🚀 go-pugleaf

Steven Schlossman said to All: 

  SS> Cheap breakfasts that are a few bucks I generally leave a couple
  SS> bucks.
  SS> 
  SS> I tip based generally on service, not quality of food. If the
  SS> waiter/waitress is pleasant, entertaining they do well by me.
 
It's also a question of how much real estate I occupy, and for how long.

I once sat down at a lunch counter and had a doughnut, a cup of coffee -- and
read a newspaper.  The place was pretty quiet, but I took up the best part of
two spaces (including my paper), and I drank coffee casually and chatted with
the waitress and counter-woman for well over an hour.  My bill was about a
dollar, and I left four or five dollars.  They'd been /very/ pleasant, the
coffee refills were quick when I asked and never brought a frown or a
questioning look, and I think they and I /both/ feel we did well by the deal. 
I'm sure I'd have been welcomed back the next day, and if I had been in that
town I would have felt very good about going back again.

In fact, I think that ought to be the essence of any transaction, including
restaurant prices and tipping and many others -- both parties ought to be
pleased with the result.  If only one is, then there's something wrong with the
picture.

I'm not proselytizing, but the Golden Rule isn't just for Sundays.