For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for March 17, 2014

spécialement au Canada

I have the same problem, Elly! I finally got smart—-and this works for me—-I carry a calculator in my purse and a suggestion of what tip to pay to whom… Sorry, I don’t have an iPhone (or one like it), and I have yet to figure out to extract the calculator in the cellphone I Do have… I’m technologically challenged ;)

My guess is, the fancier the uniform, the more they expect to get as a tip.

The art to be learned is how to be gracious and pleasant regardless of the amount of tip you are paid.

I hear you Ellie, tipping can be stressful!

My issue is with the beer store near me. I carry the case of beer to the counter, pay, and take it to my car. The punk-kid cashier has a tip jar! For what? i carried the beer all over the place! He sat on a stool and watched SportsCenter!

the commissary near us has baggers that take your bags to the car and work just for tips. I have never figured out how much to tip them, it used to be 25 cents a bag but that was in 1968. Now days when I bring my own bags and make sure they are full instead of 3 items in a bag, I still tip about $3 for a average bill of groceries. Too much? Too little?

In panel 3, Ellie looks and acts like a little old lady. My general approach is to carry my own stuff. When I played golf where caddies were required, they almost had to rip the bag off my shoulder.

Looks like Ellie might have to carry her own bags when she checks out!

We watched “Good Fellas” last night. Where EVERYBODY got tipped $20 or better. In 1970 dollars..Of course Elly runs with a different crowd.

I was a waitress during college and I know how hard of a job it is. That being said as a single women, then married I have always made it a point to tip high 25% and up because it is a hard job. The assumption that women are bad tippers or get irritated it their husbands tip big is not the case with any of the women I know. ****Funny story though one time my husband and I were eating out and the waitress was so obvious that she thought flirting with the man would get her a big tip that she literally ignored me and practically sat in my husbands lap. I have never seen a waitress who had to reach across a patron so many times literally bopping him in the cheek once with her chest. Should have seen her face when she brought the check and I picked it up to pay for it. I then told her she should treat all her customers well because you never know who is tipping. That being said still tipped her 25% because it is the right thing to do

Big Joe would like a word, Mr. Pink

Elly was never a Scout…

I only tip if I feel it’s deserved. I don’t tip porters, employed to help me with my luggage in hotels. I don’t tip people doing nothing out of what they are paid for. I do tip in restaurants, when the service is good. In countries like Egypt, where staff depends on tips I tip heavily, but on the day I leave, because I don’t want more than normal good service and there I am careful to give something to everybody, cleaning crew, desk, waiters, pool-people. @Overtaxed: wow, you’re quite the women-hater. (nah, don’t tell me.. I’m also not interested)

-Now why do you suppose women subject themselves to poor service and then complain about it when they brought it down upon themselves?-You and I don’t live on the same planet, poster-calling-itself-overtaxed. Please do enlighten those of us who live on earth as to what your planet’s name is. I’m guessing ‘Mysogeny’.

@overtaxed-what do you consider a real job? vs an unreal job.

I stayed at an obscenely expensive hotel in D.C. last year. $800 for a room. $94 for a breakfast for two. And then the bellhops want tips! If the owners of the hotel can’t afford to pay the bellhops a living wage out of their own massive profits, tough. Let them get a job at a lower-level establishment where there’s none of the high-level gouging. Then I’ll have a few dollars for tips.

Tipping is always an individual preference, but a smart rule of thumb is “don’t blame the wait staff for bad food”. It is not the waiter/bellhop/porter’s fault that the restaurant/hotel overcharges. They depend on tips to make their living. If I get excellent service, even thought the food may not have been first rate, I tip well. If I get great food and lousy service, I tip less, but never stiff them completely.

Punishing the person making less than minimum wage who works mainly for tips because the company is making a lot of money makes absolutely no sense at all. Should the company pay a living wage yes of course but until they do if you can’t afford the full price of the service which should include tipping appropriately then you can’t afford the service period.

I always tip at least five dollars, its not going too high nor is it too low

Doormen at finer hotels don’t just grab your bag, but ask if you want them to take it. Snooty ones deserve $.75 in change, and if you can’t afford a tip do the work yourself.

I use rolling luggage when I travel AND have small bills ready for tips when I need them. As a senior, some might assume I need help, but I DON’T.

Who would expect that from an Aussie.

I despise the tipping culture. It’s not longer something you give for outstanding service, thanks to big business pushing for labor laws that stuff it to the little guy, it’s expected they will make most of their hourly wage from tips. And don’t get me on the proliferation of tip jars everywhere. That’s just not right. That said, we do tip generously and moreso if the service is excellent and budget it into the dinner bill ahead of time, though a part of me thinks it’s not right to tip 20% at a high end restaurant where presumably the waiter has 4 or 5 tables going and is getting about half of the $30 dollar tip we end up giving meaning that’s $60 an hour in tips – better pay than a lot of professionals make.

Panera has experimental non-profit restaurants where you “pay what you can afford” which they operate in poor areas. However, the menu has suggested prices that will keep the place open, so you are not left guessing. Enough people pay more than the suggested price to cover those who can’t/don’t pay anything.

Other places let you “pay forward” – pay for two coffees, and the restaurant tracks this, and lets homeless people claim it.

If I ask the bellman to carry my bag, he deserves a tip. If he grabs it, I figure he just wants to be nice.

I avoid almost every service that involves tips, whenever possible. Including haircuts, luggage-carriers, etc. I’d rather do the job myself than figure out how to deal with tip awkwardness.

We do enjoy going out to eat, but I tip about 5-10% more than my husband does. They’d better hope I take the check, and that they treat me like a person! We are both pleasant and polite, so I’ve only had bad service a few times, and terrible once. Mostly, we get and tip for excellent esrvice.

I usually tip 20%, especially when the waitress/waiter does a good job. We don’t go to high-end restaurants because we simply cannot afford them; instead, we go to places such as Olive Garden, Shari’s, Red Robin, and a few other restaurants like them… ;)

This is why I have a wad of dollar bills in my purse when I travel.

Tipping should be outlawed.

A bit late to the party, but what the heck. Tips are taxable and must be reported. Gifts are gifts and are treated as so (not reportable nor taxable (under tens of thousands of dollars)).If the service is excellent and the food…not so much, I usually ask the waiter/ress if they have to share tips. If they do I leave a small tip on the table/tray/bill and then hand the wait-person more and explain that it’s simply a friendly gift to a person I respect and that it’s not a tip. And yeah, if they’re confused then I expand on it a bit, but it’s always appreciated.