Tipping

One site, here, says this about the history of tipping:
Early 1700s
• Brass urns inscribed "To Insure Promptitude" appear in British pubs and coffee houses, and patrons leave money in them. Most word authorities, however, dispute that this is the source of the word tip. . . .
1795
• Tipping has spread to Europe and become common in hotels as well as eateries.
1865
• At the end of the Civil War, Americans begin traveling regularly to Europe and bring tipping back to the United States. . . .
1909
• Washington becomes the first state to outlaw tipping, making it a misdemeanor for tippers and tippees. Mississippi, Arkansas, Iowa, South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia follow suit. Tipping persists, however, and it becomes apparent that the laws are useless. They're all repealed by 1926.
(You may read more at that site.)

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This site says this:
The history of tipping
In 1972, George Foster, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at UC Berkeley, looked at the origins of words meaning "tip" or "gratuity" in several language (sic). He found that, frequently, it evolved from 'drink money' -- supporting the idea that the practice began in eating establishments. Foster theorized that tipping started with a desire to avoid envy on the part of the server and to send the message that the server should have a drink at the customer's expense.

The origin of the word English word "tip" is less clear. One popular theory says it's is an acronym of "to insure promptness." Jesse Sheidlower, Principal Editor in North America for the Oxford English Dictionary, says that's wrong, because acronyms weren't popular in English until the 1920s. "'Tip," says Sheidlower, "began as a verb in the seventeenth century, used in the language of thieves, meaning 'to give'." By the early eighteenth century, the meaning included "to give a gratuity to a servant or employee".

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People may not like it, but tipping is here to stay and has been here to stay for years. Some years ago but during my lifetime, the amount to tip for good service at a restaurant was a dime or so. Soon, other business were jumping on the tipping bandwagon -- telegram deliverers, cab drivers, redcaps, and more.

Tipping jumped to 10%, and more jumped on: hair dressers, barbers, other food deliverers, hotel housekeepers, parking valets, washroom attendants, and more. Tipping jumped to 15%, then quickly to 20%. And with that last jump, I think most of us were looking at our wallets and considering, "How much more??"

Most of those I know will still tip 10% for poor service, 15% for mediocre service, and 20% for good service, and for some, more for better service. Some have said they would tip a dime, in order to make a statement.

The subject of tipping has been discussed time and again, by those in my believing social circles, and I have heard many ideas, both good and bad. Furthermore, I have been out to eat with many people over the years, most of whom were believers. Some of these people were good, kind, gentle folk, and some, although they were out-to-eat after some church function, were absolutely rude, loud, and obnoxious. For some of both types, I have been amazed at the excuses given for not tipping the waitpersons who served them, yet they would always bow their heads in prayer at the table before eating, many of them explaining that this was their "testimony" in the restaurant. Hm-m-m.

Many of these did not tip for these reasons:

1. One excuse was because tips meant, they said, To Insure Proper Service, and if the service was not good, they had a right not to tip.
2. Another excuse was that if they had to tip, they could not afford to eat out.
3. Yet another excuse I have heard was that the tip should still be 10%, because the price of the food had one up with inflation, so the amount of the tip also went up.
4. And the prize-taker: some have left, in lieu of a tip, a tract, saying that the eternal benefit was much greater than any monetary tip. I even saw one person leave a tract which, when placed partially under a plate, looked like a $20 bill.

You may have heard even more excuses, but here is the point:

1. If you go out to eat in a regular restaurant, tip.
2. If you cannot afford to tip, eat at a fast food restaurant, where it is not expected.
3. 20% is now the going rate now, and wishing for earlier times, when it was 10%, will not change that.
4. If you are going to leave a tract, leave it with a very generous visible tip!

What good is your "testimony," if your attitude is testy, or you are demanding or rude?
What good is your "testimony," if you are stingy?

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Because this is a concern of mine, I have asked many waitpersons in many states, "What day do you most dread working?" INVARIABLY! their answer was Sundays.

Their second most dreaded "day" was two days -- Wednesday and Friday nights. I asked why. Most hesitated to answer. I told them, "I believe I already know why, but I want to hear your answer. It is all right."

They all told me -- every one of them -- that it was because that was when people came in from the churches. Their reasons were many: the church people were rude, demanding, and stingy -- and the word obnoxious was used by at least one! Some also told me that the harder they worked to please, the worse their tips seemed to be on those nights.

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Telushkin writes:
. . . although I tip generously those who have been unusually helpful or pleasant, I rarely withhold a tip from one who has been a bit rude or painfully slow in providing service.

I read some time ago what one person – I cannot remember who it was, but I think it may have been Telushkin – wrote about waitpersons who were rude, sullen, or not in the mood to serve properly. They wrote that they take extra special care with them – special interest. The author would engage them with short, caring chat while the waitperson was at the table, often asking them if they have some special concern that night, that the author could pray about. Then these got a generous tip.

This is a real testimony! – one I am sure would please the L-rd.

G-d was so generous that He gave His only Son. Yeshua’s generosity was so profound that while we were still deliberately in sin, He gave His life for us [Romans 5:8]. Paul wrote that when it comes to those of the Faith, if we are givers, contributing to the needs of others, we should give generously [Romans 12]. How much, then, we should give to those whom we are trying to impress toward the L-rd! Deuteronomy 25:4, about “muzzling the ox” that treads the corn is about how to treat others.

As believers, we should be the most generous of all, but if we cannot be, we really ought to refrain from public prayer in the restaurant.

If you are curious, this site tells what today's ordinary tips are.

My Hamentashen

Moved to a different blog.

"I am not a good cook!"

I am not a good cook. If you had asked me when I was young -- like up to age 40 and younger -- I would have answered that I was a fairly good cook! I was gutsy in the kitchen, and nothing stymied me. I really think it was the years of cooking on an electric range. A pox upon electric cooking!

But when we bought this house, I insisted that I was going to have a gas stove, and I got it. Immediately, my cooking improved! Then the old doubts crept back in, and I noticed I was back to telling people, “I am a terrible cook. I’ll buy something and bring it.”

One of the reasons I haven't considered myself a good cook is because I never stick to the recipe. Ever. I look at it and tweak it some way – often in many ways. Now, it is not like me to admit this, but 95% of the time, what I cook turns out wonderfully! But I am going to admit here and now that it is that 5% of the time that mobilizes what I say about my cooking. There. I wrote it. I base my concept of my being a bad cook on the failures, which truly only happen about 5% of the time, if that often! That 5% propels me, causes my cookery self-criticism, triggers my feelings of ineptness in the kitchen.

Similarly, this is often how we measure ourselves when it comes to our walks with the L-rd. We so easily get our eyes off Him and onto ourselves and our imperfections. But that is not how He thinks. He says that His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses [2 Corinthians 12: 7-9] – in those times when we know we are not strong, so we lean hard upon Him. The trick, however, is recognizing our weaknesses, not ignoring them, and yet not letting them pull us into the doldrums, but handing the control over to Him, so that we let Him, not us, shine!

Could I learn to operate with the correct percentage there? I have learned and am learning.