Whenever Earl or I purchase an item or a service, we usually charge it. We put any tip involved on the credit card too. However, over the past few years I’ve learned to ask the waiter or waitress or hairdresser or manicurist or whoever it is what the policy of the establishment is regarding these tips.
It all began when I was having a manicure in a fancy health club in Chicago. I’d paid for the service in advance with my credit card, so that I wouldn’t be fumbling for a bill in my wallet with wet nails.
The Russian manicurist was putting on the top coat when I said, “I’ve put your tip on my credit card.” She raised her head, looked at me, and said in a low voice, “Zat may be goot for you, but eet eez not goot for me.”
I asked why, and she explained as best she could that the establishment kept all the tips put on credit cards and gave them to the employees twice a month as part of their salary. In addition, she had to pay taxes on them. It was clear she preferred cash tips.
I could see her point; but as a customer it is often easier to add the tip to the bill and charge it. This also leaves my small bills for those situations where a credit card is not involved, such as tipping a cabbie or a bellhop. Only now I ask the people involved if they get their tips at the end of their shifts.
There has been an amazing array of answers from a simple “Yes” (which makes it easy for me) to an explanation that tips put on charge cards are used to offset health insurance premiums the employee might owe. Maybe this is forward of me, but so far nobody has seemed offended. At the very least, I can then decide what I want to do without incurring the ire of those who serve me well.
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