How do you tip?

I tip close to 20%, rounding up or down to the closest dollar (usually I'm over 20%). It doesn't happen often, but I have stiffed servers who gave poor service, such as forgetting about me or having a nasty attitude. That hasn't happened in awhile, since I don't return to those restaurants unless I know someone was having an off night. Also, as Deni and Radez pointed out, I've tipped extra generously for cute waitresses, or ones that go out of their way to be friendly without coming off fake (nothing annoys me more than a server that tries to be my jolly friend).

My dad, on the other hand, grew up in a small town and hasn't traveled much since. He's still stuck on the old "tip 15%" rule, and before he got one of those tip cards for his wallet, he'd sometimes leave less than that. I don't think he's trying to be malicious, he just 1) has trouble with the math, even simply moving the decimal and/or 2) he doesn't comprehend the cost of living has gone up.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Sugar coat it all you want, Encephalon, but you basically got mad because some kid wouldn't break the law for you. As you said, he was new, so he didn't know you, and he didn't know that you weren't an undercover cop. He probably had the "don't serve underage people" spiel drilled into his head in training, and wasn't comfortable enough in the job to bend the rules (not that I'm saying he should have in any case).

Quote:

Tell me. When you take a drink order do you go and place the order, bring it back to the table and THEN card people? What would you think of someone who did that to you? If he was REALLY doing his job he would've carded him PRIOR to going and filling our drink order.

A logical person would assume that an underage person wouldn't have the audacity to order alcohol in a classy restaurant. Maybe in a bar or nightclub, but a normal restaurant? He probably took your order, then started thinking about how old Frank really looked while he got your beverages, and decided he'd better check to be on the safe side.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by mortis

As it goes for tipping, I always heard it was 10%...but I guess I was wrong on that. Also...someone mentioned a penny...someone once told me that was actually a compliment somehow...but I can't really see it being so...

No, you're supposed to leave a very small amount so the server knows you didn't forget to tip, but that you thought their service was poor.

As for the carding everyone in the party and not selling to anyone if there's an underage person, at least one of the grocery stores in my college town did that. I suppose it would shoot them down once, until they realize to leave the underage person in the car. To do it in a restaurant is just stupid. If Encephalon had bought 2 beers, or bought one and then handed it to Frank, it would have been obvious, and the server could have dealt with it. No need to deny a legal-aged person alcohol.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.