Tuesday, December 4, 2007

How Much Do I Tip the Pizza Guy?

Ever been standing next to the delivery guy, holding a bag of food, and thinking, "What the hell do I give this guy?"

There are all those supposed shorthand methods to what is good and bad tipping. I live in New York, and we've got our cab tipping rates. It's always $1 plus the leftover change, but if your cabbie gets into an accident, then he only gets the business end of your stern talking to, as you hop out to go about your way. Sometimes, the cabbie gets a little angry at that tip (I think it goes up accordingly per $10, so $2 plus the change for anything over $20), but if he drives you all the way out to the airport and doesn't do anything but pop the trunk, then what am I paying for? The pleasure of manual labor?

This doesn't mean that I'm into undertipping. I feel too guilty to do that. The lowest restaurant tip that I'll give is still doubling the 8.25% tax. Although, I do recall one time as a child and out with my parents, where the waiter left in the middle of our dinner. He literally left for the night, and not to the store for an extra block of cheese. I'd have given him the benefit of the doubt of a family emergency, but he just strolled down the street, happy as could be, as if he didn't have a care in the world. This left the dilemma of whether or not to tip the waiter who subbed in for him at the end. He did a good job taking care of the check and clearing the dishes, but if they don't all pool tips, then it was sort of like tipping the person who comes in and cleans the whore house after the hookers have gone home (Sadly, a process that I've witnessed, but a story for another day).

This brings me to my original point. There's a system for figuring all these out. What do you tip the pizza guy? For some reason, I've never had any idea. I find myself standing there counting bills under pressure like a game of beat the clock. Part of me hopes that if I count it slow enough, the delivery guy will just tell me a reasonable answer. Of course, after a minute of stalling, I'd almost give him $100 just to end the awkward silence. Tonight, I ordered my dinner from a restaurant online, and it allows you to factor in a tip with your online credit card purchase. When the guy showed up though, the receipt I had to sign had another line for "extra gratuity." Hadn't I already tipped? I didn't know what to do with myself, so I added another dollar. Bottom line, I need a good tipping system. The restaurant might have your name off a credit card, but the delivery guy knows where you live. I make it a practice to not anger people who know where I live.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am off the clock so I will help you out. Tipping the driver is not much different the tipping a waiter. The current tipping rate of 15% of the total bill applies here too. Never count on the delivery charge, most drivers don't get it, and if you can tip a little more when the weather bad you will have a much better relationship with your driver. And No drivers can not tell you this at the door. I am a Papa Johns driver, but as I said am off the clock. Hope this helps.

Anonymous said...

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