Does your tween/teen know how to tip?

Parents if you have already taught your children how to tip, please remind them when they go out with friends.

Last night I watched a group of 4 middle-school aged girls pay their bills at Mt. Fuji. The staff had divided the bill into four parts and after they left the servers picked up each folder and looked inside. They did not seem surprised to find that they were empty. None of the girls had left a tip.

Although one had only ordered a soda, they occupied a table for at least an hour.

I'm sure that the girls did not mean to be rude. They were very well behaved - okay a little loud at points, but that's to be expected at that age.

Interesting post, and I agree, a simple lesson that isn't hard to instill. ctrzson knows to double the tax and round up. Easy to remember and usually does the trick. He's probably in the minority however, and I'm sure he forgets too.

Yes. We've discussed tipping with the Kibbeboys. They are required to tip (albeit for good service) at restaurants and at their barbershop. If they're out with friends, we implore them to discuss the tip before paying the bill.

First alone outing in about 6th grade my son later reported he had forgotten to tip at the diner. We drove back later, he located the server apologized and tipped. (Mom waitressed her way through college). He has not ever forgotten again as far as I know.

I am confused, my mom said to tip on the bill not the tax and my other friend said the same thing as ctrzaca, whose right?

They're both right. Doubling the tax (7 percent) and rounding up is just a handy way to calculate a tip of about 15 percent.

The Dear Abby way also works: Take the last digit off the check (for 10 percent), and add half that amount (5 percent) to it, and round up for a tip of over 15 percent. (If your check is $14.00, it's $1.40 + $.70 = $2.10 for 15 percent, round up from there.)

I don't see why you would add the tax to figure out 15%. The standard is to tip on the total BEFORE tax.

The easiest way to do at least 15% is to round up to the next dollar (as opposed to rounding down and falling just under 15%) and figure 15% of that...but nowadays when people have calculators on their phones...or tip apps...you just punch in the numbers...

i used to figure the tip to the penny in my head..easily and got entertained by watching the reactions of the other people....i once figures a percent off price in a department store for my mom's friend..and she was floored when it was rung up for the exact price I said

Again, you don't tip on the tax (although it would be generous to do so).

You use the tax amount printed on the bill -- 7 percent -- and mentally double and round it up to figure the tip, without needing to pull out your phone at the table.

It's just a shortcut to a ballpark amount for those uninterested in figuring out tips to the penny.

Oy, why's it got to be so complicated? Yes, include the tax, especially when we're talking about kids: the bill isn't going top be that much to begin with. Take the total of the bill or your portion of it, say $15.00. Double that: $30. Move the decimal point one to the left so it makes sense: $3. Done. Yeah, you could have gone to the subtotal before tax of $14, made it $1.40, figured out half of that was $.70, added it together to get $2.10, or you could have doubled the $1 tax and tipped $2, or you could have saved yourself from having to do any actual math, not looked like a cheapskate, and partially made up for the friend who didn't tip on his part at all.

20%, folks: it's not 1987 anymore.

Just use the app you can install on the iPhone. Much easier.

Not sure why it is a given that the percentage for tips should be higher than in the past. Of course the tips themselves should be, because the prices against which the percentage is calculated have increased, but why the increase in the percent?

Personally I hate the whole tipping thing and wish that servers would just be paid a fair wage to begin with, but that's another discussion.

Also, I almost always do tip higher than 15%. I'm just questioning the assumption that the recommended percentage ought to increase over time.

I'm not saying the tipping percentage ought to increase, but it has. In this area, at least, 20 percent is standard for good service. It also makes it easier to figure out the tip. 10 percent times two.

Easy peasy.

Standard according to whom?

The logical conclusion that the percent you tip should increase over time ("it's not 1987 anymore") means that eventually tips will be expected to be 100 or more of the bill.

Prices for meals go up. Thus tips go up. But the percent going up as well means tips go up even faster.

Even places that add the tip for larger parties tend to add 18%, not 20.

It's expensive to live and work around here. Most of us earn more than a server. We tip 20% all of the time. As far as doing the math, this is basic 4th grade stuff.

Agree with all those who posted that its time to pay servers a fair wage and end tipping.

A friend who spent much of her youth working as a waitress has taught her children to tip 15% using the "double the tax" method.

She also told them to tip at least $1 when they eat somewhere with table service, even if they only bought a $5 burger. If they stay for an hour, they should tip an extra dollar because they held the table.

FilmCarp said:
It's expensive to live and work around here. Most of us earn more than a server. We tip 20% all of the time. As far as doing the math, this is basic 4th grade stuff.

Exactly, what's the difference between a good tip and an OK tip on most bills? A few bucks per person? If I'm eating out, I have enough disposable income to afford the extra few bucks. I'll pinch my pennies other places.

kenboy said:
Oy, why's it got to be so complicated? Yes, include the tax, especially when we're talking about kids: the bill isn't going top be that much to begin with. Take the total of the bill or your portion of it, say $15.00. Double that: $30. Move the decimal point one to the left so it makes sense: $3. Done.

