THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13. 2003
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5A
Determining appropriate tip is difficult but important
Web sites, servers provide guidance on how much to tip
Depending on which side of the counter you stand on, tips can be a blessing or a burden.
Why, the poor college student may ask, should I have to fork over the extra bucks when I just paid for my Mad Greek special in nickels and dimes?
There is some debate regarding the origin of tipping. According to the October 2001 article "Advanced Tipology" on www.money.cnn.com, tips might have originated in 16th Century England as "drink money" left for the server. In other words, the customer was saving, "Have a drink on me."
Another theory, posted at www.tipping.org, suggests the word tip is actually an acronym
standing for "to insure promptness." Apparently, patrons put money on the table before ordering and the barmaid determined the quality of service the person received based on the amount.
Now, of course, tips are merely an afterthought — crumpled bills and coins tossed on the table or placed in a tip jar. Most people observe the standard 15 percent tip at sit-down restaurants, but the question of whom to tip and when to tip is often a gray area.
COMMON CENTS
Tipping.org, a Web site devoted to the intricacies of the tipping dilemma, offers a downloadable tip table. Tipping.org and "Advanced Tipology" offer some guidelines when the question arises: How much?
If one person is doing the cut or style, give him or her 15 percent of the total bill. If multiple stylists are involved, give 10 percent of the total bill to the person who sets the hair and divide 10 percent among the others. Remember: if this is someone who will be doing your hair in the future, it might not be a good idea to give him or her the shaft.
Nicole Roché
nroche@kansan.com
Hair salons
"If you don't get tipped, you're basically making $2 an hour."
Traci Elliott
Omaha, Neb. junior and Chili's Grill & Bar
waitress
For beer or wine, tip $1. For a mixed drink, tip $2. Ryan Blair, Lansing freshman and bartender at Henry's, 11 E. Eighth St., said he considered tips a bonus for good service. When he doesn't get a tip, he said, "It means I'm doing something wrong." In the case of small tips, Blair said, "Anything helps."
Bars
Exotic Dance Clubs
For patrons sitting at the stage, $3 a song is a minimum. For other patrons, $1 is appropriate. Waitresses at dance clubs should receive at least $1 a drink, more for mixed drinks.
Is a tip appropriate when the person carries the food out to your car? Adam Roybal, a Hugoton junior and associate man
Sonic Drive-In
ager at Sonic, 3201 W. Sixth St., said the restaurant encouraged employees to work for tips. Carhops are paid minimum wage, Roybal said, and many of them depend on tips as part of their income." A dollar or two is nice," Roybal said. "We don't expect 15 or 20 percent."
Restaurants
Tipping.org says this is the most controversial section on the site. A 15 percent tip should be given to a waiter or waitress
20 percent for a four-star restaurant. The site defines a fourstar restaurant as one that "by default gives extraordinary service." The site says the tip should be figured with the pre-tax amount.
Traci Elliott, Omaha, Neb. junior, said she depended on tips each night she works at Chili's Grill & Bar, 2319 Iowa St.
"If you don't get tipped, you're basically making $2 an hour," she said.
Elliott said she noticed that when she was tired or not as perky, her tips lowered.
It's unclear whether tips should be a requirement or a reflection of the quality of service. Obviously, leaving a low tip tells the person you were unsatisfied - but leaving at least a small tip shows you understand it might just be a bad day for the individual.
The band Live may have said it best in their song "Waitress" from its 1995 album Throwing Copper: "Come on baby, leave some change behind ... Everybody's good enough for some change."
Roché is a Wichita senior in journalism
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