Do Black People Tip?
I’m one of those people who believes that the large majority of Black people do not tip, but only because they do not know how to properly tip. This isn’t a pass, most of your etiquette questions can be solved by a simple Google search. However, I asked eleven questions about tipping to seven Black folks, here are their answers:
The Black Folks:
Lashawn, Female, age 28, living in NJ and working in Marketing.
Ness, Male, age 25, living in NYC and working in Advertising.
Chris, Male, age 27, living in Philadelphia and working as a Bartender.
Cara, Female, age 27, living in Tampa and working in Public Health.
Morris, Male, age 29, living in NYC and working in Advertising.
Lia, Female, age 25, living in VA and working in Event Planning.
Jeff, Male, age 30, living in NYC working in IT Consulting.
1. What is the appropriate amount to tip for a meal?
Lashawn, 20%
Ness, 10-15% depending on the price of the meal
Chris, 20%
Cara, 20%
Morris, 20%
Lia, 20%
Jeff, Double the tax of the meal. If no tax in your state, 15%
2. What is the appropriate amount to tip for alcoholic beverages?
Lashawn, 18%
Ness, I really don’t agree with tipping more than $2 a drink for someone who pours beer in cups. I know how to pour beer in a cup without spilling it. A waiter has to balance trays and get yelled at for the cheese not being melted. A bartender normally is a good looking chick that just has to wear a low cut shirt and pour without spilling. No homo but I know a male bartender works harder for tips so I’ll tip them better maybe if i got it.
Chris, $2 per drink, 20% for a tab over 5 drinks
Cara, 10-15%
Morris, 20%
Lia, 50%
Jeff, $2-$3, $5 if the bartender made MAD drinks.
Dr. J – The proper way to tip according to Gentleman’s etiquette is $5 for the first drink and $1 for each subsequent.
3. Do you tip the bathroom attendant?
Ness, Hell no, but that job sucks. You gotta smell people piss and $#!* all night.
Chris, $2 for the night
Cara, Only when I have cash, which is never. One time at mansion in Miami I was so schmaammerd I gave the bathroom attendant a $100 bill. I’m pretty much paid up for life.
Lia, If they are helpful, not if they just stand and greet me.
Jeff, RARELY.
Dr. J – In order for me to tip a bathroom attendant, he’s got to know his role. Don’t take the paper towels and put some Softsoap on my hand. You’ve got to make my bathroom experience better, that includes being cordial.
4. Do you tip your hairdresser or barber? If so, how much.
Lashawn, Yes, my hair usually costs $25 at max, so I tip $5
Cara, Depends if they own their own salon or if they’re at a commercial salon. If they own they’re own salon I’ll tip between 5-10 dollars. If they are part of a commercial salon I’ll try to tip 10% of the cost of the service.
Morris, Yes. Lineup costs $7 so i pay him $10. cut cost $13 so I pay him $20. Pay him double for Christmas.
Lia, Depends on how much I like their work. Usually 20-50% range.
Jeff, I tip $5-$8, make it an even $20 for a $12-$15 haircut. He’s cut my hair since 9th grade!
5. Have you ever avoided a gratuity by splitting the group up into smaller groups?
Lashawn, No, most places I visit won’t allow you to do so.
Ness, Yeah but that’s more so I don’t have to partially pay for someone’s meal not avoid a tip.
Chris, Preposterous.
Cara, No, that is the cheapest sh*t in the universe. Adults with jobs just split the bill.
Dr. J – The only time it’s appropriate to split a group is in the interest of time. Smaller groups are usually sat quicker than larger groups, especially larger than six patrons.
6. How do you feel when someone in your party decides to skim or not tip at all?
Lashawn, Livid because we then have to pick up the slack.
Ness, It makes me tip because I don’t want to look bad. Even though I’m not the BEST tipper I will tip.
Chris, Unless the service is horrible, they are horrible human beings.
Cara, That they are an embarrassment, and maybe they should’ve went to Subway.
Morris, I don’t ever go out with them again or I specify exact cost including tip & gratuity beforehand.
Lia, Infuriated.
Jeff, I look down on them for having no class, unless the service was horrible.
Dr. J – As a person who overtips, if we have this problem, I’ll speak up.
7. When is it appropriate to not tip?
Lashawn, When service is absolutely unacceptable.
Ness, When they ignore your table for mad long and take forever.
Chris, Never.
Cara, When you get bad service or there’s something in your food. If the service is good, I’ll tip even if things are free sometimes.
Morris, Terrible service.
Lia, Bad, Bad, Horrible service, or lack thereof.
Jeff, Bad service or counter service at a diner.
