Free Republic

I confess. I'm horrid at tipping. I dread that moment when that impersonal folder is placed discreetly at my elbow, and I begin the task of checking the bill and scrutinizing the service. I came in for a meal and I still resent the fact that I can't pay for just my meal. When I was a kid, tipping was different. I remember watching my dad pay the bill, then as we stood to go he would tuck a few bills under a saucer or a salt shaker. When I asked, he explained that our waitress did a good job,...

(Reddit.com) – A woman had enough money to pay for a $138.35 bill, but not enough to handle 15 percent more than that. The explanation written in the tip line, “Single Mom Sorry.” An online discussion has broken out around the country after the included photo surfaced on Reddit. The photo was posted by editor PhenixSongFawkes on the online forum. He wrote, “I’m sure $140 could have gotten you and your kids a week worth of groceries, but instead you spend it one one meal?! For shame!” That tends to be the general sentiment of comment posters on Reddit and...

A waitress at a California outpost of Chili's has been fired for posting an angry rant on Facebook threatening to spit in the food and the faces of poor-tipping diners.The mystery woman took to the social networking website to vent her outrage after a customer racked up a check worth $138 at the restaurant but only tipped her $5 or 3.6 per cent, according to the Daily Dot.Letting off steam, the server, who appears to have worked at the Chili's in Pleasanton, wrote on her Facebook page: 'Next time you tip me $5 on a $138 bill, don't even...

A family says that a Houston seafood restaurant locked them inside and called the police after they refused to pay a gratuity.

Are You For or Against a Tip Increase At San Francisco Restaurants? Yes, They deserve more money! No, Keep the standard the same! I don't tip at all...

"We know that the debt is now 100 percent -- approximately 100 percent of (gross domestic product)," said Allan Meltzer, a professor of political economy at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. "That doesn't include the unfunded liabilities. It doesn't include (mortgage lenders)Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It doesn't include a number of other things." Chris Edwards, Director of Tax Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, argues that U.S. debt is so far out of control that it must be contained soon. "We've had five trillion (in) deficit spending since 2008, the most enormous sort...

Brooklyn food deliveryman Larry Fox, 20, received a $3 gratuity last month after delivering an $89 lunch order to the wardrobe department of the CBS show "The Good Wife." It was the tip that broke the cyclist's back. The grub-runner, who has worked for Mexican restaurants and upscale delis in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, launched a Web site called "15 Percent" (15percent.tumblr.com), where he posted receipts, names and addresses in an attempt to "out" the neighborhood's worst tippers. "It started as a public shaming, to call people out who were bad tippers," said Fox, who is paid $50 for an eight-hour...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: "The Occupation of the Wisconsin Capitol Continues for a Third Day." Those are not my words. That's the headline of a story in the Communist Party USA's People's World website, and according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the AFL-CIO national president Richard Trumka is expected to join thousands of demonstrators at noon in Wisconsin today. That's sorta like the head of the Muslim Brotherhood showing up at Tahrir Square in Cairo. A check of headlines around the world is very upsetting. It is not comforting. None of this was supposed to happen. It was all supposed to...

Ashley Johnson had a good job making good money as a waitress at Brixx Pizza on Sixth Street in uptown Charlotte. But that changed about a week ago, when a couple came in for lunch and stayed for three hours - forcing her to work an hour past her quitting time. And they left her a tip she thought was pretty measly - $5. Johnson did what most folks who need a good rant do nowadays. When she got home, she went on Facebook. "Thanks for eating at Brixx," she wrote, "you cheap piece of ---- camper." And like a...

WINSTON-SALEM -- A woman who a local restaurant manager refused to serve claiming she is a habitually poor tipper told WXII Wednesday she is in the process of consulting an attorney. Monica Covington was recently banned from the Kanpai Japanese Steak and Seafood House on Stratford Road after manager Michael Lam said servers and chefs refused to serve her because of her less-than-expected tipping history at the establishment. Covington, who started a boycott petition against the restaurant, said the restaurant slandered her in the WXII report, which has set off a firestorm of opinions surrounding the issue of tipping. "At...

Every Tuesday I go to Murphy's Taproom in Manchester to hang out with a bunch of liberty-oriented people. This is a famous event among Free-staters. About 40-60 people gather weekly for about 4 hours and eat and drink and are merry. I'm no longer allowed to go there, because I don't tip. I've written some of my thoughts about tipping in the past, and have since fleshed out my position in my mind, so I won't focus here on the reasons to tip or not to tip. Here, I want to merely explain what happened tonight. About 6 weeks ago,...

