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Tipping—Not your hat!!! But a gratuity

OK, how often have we been out with our significant other or a date and you noticed that they just didn’t leave enough for a tip? The service was good and it is a place you go to frequently, so your reputation is on the spot too. Why do we tip and how much should we, is the magic question?

There is evidence of tipping that goes back to the Romans. Though there are many fascinating etymologies for the phrase “to tip”, the one I like is from back in the eighteenth century when the upper crust would enter an establishment and place a few pence in a box labeled, “To Insure Promptness” (“T.I.P”—get it?)

Presumably in modern time, if tipping didn’t occur for services rendered then you would be paying more for what you got. Therefore, the 15% standard is mostly a question of what the market will bear. In large cities the figure these days is twenty percent; European restaurants generally add a ten percent gratuity to the bill. So back to the question of tipping. If you feel the server should get at least their 15%, then either mention it to your date or add a few dollars to the table before you leave…he will get the message if his IQ is higher than 80.