Dr. J – Never. If you feel that your service has been horrible to the point of not tipping, ask to speak to the manager and have the meal price adjusted for the price of “on the house.”
8. What are some places that you think people tend to forget to tip?
Ness, You can’t forget, some people just don’t got it. Sometimes people say “don’t go out if you don’t got it” but I think that’s unfair to say I can’t get a good steak to eat just because I don’t got extra money. That’s like saying the lower class should just stick to Wendy’s.
Cara, The bathroom, and my nail salon only accepts cash tips. I never have cash.
Morris, Mailman.
Lia, Spa, Nail Salons, Bowling lanes, Coat checks…
Jeff, Valets at Hotels and curb side check in at airports, hotel attendants.
9. Do you tip at an open bar? If so, how much?
Ness, Yea same rule applies, not more than $2 a drink they still pour beer in cups.
Chris, If you want stellar service and your drinks on time, tip $20 at the beginning of the night.
Morris, $1/drink, more if i like the bartender. when i was younger, id give the bartender $20 at an open bar & tell him to make sure my glass never empty
Lia, 20-50% of the price the drink would’ve been.
10. Worst horror story about tipping.
Lashawn, I was at a restaurant and no one gave a tip, so I decided to put the tip on my card, It was only 15% but the waiter came back and looked at the bill and pointed to the tip line. He was probably not too enthused by the amount of his tip, but he definitely wanted to discuss.
Ness, Last weekend the owner of this bar I’m a regular at lectured me about tipping his bartender who according to him “doesn’t make shit.” I didn’t dispute because I planned to tip but I didn’t tip him because he was the owner. He makes all the real money.
Chris, Five difficult drinks mixed and served, no tip.
Lia, My cousin tried to tip a waitress 50 cents… after 20 minutes of arguing she decided to tip a WHOLE dollar. Very embarrassing.
Jeff, Big group of people, bill arrives, everyone ONLY paying their exact amount, leaving tip nil. It took like 25 minutes to finally squeeze the money out of people. Never again.
Dr. J – While celebrating a friend’s birthday, I decided to buy several shots from the bar. Upon receiving the tab, I hurriedly added a 20% tip and signed my life away. Later I would find out that tip & gratuity were included in tabs over $100.
11. Personal success stories about tipping, or general words of advice.
Lashawn, You should always tip anywhere you go as you don’t know how your tip can help someone. Many places don’t pay well, and tips comprise the bulk of an employees pay, so please keep that in mind when you are out and about.
Ness, I tipped this bartender to the point she gave me a free drink, me being naive thought she was trying to get at me. I ended up striking out. So don’t get gassed fellas.
Chris, Always tip black people, especially because you are not expected to. Your poor service maybe the result of someone before you not tipping, it’s a vicious cycle.
Cara, Don’t be an asshole.
Morris, Tip or stay home.
Lia, Always leave a tip when another person provides any type of personal service for you. Good service = Good Tip — Bad service = Bad Tip — No Service = No Tip… Simple 
Jeff, Remember that the same people you meet on the way up are the same people you’ll see on the way down. We’ve all done tip based work before. Remember how you felt, and tip accordingly!
Dr. J – When on vacation, tip everyone. You never know who might have some words of advice for you, or be able to help you out.
I hope everyone enjoyed the article and the insights. Don’t be those people who don’t tip, and don’t embarrass your associates or friends by not tipping.
this is a good post. I used to not tip people on vacation but I got hip when traveling for work, so I try to always have cash on me when I travel now to do so. Cabbies, airport shuttle carriers, bell hops and especially the housekeeper in your room.
I don’t tip my hair stylist if she owns the salon/sets the prices, but I would to other stylists that rent booth space. I always tip the shampoo girls or assistants directly instead.
I absolutely do not tip carry out or curbside to go folks at restaurants though. You didn’t do anything but hand me my bag, I’m keeping my two bucks.
great post….i always tip 18-20% unless the service was terrible, but that’s only happened twice where I just straight up left and tipped nothing. The person disappeared one time for a smoke break while we were waiting for things and the other time we stopped at chili’s for food before going to a movie and they took FOREVER for every part of the meal from taking our order, giving us food (which they messed up the order of), didn’t have things that were on the menu, etc. Horrid!
Other times I’ve tipped 30-100% depending on what the meal was and how I liked the service. my best friend works as a waitress and i sent her this link, she could tell some STORIES, lol!
I’ve gone out with lots of mixed groups or sometimes a majority white group or sometimes majority black group, and it is sad to say that it’s often the black group who starts having amnesia for what they ordered or how to tip when the bill comes. If you don’t want to tip, then take your ass to subway like Cara said (had me cracking up).
Worst 2 experiences both came down to having a group and then one or two people in the group bringing only like (for example) $16 and ordering a $15.99 meal….um, who do you think is covering tax, tip, etc? Why did you even come out tonight or why didn’t you just order an appetizer and keep it moving? These are the people that I KNOW not to go out with ever again, especially if we were at some cheap place like THAT and they couldn’t get it together, definitely not taking them to any of my Foodie adventures to real restaurants. And I hate people who think they are doing it big by living a $1 or something…that’s not a real tip, very insulting to the waitress who’s pay is based around tips. Not like they are making $10 an hour and this is just extra, they are barely paid and expected to earn their wages FROM tips. Keep yo broke ass home if you have no money for tips or else learn how the rest of society functions and pay up. Sad to say, we (black people) have this reputation for good reason as we do for a lot of things
Next time I go to Popeyes, i’m tipping 100%.
Great article my dude. You should do a part 2 on strip club tipping etiquette!
I am a waitress and bartender and I hate to admit my heart absolutely drops when I see black people at my table of any age or sex, from a group of 1 person to 6. Because they all may leave you the same tip, $1-2. I also feel like some black people don’t have restaurant etiquette at all. I have been at restaurants with groups of black people, that make me look at them differently after they tip. But I have developed a philosophy of treating everyone the same until they prove they don’t deserve the respect. If I serve a repeat offender they can expect bad service. If a table is running me around on purpose, they can expect bad service. If the table ask to speak to the manager for something miniscule, I know that is their way of weasling out of the tip, they can expect bad service. Because life is short, so why waste time on people who don’t think you’re worth the money you are paid to do your job. I know, I know it is a vicious cycle yet I continue. So black people the same way you judge your server is the same way they are judging you because if your demeanor breaths non-tipper, they will treat you as such.
So I have this problem. I tip 20% no matter what. This would not be such a problem if most people I went out with tipped 15% or less. I put my money on the bill first then somehow by the time the bill gets to the waitress, the tip has diminished to like 12%, so did somebody just pocket my money. I have learned now to put my money in with a minimal tip or none with the group bill then leave more on the table or give directly to waitress. Black people do not enjoy paying for service and I am not sure why because they certainly enjoy getting service.
i at least 20% in restaurants. $2 per drink at the bar. i try to tip bathroom attendants unless they try to strong arm me. what you won’t do is demand a tip. i tip generously at open bars. i mean i’m already not paying for the drinks so why not? i cut my own hair so i really don’t have to tip barbers.
i can’t stand people who don’t tip. especially in group settings. smh
“I absolutely do not tip carry out or curbside to go folks at restaurants though. You didn’t do anything but hand me my bag, I’m keeping my two bucks.”
Exactly! I am generally an over-tipper, but I will not tip carryout/curbside workers. Frankly, I feel about tipping the same exact way Mr. Pink does (especially since all workers get minimum wage here), but I still feel bad if I don’t leave a generous tip. I can admit that this is mostly due to the social stigma behind not tipping and not wanting to perpetuate the stereotype that black folks don’t tip. However, when I get great to excellent service, I not only overtip (which I tend to do anyways), but I will do it happily and for the right reasons.
I am part of the the “tip or stay home” and “don’t be an asshole” camps. I overtip. Majorly. I have never worked in a job where tips are a part of the business, but it seems like anyone could appreciate these services. I still tip when I get bad service, just not my usual 25%+. I have been known to tip people who handle my body 50%, because I’m sure they have had to deal with some nasty, gnarly people at some point. I’m not rich, but I won’t be a bitch. If there is no service, I will leave. And I won’t be back.
I have a friend that leaves those “twice the tax” tips, or so she claims. She’ll count down to the nickel, penny, and dime. I have seen her leave 1.52 and 2.78 cent tips. Then wonder why servers see her coming and run. It makes me want to scream.
I must have some low class/cheap company, too, because I can count on one hand how many times people have just wanted to split the bill x ways. I don’t get it; it’s so easy. I understand if we’re broke undergrads. I can even understand if we’re broke grad students waiting on our internship checks. But at some point we need to learn to step it up. How are you going to sit there and be getting paid and count your tip down to the penny? Can’t we all just put 20 or 30 dollars on the table and call it a good night? Makes me shake my head.
I totally agree with you on splitting the bill. I’ll decline if I know I ordered significantly more than my friend did and don’t want to stick them with it or we’ll split and then I’ll just cover the tip. But it KILLS me when people don’t want to split because their soup was a dollar less then yours. Seriously?
I’m super aggressive when it comes to tipping. If you look at the answers to each question, I’m pretty much consistent with Chris.
As far as the barber is concerned, I pay 10 for a shape up (it costs $7) and I pay 20 for a cut (not even sure what he charges but I think it’s $10). But, because I been paying 20 for so long, I expect to be “next” whenever I walk into the shop.
Good post.
The cell phone calculator at the table… Cheap as SH*T. Makes me wonder about your math skills, you can’t figure out 15% in your head. Or do you want to make sure you only pay 15%, so you don’t overtip.
I will give a brief exception to large groups because you need to factor in tax and tip. That’s how cheapskates get you, they add up what they had and then add 15%. No, you add 10% for tax, then 20% because we gonna make this waiter go through all this trouble to pay the bill. That’s 30%.
I just stumbled over here from the Book of Jackson and thought this post was great however I take personal offense to this comment. I am the first person to pull out a calculator to determine 15% of my or the groups bill. I do this for two reasons first because after a couple drinks I’ll admit math skills are questionable but second to make sure I don’t short change the person. I often determine 15% and add $2-$5 or double it according to the service. So next time you see that cell phone calculator come out take that into consideration.
Also people if you can help it leave cash tips. Waiters and waitresses have to wait for the tip you left on the receipt until they get their checks and by then it has been taxed. I’ve gotten into the habit of leaving a small cash tip on the table and the 15% on the receipt.
If you just slide the decimal to the left one space, and double that number, you’ll be good every time. The people who take out the calculator are those people who want to make sure they only tip 15%. And don’t forget sales tax. Unlessen you live in NJ, you’re 15% is only the minimum tip. More than likely, you need to be adding 25% to your final subtotal.
Cash tip can go either way, either it ends up with the bust boy or it doesn’t get to all the people who helped out with your meal. I just say that because it’s not so cut and dry.
i whip out the calculator because I am atrocious at math. I’m a words girl all the way and this brain of mine shuts DOWN at numbers…you start saying divide and multiply by this or that and it’s a no go. I tip all the time, just don’t feel the need to work out the numbers in my head. THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT, lol
You can’t calculate 15% w/out using a calculator? #ImJustSaying
As someone who is also mathematically challenged, I almost get the calculator thing. But it’s really not that hard: round your bill to the nearest 5 and divide it by 5. E.g., $100/5=$20. 20% is better than no %.
If you’re feeling really fancy, divide the bill by 4 (25%)?
I don’t know. I give up.
I consider myself an average tipper. I don’t reward poor service (some servers think they are entitled to a tip even when they treat you like crap) but I don’t screw people over who are doing a good job.
But I can honestly say that it is a challenge going out with some of my friends who are AWFUL tippers. And it’s unfortunate because it makes the whole group look bad when no one is willing to cover for that one slacker.
I also think that some of it is home grown. I didn’t become a good tipper until I got older because my mother spent most of her life in Africa and then Europe, where they don’t tip at all because it’s already included in your bill. But I definitely think its our responsibility to teach our children and younger people to properly value and appreciate the work that other people do.
PS- To those that say they tip 50-100% at restaurant- fast food joints don’t count.
I don’t tip. Why? Because I believe that whenever you do something for someone else it is considered a service. Therefore, if we are going to tip people who provide us a service we should tip our teachers, mailmen, the lady who checks us out at the grocery store, the architect who designed our home, the planner who decided that the land our home sits on should be zoned residential, etc, etc…
Sure you can argue that waitresses don’t make minimum wage, and that tips are the bulk of their salary, therefore I should tip so that they can earn a decent wage. But why is it up to me to see that they are able to make a living. How about we demand that restaurant owners pay them a decent wage?
Additionally, I NEVER tip my hair stylist. Everyone I have been to has either been a booth renter or owned the joint. Therefore, they set their own prices. My stylist knows how much is cost her to live for a year, and she charges accordingly. Especially this new price system where everything is a la cart. What happened to the day of getting a trim and deep conditioner WITH a relaxer? That’s just basic hair maintenance.
So NO I don’t tip, nor do I feel bad about it. And yes, I still expect and demand excellent service.
I just don’t agree with the “never acceptable to tip” theory. I guess I can understand because their hourly wage is prorated based on expected tips, and if you do a half ass job in corporate america you don’t receive a fraction of your salary, (but your bonus is affected). So I guess I can understand the logic, but I still feel that I’m entitled to good service.
I’ll start them out at 20% and go up or down based on their performance. If their service is to the point that I really can’t stand it, then I’ll consider forfeiting their tip as well as discussing with management. In my eyes leaving a tip but talking to management about their behavior is a harsher punishment than just not leaving a tip & leaving the restaurant.
(715) 817-0096} has anyone ever used them?
günstige software…
[...]Do Black People Tip? – Buppie The Blog[...]…
Najleszy hotel w Gdańsku…
[...]Do Black People Tip? – Buppie The Blog[...]…