posting was totally out of line.)

While this Sharkansky guy is clearly a d-bag of major proportions, it worries me that a waitress can just post this kind of "one-sided" view and "out" this guy like that. He's a borderline "public figure", but still... Although, I guess that's the nature of the internet.

And it bothers me further that "politics" are involved here. I doubt that the waitress would have done the "interview" had Sharkansky been a Democrat.

End of the day, this guy clearly brought this to the forefront himself and is an idiot. The waitress is a little off kilter and kinda bitch-y.

and yes, you should never tip less than 15%...

tipping is optional.

I tip based on the service I receive, and not on what society expects of me (aside from actually tipping 99% of the time). I've left a $5 tip for a $1.85 cup of soup, and I've left nothing on a $50 meal. If you're going to be a pita with me while doing your JOB, don't expect to get anything additional (except maybe a complaint to the manager).

Sharkansky: Spare the rod spoil the child. Both children, in this case.

It's always amazing what the topic of tipping brings out in people. It's also amazing what just being a customer in a restaurant brings out in people.

I've worked as a waiter for over a decade and have dealt with plenty of customers, good and bad, and waitstaff, good and bad. There's a great deal of presumption about what's involved in waiting tables by folks who have never done it. It is hard, exhausting work (I say this as someone who also worked in construction simultaneously for 7 years). I see far too may customers who treat waitstaff as servants rather than servers. I think it would do people well to work in a restaurant for a few months.

It's true that the minimum wage for waitstaff is quite low, obviously varying state by state, but that is generally offset by the tips received. Waiting can be great money and I've worked in places it was, but often it's a keep-your-head-above-water job whose pay is unpredictable and fairly arbitrary. Most tippers have already decided how much they're going to tip independent of the service actually received and quite often what shifts a tip amount is based on personal preferences/proclivities/quirks of the customer that are unknown to the server.

It's also worth noting because of this pay structure that the government taxes a server on presumed tips so when someone like squeezer99 spouts off about "tipping is optional" they're being a tool. If you don't tip in a restaurant the server is literally paying for the pleasure of dealing with you. You don't change federal tax policy by taking it out on your waitress.

Regardless of the details of the specific numbers, much of being a good tipper is being a good customer, which generally means a person with manners and a bit of human empathy.

Most Republicans may be idiots, but it doesn't mean that all Republicans are idiots. Likewise, this guy is a jerk, but it doesn't mean all Republicans are jerks. I'm sure I can find a person who undertips, creates a mountain out of a molehill, and votes Democrat. But I won't go as far as saying that all Democrats are jerks who undertip and blow things out of proportion.

If the service was lousy, or all she did was get his family a refill, 10% is perfectly fine. And I don't see how his kid running around has anything to do with the tip, I've never heard of an 'inconvenience tip' before.

What is not fine, are his actions against this women. She should have sued, for invasion of privacy. She did not threaten him in anyway, nor his family and he is not an officer of the law. So how is he allowed to do a 'random' background check on her? Sounds illegal to me, and grounds to sue.

I always tip at least 15%.

This is why I am glad to live in a country where servers are paid a decent, realistic (if low) wage and not have this social minefield come up on a regular basis. Some restaurants in England will add a "discretionary" 10, 12.5 or 15% service charge. Unless the service was extremely bad I usually pay this and a little more extra in cash if the staff was nice.

America, dear sweet land of entitlement, where going out for a meal can become a source of stress and lawsuits: you can take your 20% tips and shove them where the sun don't shine.

on topic (not about tips, I promise): While I don't condone what "The Shark" did by any means, and it's only fair that any politicianbot be held accountable for their behavior in public, I wonder why *some* people seem to think it's OK to slander their customers in a thinly veiled manner online? Do they think it won't come back to them somehow? I enjoy the stuff on [www.waiterrant.net] as much as the next guy, but Ben's point is valid - meanness begets meanness. You don't get love/tips by giving snark. And my hunch is that the waitress in question probably gave 10%-tip service as opposed to 25%.

Nice to see how many people know EXACTLY how tipping works and are so helpful to explain it to the rest of us. So you shitbags who tip exactly 10%, you are the ones looking for the cheapest 'help the hungry' grocery bags over the holidays, right?

And Republicans are much like lawyers, it's that bad 99% that gives the other 1% the bad name.

This dweeb fuck who got her fired? Stick his nuts in a food processor and then put them on his next pizza.

@shoegazer: So you think you should be able to go out in public and anonymously abuse people as you wish, but GOD FORBID they call you out on it??

Anyhoo, it's NOT SLANDER if it's true. I wasn't there, and you weren't there to make THAT call.

The problem with the whole "tip is up to you, but MOST people tip 20%" or whatever, is that over time, an 'acceptable' tip becomes more and more. I remember when 15% was the "suggested" amount, now some people on here are saying that is not enough and they "always" tip 20-30%. Well, either you go to places with some awesome wait stuff or you aren't basing your tips on the service you receive. I will not be overly picky, but they will only get a good tip if they do the job they are supposed to: take my orders in a timely manner, bring me the food as I ordered it and be helpful if there is a problem.

I will tip around 20% if the service was pretty good with no problems (if it was awesome I will go higher). If it was poor it will go down to 15, bad will get them 10%, if it's been horrible they will get a derisory amount like a dollar and if they have been an ass they will get 0%.

Probably 80-90% of the time I tip the full 20% and I have only tipped 0 once. We were in a restaurant just to have a drink and a dessert - our waitress introduced herself and said she'd be right back, we sat there for 20 minutes with no service. We eventually grabbed another guy who took our orders, the other waitress was surly and unapologetic when she returned, was sarcastic and unhelpful when trying to work out a problem with one of the drinks, and was slow and unfriendly all night. Her service did not add to my experience, and actually detracted from the evening, so I felt fully justified writing a big fat ZERO on her tip.

