> Oh yeah, and I've also wondered about tipping haircutters. Don't they get paid adequately without tips?

Here's what I've learned about haircuts. If it is the owner, no tip. But, if it isn't the owner, they are getting less of the amount that you pay because some of it goes to the owner, so you tip them. I'm not sure if they get paid hourly or per haircut, though. Often, the person is "renting" the chair so the tip helps offset what they are paying so you can sit in their chair.

Recently, the owner of a place gave our son his first haircut. It was $17 and I felt the cost was justified because she has to know how to deal with squirming/screaming kids but it still seemed like a lot for a boy's haircut. When I gave her my twenty, I could tell she expected to keep it all but I waited and she asked if I wanted change. I sure did. And I felt guilty about it and it made me not want to go back there. I guess I could have tipped her even though she was an owner but I really didn't think she went above and beyond.

As for restaurants, if all I have to do is sit down and be served, I expect to leave a tip. It starts at 15% and moves up or down depending on the service. It is very easy to get 18-20% from me. It also takes a lot for me to leave nothing but I have done it a few times and only when it is obvious that the waiter is the cause. Even when things are going *really* bad, all it takes is a few words from the server to save or increase their tip.

I'm sure that when Dave started this thread way back when, he realized what a fair wage would do to the cost of a meal. But I'm sure a lot of people don't think about why wages are so low: the lower the wage, the bigger the margin for the owners AND/OR the lower the prices on the menu. A lot of restaurants don't want to raise their prices much higher because that would probably reduce the number of customers coming through their doors. Raise the wages and the money has to come from somewhere. The idea of tipping puts the control in the customer's hands.

And if anyone hints at a tip, whether it is a tip jar or clearing their throat or pointing it out, their tip goes way down, possibly to nil, and my repeat business probably disappears.

Ferrick