The debate is on.
In this week's Food for Thought Nancy Leson cites a recent Stranger article by Angela Garbes reporting that Renee Erikson has eliminated tipping at her restaurants The Whale Wins, The Walrus and the Carpenter, and Barnacle. Which story then prompted a debate among Stranger staff about the virtues and drawbacks of tipping.
Both Nancy and I have worked for tips. Nance as a restaurant server for 20 years. In my distant youth I worked for tips as various kinds of delivery driver.
Best tips and most interesting situations: Delivering liquor. Jack Weintraub, my boss at Lovelace Wines and Spirits never let me forget the time I described a group of men sitting around in the parlor of a place I delivered to frequently as the lady's "lazy sons." "Her sons?!" he cackled in his Alsatian accent. "Don't you know vat dat place iss?"
Ever after, when I left with a delivery for Mrs. Iarocci's "house" Weintraub delighted in calling out "And give my regards to her sons!"
Most nimble driving required: Chicken Delight. What a tempting target the two-foot plastic chicken atop my car made for New Rochelle's more ballistically gifted youth. Here's a Chicken Delight radio ad from about the time I was delivering for them.
In Stephen Becker's wonderful adventure novel The Chinese Bandit, the author describes a Beijing restaurant where waiters call out the size of a patron's tip as he exits the premises.
And for stories about celebrity tippers, the princely and the piker, check the Stained Apronwebsite.
"No money...but on your deathbed you will receive total consciousness."
From Caddyshack: Tip allegedly received by Bill Murray from the Dalai Lama.
