Christians and Tipping

The subject of Christians and tipping is back in the public eye, thanks to that pastor who not only left no tip but threw in a dumb, insulting note besides. If you're not up to speed, here's some coverage from the Consumerist:

Earlier this week, we posted a story about a restaurant customer who not only chose to deny the waitress a tip, but also wrote “I Give God 10% Why do you Get 18?” on the receipt. Now we’ve learned that the server who posted the receipt online has been fired. 

“I originally posted the note as a lighthearted joke,” says Chelsea, who was dismissed from her job at Applebee’s on Wednesday, as the story began to spread across the Internet. “I thought the note was insulting, but it was also comical. I posted it to Reddit because I thought other users would find it entertaining.” 

... 

As posted originally on Reddit’s Atheist page [This is my favorite part. This stupidity has been posted on an atheist web page to be used as ammo against Christians. Proud of yourself, big spender? - j], the image contained the customer’s full signature. Chelsea says she didn’t think to edit that out because she had assumed the name was illegible. 

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As for the customer’s claim that they “give God 10%,” Chelsea says she’s “utterly baffled” at why someone would try to make a connection between tithing to one’s church and tipping at a restaurant. 

“I’ve been stiffed on tips before,” she says, “but this is the first time I’ve seen the Big Man has been used as reasoning.”

This hearkens back to a post I wrote about tipping a few years ago:

It helped my attitude a lot when I stopped looking at tipping as some kind of obligatory burden, and started looking at it as another opportunity to be generous.  I ask God for opportunities to share His love all the time, as I'm sure a lot of Christians do.  Well, there you go: it's right in front of your face every time you go to Denny's.

Or Applebee's. I still say, if you pray over your meal in a public place, or do anything else that draws attention to you as a Christian, you'd better be prepared to leave a big, fat tip, or else you just look like a pious jackass.