OK...As a former 12-year employee of the service industry I am somewhat of a tip-aholic...

My question is, where do the tips get shelled out here as a rule? I am inclined to tip very largely for great service in a restaurant, tip the cook for great food, etc, etc.

What are the laws of the land here? I am inclined to tip everyone, which I know is a good thing wherever, but I don't know the protocol on:

Barbers
Gas Jockeys
The Crystal water delivery guys
Pizza Guy (when the pizza already has a delivery charge)

and on and on......thoughts?

Just make sure the tips actually get to the people you intend.

don't forget your tour operators/boat capts...and the housekeeping staff & groundskeepers at your lodgings - they work hard.

I would never forget any of those hard working people who depend on tips like the housekeeping, etc...unfortunately I don't have the luxury of the housekeepers and grounds people.

What I am asking about are the guys like the gas station guys, the water guys, barbers, etc...I have tipped and not tipped for these services and when I do not, I feel as though I am getting a look that says "Thanks for nothing!!"

I understand it has become an enforced practice in restaurants in San Pedro that tips to waitstaff are doled out among all staff, including kitchen and cleaning. To a North American this might be inappropriate as we feel the ownwers of the restaurant should be paying kitchen staff (cooks, prep, dishwashers) and the waitstaff who need to interact and communicate well are not compensated the 100% we think they're receiving. It's funny, too, as a dinner in most establishments here are on the same price level (or even above in some North American locations). I also understand restaurants deduct the 3% charged to them by the banks when giving tips to staff from credit card charges.

Yes I find that practice of a waiter or waitress giving part of there tip to the kitchen staff a sad thing.But when in rome do as the romans do, as a vistor I say nothing .???But I do not Agree with that and think the staff should get paid well by the owner.Yes I am a once a month north american gringo ??? I go to lots of places here and try to use only credit card but I do tip cash in some .As I know some of the wait staff and they do not see all the tip? so a cash tip is better for some ??..I most Always get treated well. As they know I like good service and when I do get it ,I do the right thing . I would like to think I am a big tipper.As these guys and girls work hard for there money it is a very tough job..

I am not sure I disagree with sharing the tips if it is done in a fair way. As a waiter in many North American restaurants in my past, both upscale and not so, I paid something called tip pool in most places.

Cooks, hosts, bar staff, etc were given a higher salary than the waiters though also..this is where this works. As a waiter, I would hand over 2 - 2.5% of my gross sales for the night into tip pool and that was split between the other workers according to the importance of their job. As the waiter I made 15 or 20% of that gross amount in tips, so I would take home a good 10 - 15% after sharing.

I see this as fair because if you go to a restaurant, the food, ambiance and service play an equal role in the overall experience, so these people should get some piece of the pie...

Having said that, the topic seems to be, well ummmm, off topic..I was simply asking if people in the community tip the gas, water and hair guys..:)

having worked as a chef for 25 years, the small percentage that goes from the wait staff to the kitchens is important. it givers the cooks a lil more dough when its busy. it also tends to make cooperation between the kitchen and the wait staff a lil better.

otherwise waitrons can be making $100 an hour (i cheffed at a fancy place) and the cooks are making not near that. there is no way for the owners to make money paying the cooks at a waiter rate.

without the tip out percentage my staff would not have stayed around as long. i don't think any should go to management however.

Agreed Marty. The connection between the kitchen and wait staff is very important and I was always very happy to hand over the 2.5% that I was meant to.

I would also buy rounds of drinks for the kitchen boys on a busy night where we were going crazy with turnover...the behind the scenes guys are half the reason if a diners experience is a good one or bad...the kitchen, hosts, etc. are all part of the "show" that gets the tips flowing.

our wait staff would buy rounds of fresh juice for the cooks when it was real busy, boy that brought love. they would be blasting away really hot and up into the serving window comes a tray of five tall cold juices. mmmmmmmmmmm