Tipping, I've changed my mind

First, I think serving is one of the hardest jobs. No wait, good serving is one of the hardest jobs I know. Having seen the very best and the very worst at all levels of restaurants as well as doing a little serving myself, I appreciate the work.

The problem is tipping. My niece is a server and very good one. I asked her for advice since she has served at nicer to very nice Chicago restaurants. She said everyone tips 20% or more. I was dumbfounded. 20%? I was a 15% off the food price.

So here is the rub. Some servers expect 20% of the total bill including the tax. Others are expecting 15% of the total. Some of us are not willing to pay a tip on tax, that is dumb. But as I get older, 15% is tough to figure in my head.

Also 15% (or 20%) is really for excellent service. Excellent, not almost excellent or I would have if the kitchen hadn't screwed up excellent. It is for the whole package. If the kitchen is screwing up orders and you are taking the heat, find another job or scream at the kitchen manager. It isn't my problem.

So my new approach is to look at the bill and figure about 20% of the total (or so). On a great server, I'll make sure and round up. On an good server, I'll go to the easiest number and for a bad server, I'm still willing to start deducting for style points.