Tipping at Restaurants

Tipping waiters and waitresses (henceforth referred to as waiters, not because I'm sexist but because it's a shorter word and easier to type) at restaurants has been the subject of many debates that I have had. Ultimately I believe that tipping is a personal decision. Every individual should decide what they are comfortable with when it comes to tipping. Furthermore I don't think anyone should force their tipping practices onto others, nor should the think poorly of some one or openly ridicule some one for how they choose to tip. This being said I will proceed to tell you my thoughts behind tipping but I promise I will not make any effort to compell you to follow my practices (unless I do so subliminally in which case you will have no choice but to do things the way I do and you won't even know that I am compelling you to do so).

I aknowledge that waiters are not well paid by the restaurants they work at and that much of their money comes from tips. Many people like to give big tips based on this fact, but I don't. Waiting tables doesn't require any skills beyond be able to talk to people, write, and carry food. The first two are learned by pretty much everyone in the United States and the last one can be done by pretty much anyone who practices for a little bit. So waiters don't get paid a lot for a reason, the fact that tips are commonly given to them is a great bonus that most other jobs don't offer. I also don't sympathize with the low pay because they know what they will be paid when they take the job, it's not like they are forced into beint a waiter.

I am perfectly willing to tip if I feel like some one deserves it but I am a big stickler for customer service so I have high standards for what warrants a tip. I really try to refrain from basing my tip on the amount I spent on the food simply because just because an item is more expensive doesn't mean the waiter had to work any harder so why would they get a bigger tip. Whether I order the salmon or just a little side salad the waiter does the same amount of work. Along this same vein I have no idea who came up with 15%, people have come to feel obligated to tip that much for some reason.

I like to base tips on performance. Is the waiter friendly and respectful, do they know about the food they are serving, are they quick with getting drinks and to they get me refills regularly or do I have to ask for one, Can they answer my questions and if I have a question are the able to answer it. These are fairly easy things for a waiter to do and I would consider them the basics of their job and yet very frequently I am dissappointed with the service I receive.

I close with this, if you want to tip some one a large amount feel free to do so and feel proud that you did something very nice for the waiter. If you don't think a waiter deserves a tip and you don't want to leave one, don't, and feel proud that you are making a statement that in order to get your money the service industry has to perform at a level that is acceptable to you. I reiterate that tipping is a personal choice and no one should be made to feel guilty however they choose to do it, and no one should be pushed to tip like some one else does.

We can ease up on ourselves.

The last few weeks at church have been very good sermons. Our pastors have really challenged us to do some self evaluation and to make action plans in order to follow through on some positive changes. I really like this but the last couple of days I have beginning to feel like it is easy to become very self centered in our spiritual lives. I think we can easily get caught up reading the Bible, listening to sermons, and praying all for the sake of making improvements in our lives. Don't get me wrong I think we can all improve and further our relationship with Christ. But self improvement should not be the only reason we indulge in these things. Recently I have been reading the book of Hosea and it is really interesting to consider God's perspective. In Hosea he is pretty angry with his people and their persistence in worshiping other gods and breaking his commands. He puts Hosea in a position to care for children that are not his but that his wife had as a result of her prostitution. What an awful situation for Hosea to be in and yet that situation is representative of the way God was feeling about his people at that time.

I know that we should look for areas of our life that might not be pleasing to God and we should remedy them, and that through scripture and prayer we can identify those areas. But if that is the only level of interaction we have with God and the only aspect of our faith that we practice then I can't help but think we will be dooming ourselves to a life full of failure and depression. I think there is significant value in taking time to pray and study the word in an effort to get to know God better like we would if we were trying to get to know a friend. Similarly I think we should be taking the time to marvel at what God has done in this world as we read it in scripture and as we experience it in the world around us. That is where we can truly find joy and the encouragement that I think we need to live as followers of Christ in a world that has a lot of evil running around.

Hope everyone had a great month of January. Mine was really busy, but it felt like I got a lot done. We'll see how February goes.

New Direction for the Blog

I've decided to take my blog in a new direction. I will still include posts similar to what I have posted in the past but I intend to do more than just that. This blog is going to serve as a sort of journal of what I am studying, learning, praying about, interesting topics covered at church or Bible Study.

I encourage you to check back regularly to see what I'm posting. I invite your responses to my posts both agreeing and disagreeing and maybe just more insight that you might have to offer. Feel free to post what you are studying or learning as well as ask questions. You can also give me suggestions on what you would like me to post about.

I intend to post at least once a week but maybe more as things occur to me.

I hope you enjoy the things I write, and I apologize in advance if I offend anyone but I don't plan to.