Everything That's On My Mind

When I was in my 20s, there was a weekly Sunday night pilgrimage to a place called Carlos Murphy's after church. (There's a flashback for long time Detroit suburbanites. It's now the Southfield Fishbones.) Each week there would be 8-15 semi-rowdy 20-somethings sharing a too-small table and laughing loudly. All the wait staff there knew us and knew where we came from. They were always friendly and accommodating even though I'm sure we were not the easiest group to accommodate. Yet every week when the hat was passed to cover the bill, we were always woefully short in the tip department. This always got under my skin and I worried about the impression we Christians were leaving with the wait staff. I usually ended up kicking in extra to make up the difference.

I'm reminded of this by Trevin Wax's "5 Tips for Good Tipping" over at Kingdom People. IMHO Christians be notable for their generosity (Proverbs 11:25) and that includes tipping. Not just to be a witness for Christ, but as a spiritual discipline. Unless you're dining at The Capital Grille, you're only saving a buck or two by tipping light. Personally, I start off at about 18%. I only go down to 15% if the service is really bad, and I can't remember the last time I tipped less than 15%.