My grandpa's 1% tip math finally made sense 20 years later

Grandpa always rounded the check up to the nearest 10 bucks and called it 15%, but his method was actually way off when the bill was like $63. He'd just toss down $70 and smile, and I used to think he was being cheap or lazy. Then I waited tables for a summer and realized half the people who punch exact percentages still tip worse than he did, so does the old-school math actually matter or is it just about being generous with what you've got?

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zara_sanchez15d ago

Oh yeah, but here's the thing that REALLY gets me. Your grandpa was doing the math in his head and then just deciding "eh, close enough" which is basically what everyone does anyway. I remember watching people at the bar tab who would meticulously calculate 18% to the penny, then round DOWN to the nearest dollar to avoid the extra 40 cents. Like wow, way to show your waiter you're a real math wizard. The whole point of tipping is that it's supposed to feel like a THANK YOU, not a tax you're trying to minimize. Your grandpa rounding up probably made that server's day better than someone who left 22% but acted like they were doing you a favor by explaining exactly how they arrived at that number. Honestly, I think the old school way of just picking a number that feels right says more about your character than any percentage ever could.

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