The problem is, wait staff like this surely don't realise they are being an ass and just think their customers are cheap - rather than that on some occasions, a low tip is a reflection of THEIR performance. For the people talking about low wages meaning you should ALWAYS tip, well, that's because waiting staff's pay is performance related. And if someone is going to serve me a $50-$100 meal with the same level of service I get in a McDonald's they deserve to be making the same wages as McDonald's staff.

EDIT: after viewing the original blog she posted, he sounds like a stingy prick. 10% all the time, well that's...nice He should be lucky that the waitresses have not taken to spitting on his food or worse. Personally, I'd rub his steak dinner on the kitchen floor. No saliva traces. LMAO

Stephan always struck me as the decent, honest, and persistent sort back when I read him (a great deal in my blogging days, since he did cover the Washington State educational scene). Perhaps the persistence in him took over here. Good to know that the bloggers can do their research, but this is one research project I probably would not have bothered with.

i didn't read this waitresses blog or other information that was listed online but it looked to me as all he did was a simple google search and find information about her. Where does it say that he did a background check and what not. When you put your private personal information online for everyone to see guess what, it is no longer private.

@haroldx: "Less in a pizza house (or Denny's, or whatever -- I don't tip in takeout places) isn't really fair."

So you agree then that using a percentage of the cost of the meal isn't a good way to do it.

So now explain to me why it would make me "cheap" to reward the server at the pizza joint with the same $10 tip I leave at the steak house? If both servers work equally hard, I spend about the same amount of time, etc. etc. According to you, if I leave a 45% tip in the pizza shop and a 8% tip at the steak house, I'm cheap. Why is that again, exactly?

By your same logic, we should hire more women because we can pay them less to do the same jobs.

The reason that the socially acceptable tip has went from 10% to 15% and now 18-20% is that the amount restaurants pay their wait staff has not went up. They pay them the same flat rate and raise their food prices and count on the customer to give the employees their cost of living adjustment.

It's complete and utter BS.

Did you people read what she posted on her blog? Sorry, but this really is crossing the line.

Meet the Stress: How old would you say their child is?

Blogger/NW Restaurateur: 5 years old

Meet the Stress: When we talked last, you described the scion of these two as "a problem". Why is that?

Blogger/NW Restaurateur: Quite simply, the kid is Damian from the Omen. Might as well be a monkey. The kid did everything except reach in his pants and throw feces on the wall.

At a fancy restaurant the waiter has fewer tables and slower turn-over. They also tend to be more professional and informative about the food. In bigger places the waiter also has to tip-out the cook, bus-boy and hostess. A low tip can cost a waiter money.

I would prefer just adding 20% to everything and being done with it, but that's not the way it works. Sure, be a big tipper and leave a fiver for a 10 dollar Denny's breakfast, but don't think your doing anyone a favor by tipping a ten for hundred dollar fancy dinner out.

@hypnotik_jello:

No doubt. Obviously someone has never watched the movie "Waiting".

I tip based on service. Its JUST THAT SIMPLE folks! Mandatory tipping is BULLSHIT!

I hate them both. Her for bitching about her tip AND posting about it in public.

Him for being just another whiny republican with a blog and too much spare time.

OT (not about tipping):

It's probably a bad idea to go after someone powerful, like a politician, by name if a) it's easy for them to find out who you are and b) you work someplace where the management isn't going to back you up when someone wants you fired.

It's probably a bad idea for a public figure, like a politician, to get someone fired for talking about them on the Internet. At best you end up looking like an ass who's just sore someone had the gall to be honest about what you and your family are like. At worst you've provided excellent fodder for your competition about how you're against working people.

Interesting - this Sharkansky character uses his position and influence to make life hell for a truth-telling working mom, and y'all want to argue about rationalizations for a small tip.

He may not have liked what she said, but doing a background check is on the crazy side. Plus, going after her kid which has nothing to do with the situation at hand is downright dirty, regardless of the history of the kid. And on top of that effecting her job at a totally different place that also has nothing to do with the situation at hand?! This guy is an asshole.

@masonreloaded: What you said!

@mrmysterious: Doesn't the rising price of food automatically increase the nominal value of tips, even if the % does not change?

Hey Stefan Sharkansky, yo're an under-tipping douche!

If I ever meet anyone who knows you, I'll tell 'em your a bad parent...I bet several others on this board will do the same.

Oh wait...we'll all have forgotten your name in 5 minutes, and a more interesting republican douche will present themselves.

You could always offer to blow a guy for $20--that might help.

It's not like it's skilled labor or anything.
They're lucky to get 15%

With this bitch's attitude, she should have been grateful to get 10%.

"I have serious issues regarding: men, children, relationships, food, sex, politics, religion, and authority."

Oh yeah, she sounds like a really stable person who would never exaggerate what really happened.

Plus, you've just got to love the mother of a child who threatened to blow up his school then turning around and commenting on the parenting skills of others.

That's some serious Internetting.

@lorddave: I don't know what you're smoking, but a tip is not an "entitlement." It's payment for service received.

I always start at 20%, with a minimum of $5. It goes up from there for exceptional service or if the waitress is super hot.

@BURGUNDYYEARS: yes, the rising cost of food will offset some of the pay differences between a 10% tip in the past and a 20% tip today.

Didn't read all the ancillary posts, but did see that the waitress initially said in the interview she only waited on him once. Then later, said "The first time I waited on them..."

Looks like the pot calling the kettle black about childrearing.

Couldn't find anything where he did a background check but if he did that was wrong. However, if he just found out who she was based on what she posted, then I don't see anything wrong with that. If you post on the internet, is it realistic to expect to always remain anonymous?