[Elenny]

My apologies if this topic has been discussed here before, but I'm intrigued...

I just got back from Sunday brunch with a group of friends. We go to brunch every week, and we take turns picking up the tab. Today was my turn to pay.

The total for the four of us was $53.75 and I put a $100 bill on the check holder. The waitress came by...not knowing there was a $100 bill in the check holder.....and asked if I would be "needing any change". I looked at her, smiled, and said "no".

So I left her a tip for $46.25. When she realized I had given her $100, she came back and asked if I would be needing any change again. And once again I smiled and said "No...the change is yours".

That started a debate among my sister and my two best friends that could have taken us through the rest of the day.

I usually tip the standard 20%....and 15% if the service is not quite up to par.

But today when this girl asked me if I needed any change, something came over me. I actually felt a warm feeling through my body, and all I could do was smile and say "no", and I felt very good about it.

My friend Alyssa, who is a very well paid attorney, actually said that I was doing more harm than good by leaving such a large tip, because now the waitress would not work that hard to earn other tips during her shift because she was "good for the day"....and other customers would suffer from subpar service.

I don't buy into that theory at all, but I'm interested in hearing how the smart people of this forum handle tipping.

When we talk about tips we usually think about restaurants, but I would like to hear about other tipping situations also, such as the paper boy, the valet, housekeeper at the hotel, etc.

How well do you tip, and who do you tip?