![](\"http:\/\/www.shufflecloud.com\/lesstraveledtales\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2011\/02\/Just-The-Tip-Gallery-II-300x201.jpg\")
I suppose it\u2019s fitting that I write an editorial on tipping while lounging in Las Vegas, the service capital of the world. I\u2019m sitting at the Bacchus Oasis Pool Bar in the Garden of the Gods at Caesar\u2019s Palace surrounded by beautiful people basking in the glow of the desert\u2019s midday sun. They drink and dance without concern because they know how to spend within their limits. They wouldn\u2019t be here if they couldn\u2019t afford it. I\u2019m drinking the special of the day: $5.25 Coronas.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re normally $7.<\/p>\n
For those of you that think you\u2019re ready for Vegas, you\u2019re probably not – at least in the eyes of these servers and bartenders. You might think that $5.25 is a ridiculous price to pay for a Corona, and it might be. But there\u2019s a simple concept here, and everywhere you go for that matter: that\u2019s what it costs. No one is putting a gun to your head, making you stuff a lime in your bottle (originally a practice in Mexico to keep the flies out of your beer btw), and drink multiple Coronas. If you can\u2019t afford the beer, then step down. And if you can\u2019t afford the step down, then you\u2019re in the wrong place and it\u2019s as simple as that.<\/p>\n
I wish I could end it here, but I feel compelled to go farther with this. I ask you this: what does $5.25 mean to you, other than too much to pay for a Corona? The answer: $5.25 actually means $7. There\u2019s the tip. And that\u2019s my tip to you. It means $7 to me. It might mean $8 to someone else, or even $6.25. But it\u2019s not $5.25 and it\u2019s not anything under $6.25.<\/p>\n
Now, don\u2019t sit there and think to yourself, \u201cthis guy doesn\u2019t know what he\u2019s talking about\u201d, because I certainly do. I\u2019ve been in some part of the service industry for, well, a lot of years. I know the arguments, I\u2019ve heard them all. \u201cI\u2019m a college student, I\u2019m broke, etc.\u201d Hell, I lived in a closet off the living room of one of the apartments you can see from\u00a0the roof of Sky Bar. I once went on a five day spring break and only spent $29. I was broke, just like a lot of you. But I never bought something without tipping. If I didn\u2019t have enough to tip, I didn\u2019t have enough to buy. Listen closely\u2026there\u2019s nothing wrong with thinking that $5.25 is too much to pay for a Corona. No one is saying that. Just understand that by paying for it without tipping you\u2019re asking someone to serve you for free.![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.shufflecloud.com\/lesstraveledtales\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2011\/02\/Just-The-Tip-Gallery-300x169.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Now, I am a believer that a tip is earned. But as long as you\u2019re given courteous, reasonably fast service with a smile, you owe that person something. His or her pay isn\u2019t coming from anywhere else.<\/p>\n
The person on the other side of that bar and that other one heaving plates from table to table is paid next to nothing for their time. They work for tips. Most of you know me, or at least recognize me. You might see me lifting a box full of cash from behind the bar and taking it to the back to count. In your mind you\u2019re probably thinking \u201cthese bartenders make tons of money\u201d. 2 things to remember: 1) Without that simple tip, we wouldn\u2019t take home a cent, and 2) My last 2-week paycheck was $9.89. So the next time you\u2019re at the bar and lay down $3 for the $2.50 beer that would be $6 in Vegas, think twice before you slip the $0.50 they give you back into your pocket and walk off so you have the quarters to pay in exact change the next time you come for a beer. Maybe the right thing to do would be to leave that $0.50 for them\u00a0to split between four other bartenders ($0.08 each), a credit card girl ($0.04) and a bar back ($0.06). That\u2019s one more step closer to them\u00a0paying their\u00a0bills\u2026(they have them too).<\/p>\n
– Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas (August 30, 2010)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I wrote this in 2010 for the editorial section of “Auburn Pulse”, a mobile phone app geared toward college kids at Auburn University. ~ I suppose it\u2019s fitting that I write an editorial on tipping while lounging in Las Vegas,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1036,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n