I have given someone twenty dollars who was begging with kids and had nothing left in my wallet.
Your perception of the average giver does not make it so.
Everyone seems to like to get into micro arguments and technical details.
Maybe we should be asking ourselves, why is the mentality out there in the first place that a crew of waitresses or waiters has fights over who has to work the Sunday crowd.
That is a pathetic witness.
It seems that those on this board who depend on the gifts of others for an income would understand more than most, than say a factory worker.
For those who continue with the obnoxious attitude during the noon Sunday out to eat gathering, and you think nothing weird is being done to your food before you take a bite, think again.
Every watiress or waither has their limits.
Grace is perfectly applicable and appropriate in a business transaction.
If grace doesn't permeate and overflow in every aspect of life, there is some sort of compartmentalizing going on that prevents its natural path.
That is what you do. And it is wrong. You are supposed to compensate them for services rendered. The quality of service may help the amount of compensation, but the industry standard is that they receive their wage directly from the customer. The establishment owner provides a small cushion of far less that minimum wage to help protect servers from folks like yourself. That is why the industry is allowed to pay far less than minimum wage by law.
Of course grace should enter into the equation, especially as Christians.
You are exactly right.
I have to wonder how many pot bellied pastors sit and complain every Sunday about leaving a tip, in between shoveling in the food, as their guts go past 300 and approach 400 pounds.
True, however in my opinion a $2 or $3 tip - or a tip of 10% or 15% or even 20% is not grace - it is a matter of fairness - of payment for services rendered.
I was in a small deli restuarant and saw a little Amish boy - about ten years old - clear his family's table of dishes and take them to the busser's station himself - with the approval of his father - and a warm smile and a hug from the waitress.
And the father still left a tip.
The actions of that little boy was an example of grace.
Very good post, and I agee 100%.
If everyone thought as you do, then the reputation that the after church Sunday crowd has built would not exist.
To tell you the truth, I was not even aware of the phenomenon until my daughter went to work at a Chinese restaurant in college.