That's what I do.

20 percent is standard for a decent tipand has been for a long time. You can afford the extra five percent. If you can't, you're eating in the wrong place.

imonlysleeping said:
20 percent is standard for a decent tipand has been for a long time. You can afford the extra five percent. If you can't, you're eating in the wrong place.

Not the point. I tend to tip 20+% unless service is really bad. And always a minimum of $3.

But as I said, even places that force you to tip on large parties don't do a 20% tip.

Perhaps 20% is standard for you. That doesn't mean it must be for everyone.

20 percent obviously isn't required. But it is widely considered the standard, basic, non-cheapskate tip for non-terrible service in our part of the world in 2015.

ok--i get it now....since the tax is 7% you multiply that by 2 so it would be 14% and then round up to be closer to 15%....and of course throw in extra fro exceptional service...or less for bad service...of course that only works when the tx is 7%...NJ tax used to be 6%..other states can be more or less.

as far as it being more complicated to tip on the pre tax amount....its is not difficult at all no matter what method you use..btw..$3 on a $15 bill is 20%, not 15...which is fine if the service warrants that...and no you don't tip 20% because it is the 21st century and things were more expensive....the increased expense increases the tip amount alone...

25 years ago a meal might have cost $10 and you tipped 1.50

now it might cost $15 and you tip 2.25 for average service.....so you are in fact tipping more but still at 15%

I have heard the alleged professional school of thought that 20% is standard...but there are other experts who still say 15%

Calculating the tip with the tax or not is a trivial difference. I include the tax so I can give the trivial amount to the server who can probably use the money more than I can. In other words, it's more significant to the server than it is to me.

I do think 20% is standard, and if you tip less, you are basically saying the server didn't do their job, whether you mean to say so or not. The fact that the tip is discretionary shows the problem with the system. I don't like the fact that some jobs are paid by discretion, not a standard agreement between employee and employer. I hope we ditch the system one of these days.

Sales tax in New York City is 8.875 percent, so the double-the-tax tip works even better there.

kibbegirl said:
Just use the app you can install on the iPhone. Much easier.

You beat me to it -- most, if not all, of these kids have iPhones. And for those poor slobs who have Android (like me), there's a calculator app (which is what I use since I'm math phobic).

It's not an inflationary thing -- I think the standard has just changed. When I was a kid, 15% really was the standard. Today, I think an awful lot of us have gone to 20%. I think if anything it's due to more people being aware of how crappily servers are compensated and treated -- things like their inability to take sick days, the illegal practices they have to basically live with if they want to stay employed (like: if a customer skips out on a check, the server often gets docked), etc.

ParticleMan said:
Standard according to whom?
The logical conclusion that the percent you tip should increase over time ("it's not 1987 anymore") means that eventually tips will be expected to be 100 or more of the bill.
Prices for meals go up. Thus tips go up. But the percent going up as well means tips go up even faster.
Even places that add the tip for larger parties tend to add 18%, not 20.

imonlysleeping said:
20 percent obviously isn't required. But it is widely considered the standard, basic, non-cheapskate tip for non-terrible service in our part of the world in 2015.

Oh please. Tipping 15% is not being a cheapskate.

"Widely considered" by whom? You and your friends, perhaps? That does not mean it's standard.

Nobody likes to think of themselves as cheap, but if in 2015 your default is 15 percent, you are under-tipping. Obviously there is no official arbiter of good-tipping behavior that can definitively prove to you that this is the case, and people will inevitably tell themselves what they want to hear in order to justify their habits. But in my experience, 20 percent is the standard: it's what most people do, and it's what servers expect.

imonlysleeping said:
Nobody likes to think of themselves as cheap, but if in 2015 your default is 15 percent, you are under-tipping. Obviously there is no official arbiter of good-tipping behavior that can definitively prove to you that this is the case, and people will inevitably tell themselves what they want to hear in order to justify their habits. But in my experience, 20 percent is the standard: it's what most people do, and it's what servers expect.

Great. Thanks for letting me know.*

* Boy, Jersey, multiple MOL threads.

I'd say in the NYC area 20% is definitely the way to go. When I go back to Phoenix where I grew up I think 15% might be a little more normal out there.

I always tip 20%, pretty much even if the service was crappy because I don't know... who am I to judge. The tipping system needs to go. If you do research about people that have studied it, it doesn't have the effect that people would expect it to (improving service, etc.)

I did finally catch on that when in Europe and the UK you really shouldn't tip like an American. It took a while to find out, because if you ask the answer you get still makes it sound like you should tip. But I never saw anyone that was a local make any substantial tips. Even then I still tip when in Europe, just not as much. Old habits die hard.

I definitely agree 15% in this area is cheap. I think the norm is 20%, perhaps 18-20% for those who like to have a spread - but never just 15%.