Couple 'Cringes' When They Realize How Much Their Friends Left As A Tip For Their Restaurant Server
The couple is pretty big on tipping, but not everyone shares the same views as them.
Monkey Business Images / Shutterstock A couple was left feeling mortified after they happened to catch a glimpse of their friends’ bill while dining out at a restaurant with them.
According to the couple, they always leave at least a 20% tip behind for their servers. Apparently, their friends do not have the same standards.
The couple discovered that their friends left a $3 tip on a $46 check.
A 26-year-old man took to the subreddit r/relationship_advice to share the recent dining experience he had with his 29-year-old girlfriend and another couple on a double date.
According to the man, their waiter could not have been any better.
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“Our waiter was very attentive, got us everything we asked for, checked in multiple times asking if we needed anything, refilling waters, extra chips, etc.,” he wrote.
When the separate checks came, the man and his girlfriend left a 20% tip on their tab. When the man’s girlfriend happened to get a peek at their friends’ bill, she was mortified when she saw how much they had left for a tip.
“My girlfriend saw that the girl had left $3 and change on a $46 check,” the man wrote. “She felt horrible for our waiter and slipped an extra $5 bill onto their check before walking out.”
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While neither the man nor his girlfriend confronted their friends regarding their tip, the man fears that they have been tipping poorly every time they’ve gone out to eat with them.
“We’ve probably gone out to eat with them 20-30 times at this point, and this is the only time we’ve ever caught a peek at their check. I’m cringing at how many restaurants must hate us by association if this is a regular thing,” the man wrote.
Even though he does not want to risk offending his friends, the man does not agree with how much they choose to tip.
“I’ve always been told that how someone treats a waiter says a lot about a person,” he wrote. “Do we just stop going out to eat with them entirely to avoid this from happening?”
Some people agreed with the man that the tip was inappropriate but not his cross to bear.
“Waitstaff aren't stupid; they know what's going on. What's the big deal? It doesn't really affect you, and it’s not your responsibility. I think where you screwed up is trying to cover for them by adding the $5 on to their tab,” one Redditor commented.
“When you go out again after the server leaves the table, one of you (pre-planned) will say, ‘They were awesome. I'm going to go above my normal 20% tip for good service and give them 22%.’ This plants the seeds with ‘clueless tippers’ that maybe they are wrong, OR opens up the issue to discuss, at which point you can enlighten them about how tips are a part of the wages of this type of employee,” another user suggested.
It's probably best if this couple simply keeps their opinions to themselves if they want to maintain a friendship.
“Let it go. This is not an episode from FRIENDS. And you don't know what the financial situation your friend might have,” one user noted.
“You don't get to decide how others spend their money,” another user wrote.
The bigger issue that most people were concerned with was that the man and his girlfriend appeared to be perpetuating the idea that leaving a 20% tip each time was a requirement.
While tipping in American culture has become a popular custom and a way for customers to demonstrate their appreciation for their servers, many people believe that it has gone too far and that we are expected to leave far too much for a tip.
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Additionally, there seems to be a lot of pressure put on customers to support their servers by providing them with a big enough tip to cover their living wages instead of putting that pressure on their employers.
Even though a customer may leave less than the 20% standard, they may still have been satisfied with their service. They just may not have the funds to go above and beyond when it comes to tipping.
For all the man and his girlfriend know, their friends could leave positive reviews online praising their server as a way to compensate. If they want to maintain their friendship, it's best to simply continue their double dates with separate checks. They can tip in the manner they feel comfortable with and not risk ending a friendship.
How their friends choose to tip is really none of their business.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.