Comments on: Imagine the size of the tip when the dinner cost 50 large https://gregladen.com/blog/2012/09/19/imagine-the-size-of-the-tip-when-the-dinner-coast-50-large/ Thu, 20 Sep 2012 20:07:00 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.6 By: Kyle Lacy https://gregladen.com/blog/2012/09/19/imagine-the-size-of-the-tip-when-the-dinner-coast-50-large/#comment-494757 Thu, 20 Sep 2012 20:07:00 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=13483#comment-494757 Silly Greg it doesn’t matter how much any gratuities were, we’re all the winners here now that this video has come to prominence.

]]> By: CherryBombSim https://gregladen.com/blog/2012/09/19/imagine-the-size-of-the-tip-when-the-dinner-coast-50-large/#comment-494756 Thu, 20 Sep 2012 00:28:59 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=13483#comment-494756 Now his task is to convince some of those people in the 47% that they WOULD be in the other 53%, if it weren’t for the 47% of freeloaders dragging them down. My head hurts.

]]> By: MadScientist https://gregladen.com/blog/2012/09/19/imagine-the-size-of-the-tip-when-the-dinner-coast-50-large/#comment-494755 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 22:28:53 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=13483#comment-494755 Pfft. Cheap. They must have only been millionaires.

]]> By: Greg Laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2012/09/19/imagine-the-size-of-the-tip-when-the-dinner-coast-50-large/#comment-494754 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 18:18:18 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=13483#comment-494754 I hope there was some food left over for the pions.

]]> By: derek https://gregladen.com/blog/2012/09/19/imagine-the-size-of-the-tip-when-the-dinner-coast-50-large/#comment-494753 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 16:20:30 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=13483#comment-494753 I assume the waiters don’t get the median annual income from their work even when you add the whole year’s work up. That means they probably don’t pay federal income tax. And that means the people running around, cleaning the tables, taking away the plates and bringing the drinks, were “moochers”; while the people sitting at the tables, eating food, drinking wine, and listening to the entertainment, were “providers”. Somebody show the poor dears the way to Galt’s Gulch.

]]> By: Mike Licht https://gregladen.com/blog/2012/09/19/imagine-the-size-of-the-tip-when-the-dinner-coast-50-large/#comment-494752 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 15:15:12 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=13483#comment-494752 The Florida papers put attendence at 150 plutocrats. But forget the parking valets, these guys have limos standing by.

]]> By: Greg Laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2012/09/19/imagine-the-size-of-the-tip-when-the-dinner-coast-50-large/#comment-494751 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 14:04:45 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=13483#comment-494751 Eric, you’re correct, of course. Actually, tips are often not left at catered dinners anyway. The big winners are probably the valet parking staff.

]]> By: Eric Lund https://gregladen.com/blog/2012/09/19/imagine-the-size-of-the-tip-when-the-dinner-coast-50-large/#comment-494750 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 13:58:06 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=13483#comment-494750 That’s actually $50k per person. So if there are eight people per table (most such events have 8 or 10 seats per table) and you split the tip with the busboy (the usual arrangement in restaurants), two such tables at 15% tip would give you $60k, which is more than the median income but less than the average.

Unfortunately for the waitstaff, most of that $50k is a donation. The actual cost of a rubber chicken dinner will be in the $30-50 range; gourmet food probably about twice that. At this level people will expect good wine; figure $100 per person ballpark. An 18% gratuity will be added, so in reality our waiter and busboy will be splitting more like $36 per person, for a $100-150 per table net. Still nice pay for two or three hours of work, but you’ll need to work 400-500 tables a year to hit the median income.

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