Replying to @farah@beige.party

@farah @PhoenixSerenity

As an autistic person who has spent far too much mental effort tabulating the unwritten rules, my wife and I tend to over tip for exemplary service because we know there are plenty of folks who never tip and that tips are the only way for most servers to reach even the equivalent of minimum wage. On pick-up / carry-out orders, I sometimes ask outright who gets the tip (I have to have the spoons for that much unscripted social interaction). If they tell me that the staff gets to split it, I still tip (just not as much).

I'm not telling anybody what to do. I'm just saying that "tipping" creates a mental burden that many people never even think about or notice.

The NT world is chock full of that.

Edit: thank goodness I can edit my Toots on Mastodon to fix typos.

Jul 5, 2026, 18:45 UTCen

Replying to @jrdepriest@infosec.exchange

@jrdepriest @farah @PhoenixSerenity I tip workers as much as I can because I know they're underpaid, but I resent their workplaces for making me do it. If the menu says it costs $5, it should cost $5, or at most $5+tax. And the worker should get a fair wage regardless of how generous the customers feel. In the meantime, while that's not the reality we live in, I try to be generous when I can afford to eat out.