infinity ag said:
I worked as a bagger at Albertson's in College Station in the 90s. I also had to take groceries out to the car in many cases. I hardly got any tips. One hot college student girl gave me $5 one time which surprised me. Some old people gave me a dollar every now and then. Most did not give me anything even though I was making $5.30/hr.
So not sure why restaurant servers feel entitled to get 20-25% tips.
I would tip my sackers when they helped me out to the car when I was entertaining (anywhere from 35 for Thanksgiving to 200 for New Years) and had a full cart or even two carts. Between 5 and 10 bucks. I found out that when I approached a check out counter, sackers rushed over to bag my groceries, very carefully. That was in the early 90s at an upscale grocery store in NW Austin.
I worked as a cocktail waitress when I was in college. Salary was 10 cents a drink plus tips. One gentleman tipped me 20 bucks for getting him a sixty cent pack of cigs from the vending machine. (Obviously, cigs in the late seventies didn't cost as much as they do now.)
A few years back The Hubs and I were in Hot Springs on a vacay (family wedding related) and went to a restaurant named The Back Porch. We sat out on the deck on the water. The Hubs ordered a Cowboy Cut steak and I ordered a chicken pasta dish. My dinner was very good but The Hubs' steak was the best either he or I have ever had. Our waitress was phenomenal and we were cracking jokes all evening. Rest of the diners on the deck were laughing with us.
Waitress came out after near the end of dinner and asked us if we wanted an after dinner wine. Next time she came to the table, I said, "Want to hear our after dinner wine?" In unison, The Hubs and I said "WHERE'S OUR DRINKS?" Entire deck erupted in laughter. The chefs came out to meet us and that was before we tipped everybody a 50% tip of the final bill.
Great food and great service always deserves a sizeable tip. My bartenders at TGI Fridays doted on me because I tipped them well. There used to be a chicken egg theory on tipping.
Work it to earn it.