Friday, July 20, 2012

I don't get it.

I've become very philosophical about tips. I've had to, otherwise my head would have long since exploded.

But I still don't get how the very same hour-long deep tissue massage can net me $6 from the first client and $30 from the second. Especially since both clients professed to lurving my massage.

Weird.

8 comments:

Old NFO said...

Who knows... sigh

'Drea said...

I was going to ask if the $6 dollar person is a newcomer to massage but that doesn't make since either because tipping is tipping...

Blondefabulous said...

Some folks are just cheap & uneducated about tipping.

Firehand said...

Could be that's what he had to add in?

jamie said...

Never having had a massage what is the proper tip?

Christina RN LMT said...

Old NFO, 'Drea, and Blonde, pretty much!

Firehand, what do you mean?

Jamie, it depends on you, really. Are you a generous tipper? I hesitate to name a percentage, but I'll say to tip the percentage that you'd normally tip in a restaurant. And if you get some kind of discount or whatever, always base the tip on the NON-discounted price.

Suldog said...

I was going to say that some folks don't have any knowledge concerning tipping for massage, but others seem to have covered that. Some folks probably think the entire fee goes to you, so they may think a tip is not the same as for a below-minimum wage waitress or waiter.

Historian said...

Let me preface this by saying that as a former bouncer and bartender, I strongly support tipping for good service. I have observed, however, that especially in college towns the tip one receives is often more a reflection of the financial status of the tipper than the excellence of the service delivered by the tippee.

My point is that to someone who may only have $6 left, a $6 tip may be a much higher compliment than a $30 tip would be to someone who has $300 on hand. My general practice in the past was, whenever someone appeared to be strapped for cash, or told me they were short, I would smile, tell them not to worry about it, and that they could catch me next time, like on Sunday morning if they came by for a Bloody. That improved my repeat business, and built the Sunday crowd considerably. (I do make a good Bloody, too!)

The next time you get a light tip, remember where you are and remember that you may have gotten all the cash they had left.

With all that said, there is no doubt that there are some cheapskates around, too. I expect you will quickly figure out which is which.