Amsterdam becoming the car tipping capital of the world?Ever seen one of those little Smart cars? They may be pretty rare in the US, but in Europe you'll have a hard time not being able to find the little buggers. Especially in the major cities of Europe, the small cars are extremely popular, as they are a breeze to park. In fact, they are so easy to park, that many owners can fit two of them in a single parking spot. Smart car owners in Amsterdam may be starting to have second thoughts about their little cars, because of an...

Hundreds of emails from Hondurans flooded my in-box last week after I reported on the military's arrest of President Manuel Zelaya, as ordered by the Supreme Court, and his subsequent banishment from the country. Mr. Zelaya's violations of the rule of law in recent months were numerous. But the tipping point came 10 days ago, when he led a violent mob that stormed a military base to seize and distribute Venezuelan-printed ballots for an illegal referendum. All but a handful of my letters pleaded for international understanding of the threat to the constitutional democracy that Mr. Zelaya presented. One phrase...

ABC News' Eloise Harper Reports: Rule number one when campaigning at a diner: always leave a good tip -- and, apparently, make sure it gets properly 'disbursed'. In early October, Sen. Hillary Clinton's 'Middle Class Express' made a pit stop at the Maid Rite diner in Marshalltown, Iowa. The New York senator, joined by local political luminaries Christie Vilsack and Ruth Harkin, enjoyed a famous loose meat sandwich and attempted to hand caucus cards to the Iowans inside. Clinton also spoke to one of the diner's waitresses, Anita Esterday. It was her first day on the job and she and...

Staff at a hotel in western Sweden have received what must be their best-ever tip: shares worth 1.5 million kronor ($225,000). The shares have been given to the staff of the Laholmen Hotel in Strömstad, on the Norwegian border, by 93-year-old Stockholmer Matts O Westerberg. He has been a regular guest at the hotel since 1986. The dividends from the shares are to be given to the hotel's employee of the year. "I was given such a fantastic welcome from my very first visit that I have been back for a couple of weeks in the spring and a couple...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, speaking at Georgetown University, gave one of his more engaging speeches today about the environment. The lecture, sponsored by Newsweek magazine, focused on the green revolution sweeping the United States. The speech was classic Schwarzenegger: all about forward movement and staying positive. Once, he said, environmentalists "were no fun. They were like prohibitionists at the fraternity party." But things have changed, he said, and environmentalism is part of the Establishment, with critical mass and confidence. Schwarzenegger said "for too long the environmental movement has been powered by guilt. But I believe this is about to switch over...

After finishing dinner at a Connecticut restaurant, two diners got more than a butter mint when a waiter, apparently miffed by a $2 to $3 tip left on a $50 check, attacked them with a knife. They only suffered minor injuries, but no doubt tipped much better after that. While violent cases of waiter rage are rare, the 1989 incident points to waiters' sticky reliance on tips for income. In some states, restaurants are only legally required to pay as little as $2 or $3 an hour. So if a server earns $30 in tips on a bad night, he...

The freedoms we experience in America are so plentiful that they even include preserving the choice of whether or not we should tip the people who wait on us. When we go out to eat, we expect good service in order to have a good meal; and if we receive that good service, we provide a tip to show our appreciation. If we don’t get that service, and we have to wait more that 10 minutes for a refill, we can choose not to tip, thereby showing our disapproval with that particular waiter.

Congressional leaders Thursday called on the Department of Homeland Security to investigate reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection has given information to the Mexican government about the locations of U.S. civilian border watch groups. California Reps. Duncan Hunter, R-El Cajon, and Darryl Issa, R-Vista, along with Texas Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, sent a formal letter to DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff asking for a full investigation into all circumstances and events related to civilian border observation groups and the Mexican government. The letter was in response to a story published in Tuesday's Daily Bulletin, which reported Border Patrol officials shared...

It has recently been publicized that a 20 percent tip is now appropriate because servers are usually only guaranteed $2.13 an hour and the tips have to be split. Let me explain something. It is the customer's sole right to determine whether a tip is given, the amount and who will be the recipient of his tip. Such rights are not only guaranteed by our constitution they are clearly explained in the Code of Federal Regulations. Customers may tip any amount they choose. Instead of a higher tip being appropriate, what is now actually appropriate is for the public to...