“Christians Are the Worst Tippers Ever.”
I told a story last week at Immersion that made people gasp. It spoke to the notorious stinginess of those who follow Jesus. I couldn’t tell if the gasps were “agreement gasps” (“Oh no you dih’int!”) or “horrified gasps” (In Sunday School, I once saw a little boy pick his nose and munch on his nasal treasure like it was a crisp, autumnal apple or a fistful of Cheetos. That was a horrified gasp moment). But they were gasps nonetheless.
I told the story of how when I used to work in the service industry, waiting tables, no one ever wanted to work Sunday morning brunch. I could never figure it out. Even the hardiest partier could drag themselves out of bed by 10am and paste on a “server smile”. Right?
“What gives?” I thought.
“It’s the Christians,” was the reply from my co-workers. “The Christians always come in on Sunday mornings for brunch after their church service and they don’t tip. At all. Christians are the worst tippers ever.”
When I heard that, it was like a kick in the gut.
Why?
- Mostly because it was true. We don’t tip very well. As a matter of fact, we’re pretty cheap. What makes this worse is that we paint “cheap” with a religious sounding veneer and call it “being a good steward.” Nothing like hiding behind the Bible to camouflage your stinginess.
- Because God is so generous. We are most like God when we are being generous; generous in all things, but especially with our dough!
Las Thursday I laid down the “Fat Tip Challenge.” The FTC asks you to lay down more than your normal tip next time you go out to eat. Usually put 10% down? Try 30%. Are you a 20% tipper? Bump it up to 50%. If you’re feeling really crazy, try a 80, 90, or 100% tip next time you dine out! Make up for all those lousy tips from other Christians throughout the years.
God says, “I own the cattle on a thousand hills.” As children of this great and generous God – the God who owns everything – can’t we afford to part with a few more of those tightly-pinched pennies? God can afford your generosity. So go on, be generous!
Are you a server with a tip (or non-tip) horror story? Let us hear you. C’mon … Let it out .
Here's what gets my goat, as a Christian ex-server. have you SEEN those fake dollar bills which are actually tracts? I think they should be burnt. I have actually come across those intended to be tips. what are those folks thinking? do you want people to come to church or not? do you want people to take you seriously or not? i never want to see another of those, anywhere. cheapest, lousiest gimmick of all time, and waaaay below us, ok? ok.
Those fake bills are the worst of all. They get your hopes up and then… SPLAT. No tip for you, just bad theology.
Not only should we tip generously, we should fight for a decent living wage. An honest day's work deserves the dignity of a decent paycheck. The poor will always be with us, but we should always strive to lift people out of poverty.
It seems pretty cheap for employers to put their servers salary onto the customers in that way. Give them at least minimum wage and then make sure your servers are happy, I wonder how customer satisfaction would change with happy servers?
Then once they provide great service they need to be tipped! I'm often amazed at servers making next to nothing and still providing great service.
The question of minimum wage is a little silly in my opinion. I get paid $3.40 an hour, but I easily make about $15-$25/hr because of tips. I also have to claim all credit/debit card tips for taxes, but not cash ones. So, it evens out to be pretty favorable to the server.
As far as why you should tip, well, other than the obvious (thanks Justin), there are tons of reasons…
-How long are you sitting at the table?
-How many refills did you get (whether or not you asked for it) or how many errands did you have them run for you to get things like extra napkins or to change the TV channel at the bar?
-Do you have kids, and are they messy?
-What is the cost of the bill?
-Is anyone sitting at the table that is NOT eating?
-Did you have to send anything back? (Chances are, it wasn't your server's fault anyway)
-Is there a bus boy? (if not, you can bet your server is the one cleaning up after you)
-Was your server friendly?
-Did you see your server doing other work?
I could go on for days. I've been a server for over two years, and it's clear that I'm a little biased. 'The point is, this is the system we have set up, that when you go out to eat, you tip. If you don't want to tip, order your meal to-go and save yourself and your server the trouble. And if you do get bad service, your server was probably having a bad day. (afterall, the back of the house usually isn't the most Christ-centered environment but full of sex-talk, drug-talk, and drunk-talk…mostly about each other. It's less than fun.) Have some compassion
Look, I've turned this into my own little soap box, I'm getting off of it now…one little piece of advise if you want better service. Always, always always remember your serve'rs name!
Preach it, girl! You NEVER know what a server is going through … That's why you tip well. Always.
In my opinion, it's not hard to give great service. The part about refilling drinks and cleaning off unwanted dishes and doing basically whatever the customer wants is part of the job description! If you can't handle that much, maybe a job in the service industry is not for you. As for the being friendly while doing it? I've never had a hard time being genuinely nice to people. Granted, many days I go into work I have to pray before and during the shift that God fills me with a patient and caring heart and that I would appear to be more like him than my natural self. It is tiring and we are human after all…but let me say, God answers my prayer EVERY SINGLE time! It's amazing how in a snap I go from grumpy to caring. It's awesome for the guests and myself. Everyone wins. My hourly wage has nothing to do with it.
One thing I've always said is I would rather have the nicest customer who doesn't tip than a jerk who does. At the end of the day, the nicer one will change me more than the other.
Keep tipping! Woot Woot! (preferably at Huhot in Ankeny…where I work, haha)
In my opinion, it's not hard to give great service. The part about refilling drinks and cleaning off unwanted dishes and doing basically whatever the customer wants is part of the job description! If you can't handle that much, maybe a job in the service industry is not for you. As for the being friendly while doing it? I've never had a hard time being genuinely nice to people. Granted, many days I go into work I have to pray before and during the shift that God fills me with a patient and caring heart and that I would appear to be more like him than my natural self. It is tiring and we are human after all…but let me say, God answers my prayer EVERY SINGLE time! It's amazing how in a snap I go from grumpy to caring. It's awesome for the guests and myself. Everyone wins. My hourly wage has nothing to do with it.
One thing I've always said is I would rather have the nicest customer who doesn't tip than a jerk who does. At the end of the day, the nicer one will change me more than the other.
Keep tipping! Woot Woot! (preferably at Huhot in Ankeny…where I work, haha)