No I am not. There is no food delivery out this way, so no ordering out.

Sue

If I were to buy take out, I would tip a nice tip so the people can make a living during this. BUT, we just aren't going to get restaurant foods just because I am not comfortable with someone else handling my food right now. We actually haven't been out to eat anywhere since Ash Wednesday, I remember it was Ash Wednesday because everyone had ash on their foreheads.

I always tip well. I was a server for about two weeks (helping out a friend). I tipped well before that but since then, I really tip well. We're not doing take-out right now, but when everything opens back up I will eat out more than usual and continue to over-tip.

I think that I've always tipped really well because when my mother is with me she always comments about it. She worked a lot of years as a waitress, so she should know.

ETA: and yes, I would tip astronomically high right now!

We've not been having takeout food but the grocery delivery has been getting an envelope laid out for them.

How frightening to think that people will change their tipping protocols at a time like this. I've spoken to many folks, over the years, who say they tip far less for takeaway. If those people are tipping more now, then they should be ashamed for being tightwads prior to this crisis. If those same people go back to tipping less once this is over, even more shame should cross their minds.

I was taught to ALWAYS tip 20% unless the service or the food was horrible. I will continue that practice with or without a worldwide epidemic going on.

I believe 10% is the standard for take-out. I treat that like I do breakfast waitresses; overtip for cheap orders.

I'm with FOAS. I have always tipped very well, and continue to do so. When I was very young, I read that waiters hated serving women because they were notoriously bad tippers. Since women made something like 60% of what men did, I wasn't surprised, but the servers didn't get base pay back then either, so by the time I was the one paying, I figured if I could afford the meal, I could afford to reward the staff well for the privilege of being served. OTOH, I often had to skip a soft drink to do so. :) Good trade off, IMO.

I did some grocery orders this last week (for contactless delivery (they're gone by the time you open the door) and missed the amount of the "recommended tip". It was half of what I would have tipped and I feel terrible about it. That won't happen again!

Ricky, who said anyone was a tightwad? you think it's frightening that people would want to be extra generous at a time like this?! I've never stiffed anyone for/on anything, and I can't get home delivery for anything anyway. Just saying that if I *could* be out, I think I'd be tipping at over 100% right now. lol! