So Saturday night we decided to order pizza, which is not so different than any other weekend. We paid with a check card but I had a couple of bucks in my wallet so I got one out for the tip. I distinctly remember it being a crisp, new bill because it was kind of thick and hard to separate from the others of its kind. Sunday morning Darrell asked Bailey to run out and take the pizza boxes to the trash, and seconds later she was back in the house yelling ‘look what I found on the ground!’ It was a crispy new dollar bill that had been loosely crumpled and she was so excited about it that she’d dumped the pizza boxes on the ground and had to go back to retrieve them once she calmed herself.
Darrell’s speculation is that the pizza guy, who apparently gave a bit of a dirty look when handed the dollar, crumpled it and tossed it away. I hope that’s not the case and the poor guy just missed his pocket as he was putting it away. But the fact remains that the dollar I gave him seems to have somehow ended up on the ground (either that or a really weird coincidence took place on our front porch.) And the question is now on my mind. How much is an appropriate pizza delivery tip? We have always tipped a dollar usually plus the silver change. (IE if it’s 18.75 we give the guy a $20 and tell him no change.) I figure that since the pizza place is already tacking on a $2.00 delivery charge (Actually that’s the low end of the spectrum) they should be responsible for giving their delivery personnel a decent wage. If we order pizza and it’s sleeting, or the guy has to brave a tornado to get it to us we gladly bump it up to at least $2 depending on the level of peril he had to endure during his journey.
If I’m wrong, someone set me straight – please.
Honestly I could be stuck in a time-warp where a $1 delivery tip is parallel to leaving two pennies on the table for a bad waitress. I’d be the first to admit that I’m still not really used to how much things cost these days – I get rudely jerked back to reality every time I ‘pick up a couple of things for dinner’ at the grocery store and make a $50 dent in my checking account.
And lastly, I have to say that if this alleged act did occur, I would find it despicable. I think any person who is busy working for a living deserves a certain amount of my respect and I wouldn’t ever talk down to or in any way be purposely offensive to them based solely on their station. However, I would find it incredibly offensive if a person holding the title of pizza delivery agent thought him or herself too good for my $1 tip. =)
PS - I know it’s all hypothetical because we don’t know what happened. It just got me thinking, and when I think, I ramble. What an unfortunate discovery for the suckers who have made it to the end of this post and are thinking they will never get that five minutes of their life back. My apologies. To the rest… how much do you tip?
I'm used to your ramblings. I love them.
ReplyDeleteAnd, taking into consideration our geographical difference, I have to assume & side with the version of the story that has the Delivery Guy crumpling up your BUCK and tossing it back to you.
What can you do with $1?
It is definitely the equivalent to the two cents.
The tip doesn't have to be 20% but I think $1 is a little insulting.
I would say that $3 is appropriate - more if he has to carry multiple things, like 2 pies, wings & soda - as he would to my house. :)
However, we live in the woods and no one delivers here. :(
Ouch. Okay so we're cheapskates. But to answer your question about what you do with a buck... well, you sure as heck don't crumple it up and throw it away :)
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you're right Liz, it's probably low. But I can't think of a time that I've handed over my dollar (and sometimes I give two if I have it) and been met with anything but a thank you.
PS again - I forgot this earlier but I once went on a date with a pizza guy (in college) and asked him the question, because I had always wondered. He said a buck was about normal, and tons of people don't even bother with a tip. Maybe that's why I've never felt too bad about it...
Maybe I'm wasting my money!?
ReplyDeleteI agree, crumpling it and throwing it was not only stupid but rude. I got his point but you're right - the action was bad.