Tipping

I have a bone to pick with tipping. I understand the reasoning behind it - a gratuity is common courtesy for someone who is providing you with a service. I tip my hairdresser, my esthetician, my cab driver, etc., and am usually quite generous when their service is above and beyond what I expected.

The same goes for waiters and bartenders when dining out. A good service will net a server somewhere between 18 and 20% - with the upper range usually reserved for those exceptional servers who actually enhance your dining experience (and good friends and family members, of course). When the service is ok - not bad, but not great, I will always give at least 15%.

It doesn't happen too often that I will tip below the 15% range. If I am not too impressed with the service - meaning I have to wait half an hour to order a drink in an otherwise empty resto-bar and then wait another 20 minutes for the drink to actually appear, watch my friends be served a pint of beer that is NOT EVEN FULL (and have the audacity to charge $8 for it), be given a menu to order food then take them away, saying the kitchen doesn't actually open until 6, whoopsie, then after finally eating overpriced food, wait another 45 minutes for the bill (and eventually go stand at the bar to get said bill) because you're too busy flirting with the other customers, then don't be surprised when I am not willing to give you 15%. To be blunt, your service was not good at all and there was no excuse for it, because your establishment was pretty much EMPTY. I am an understanding person if you are the only server and you are trying to manage 15 tables at once. You had 3 tables to attend to. That's it.  

So, yeah, fine, you were pissed when you saw what I left you (10%) and you handed me my receipt without saying thank you. I get that. You pay taxes on your tips, blah blah blah. I know how it works. But then to have the nerve to ask if I was from Quebec (in English, after I spoke French to you all evening long), as if I didn't understand how tipping works? Well.

Yes, I know EXACTLY how tipping works. However, your tip is not your God-given right. I am not OBLIGED to give you 15% if your service was shit. For you to have a sense of entitlement, to feel that you DESERVE 15% when you did absolutely nothing to merit it (pretending to be extra bubbly doesn't count, it just makes us think you are on drugs) is appalling. Tips are something you earn, not something you are given just because you are a waiter.

Needless to say, I will not be going back to said establishment. Cool enough location, prices and service? Not so much. The additional snark at the end of the night was also not appreciated.