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Even if you are a bad tipper, you could never be as bad of some of these people:

24 Things etc. [A collection of tips]

Jim
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Speaking from a secure undisclosed location.

I truly hope that most of them are fake. What a sad state of affairs if they aren't.

Ed, I've eaten in John's (No 2).

When I was in high school I bussed tables in a French restaurant and about once a week I would hear a server cussing because instead of a tip they would get a religious pamphlet. The one about "I give god 10% why do you get 18" happened about 4 months ago and she was a deacon in a church and they put that receipt on a facebook page. The single mother if she can afford to go out and spend $138.00 she can afford to tip.

I hope this doesn't label me as a cheapskate:
But why do we tip and when did the mandatory tipping come into play?
Why are waitstaff under paid? Is it to help keep menu prices down? Shouldn't the wait staff be paid at least minimum wage and if they do good, get compensated by the employer? If someone does something extra special, then you could compensate them directly in the form of a tip? Why does it need to be X%?
I tip about 5 dollars regardless of the price of the bill, if exceptional service such as us taking a lot of the servers time for what ever reason, then $10. ( I am talking average dinner of $10-60)
However, I also feel compelled to tip if the meal sucked or the service was subpar. I should't feel that way. I figure if we look at an hourly wage standpoint,waitstaff maybe dedicate 15 minutes or less for a small party of 4 or less. @ 5 bucks * 4 tables that is $20 an hour.

Why should I tip a Valet attendant, because he DIDN'T dent my car? Or a Taxi Driver because he didn't crash? Or my barber because they didn't give me a mohawk? Where is our tips for not downing a system? I just don't understand this tipping thing.

The IRS taxes waitresses on their tips and assumes a certain income amount even if she doesn't get any tips. So if we don't tip, the waitress loses money when waiting on us. I know this because my mom was a waitress for most of her life.

We can't improve the system nor the poor hourly wages most of them receive. So be fair and please consider the old standard 10% gratuity as an absolute minimum. 20% is advised for good service. Myself, I typically tip at 15%.

It's all a part of the cost of going out. And if we can afford the price of ordering an adult beverage, we can certainly afford the cost of a tip.

I usually do the 15% and 20% for real good service. Poor service is going to get less and rude service may not get any, but a bad meal is not the servers fault.

My daughter worked at a Pizza Hut in Georgia and the tipping generally was not great. During the Olympics in Atlanta the Europeans found out what a low wage they made and that the servers depended on tipping to offset the low wage, she got several tips that were actually more than the meal itself and on average were very good tips. That helped to make up for the table full of demanding ladies that came in every Sunday for their after church social that left a quarter.

Like Dave I have a soft spot for the servers.

Anybody that ever had a job where they worked for tips will never question why you should tip those poor bastards waiting tables, driving taxis, parking cars, etc.

I remember when I worked delivering stuff in high school. Some people would give me empty soda bottles for a tip ( recycling in those days = $0.02 for a small or a whole nickel for a quart bottle!). Even back in 1964-65 that was crap. There were times I was tempted to hurl the bottle through their window on my way out.

And then their were the summers when I worked in the "Hebrew Himalayas" (the Catskill Mountain hotels and camps).

I will never stiff a server.

Sam

I use the 10-20% rule if it was good service 20% or better for poor service I will give 10%.

If the average check is $40.00 at 15% thats a $6.00 tip. A good waiter can do 6-10 tables/hour so that equals out to $36-$60 per hour. I had a friend that served in a high end restaurant 20 years ago he would make 6-7 hundred on a good night.

I have many friends in the food service industry working as servers or bartenders. In general, they make out fairly well because they are very good at what they do. When they get short-changed, it usually has nothing to do with anything that they (or the establishment) did. There are just some people who can't be pleased.

I refuse to leave less than a 20% tip. Call me soft, but knowing these people as well as I do, even that isn't a lot of money since most restaurants keep shifts short to minimize labor and/or benefits costs. $2.16 per hour as base hardly covers their gasoline cost to drive to work.

The unrelenting winter here isn't helping them either. People don't typically like to go out when the weather is bad and we've had no shortage of it. We are still wearing coats at night in May!