Monday, July 27, 2009

"It's not tipping I believe in. It's overtipping. "-Vinnie Antonelli

My toe nail care is prompting this blog. Do not be alarmed I am not addressing my most recent pedicurist’s unsubtle suggestion about my increasing the frequency of my pedicures, her rebuke of the pale pink color I elected for my piggies or the results of my attendant’s poor nail clipping abilities which will no doubt land me in a podiatrist’s office sometime soon. Foot fetish freaks in the vain of Marla Maples’ one time publicist, Chuck Jones, look elsewhere as that is not the destination for which this train is headed.

After departing the salon, where I was accompanied by a friend, a discussion ensued about tipping. My friend inquired about my tipping. We started talking about whether appropriate tipping is regional or/and directly related to the service being provided. There are a volume of resources available to assess an appropriate tip for a given service, books, websites and applications for one’s smart phone. Tipping: An American Social History of Gratuities by Kerry Seagrave, Tipping.org, Tip Calculator Top for I-Phone all address the tough subject of gratuity.
Out at dinner, having grown up in New York, I always followed the common practice of double the tax or better for good service. As a relocated New Yorker to DC at present, I have morphed into a go with your gut tipper because doubling the tax as a tip in Maryland would be down -right insulting for my server.

Like the Steve Martin character, Vinnie Antonelli in the 1990 flick, My Blue Heaven I am a strong believer in tipping for great service. He attempts to tip a flight attendant after assuaging her to provide him with two scotches instead of the legal one and even tips an FBI agent. Vinnie a gangster/FBI informant in the witness protection program even gives a soliloquy about over- tipping for good service to Rick Moranis’, FBI agent character, Barney. This movie always pops into my head when I think about tipping, arugula, dead turtles, the phrase, “You dirty rat” and excuses for why a person would have a hundred copies of the same book in their trunk. I admit it, this panned movie makes me laugh a tremendous amount but, the tipping joke resonates tantamount to everything else. By the way, does anyone actually know anyone named Shaldeen?

Is leaving no tip at all the most insulting answer to being given poor service? Well, no, I think it is more insulting if you leave two cents on the table. My husband and I were faced with a scenario once where there was an included gratuity in our check and our meal server essentially abandoned our table. We were vacationing at a family resort and dining with our daughter who was two years old at the time. When the waitress realized that we were a party of three which included a small child, not going to be ordering a tremendous amount of booze and a huge party of adults was seated adjacent to us we were cast aside like lepers. The waitress disappeared, reappearing on the dance floor of the establishment, back to our table twice only to insult our toddler who was behaving well at the table and leaving for nearly an hour after we requested our guest check. All told, our dinner ensued for almost four hours and the dining establishment could have turned our table over twice as our painful dining scenario played out. My husband asked to speak with the manager of the restaurant regarding our dining experience about why we were refusing to pay the included gratuity. The manager was not available. My husband ended up composing a letter to the resort about the ordeal and they sent us a gift card for our trouble. It should have served as a foreshadowing of things to come when my husband requested a margarita and the server suggested making it with Patron. Who puts top shelf tequila in a mixed drink?

Let’s take a step back, to my feet, which are simply put not glamorous and see a pedicure maybe every five to six weeks. Have a laugh at my expense my husband confided in me last week that he did not marry me for my feet. At home I see the same pedicurist on a fairly regular basis, her name is Nina and she is wonderful. Not only does she provide me with an excellent pedicure, she also suggests ways to care for my feet in between pedicures and she is a highly entertaining woman with a spectacular demeanor that tolerates my two children who often accompany me to the salon. I have a tremendous amount of respect for this lady and all salon professionals who attend to feet, which can be scary, depending on the hygiene of the person they are attached to. Openly, honestly, I tip Nina spectacularly because of the given task and the stellar manner in which it is performed. I checked the tipping website I referenced earlier and it recommended leaving a $2 tip. Numerous sources cite the average cost of a pedicure nationally to be $30-$32. Is a $2 tip fair?

Perhaps I have too much empathy for all service professionals but, I believe that these people are incredible. They literally have the most difficult jobs, constantly dealing with the public who can be disgruntled and demanding. Waiters, bartenders, bell-hops, hairdressers, car wash drying men and baristas depend on tips for their livelihood. Imagine that you are a good service professional and you take pride in the work you do. Now, imagine that a customer stiffs you, leaving a mediocre tip. What message is being sent?

In closing, I think we all need to pay it forward when it comes to gratuities. If you are provided with incredible service leave a magnificent thank you. Don’t even get me started about the celebrities noted on Page Six for leaving no tip after drinking gratis at a bar.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Seeing Red

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.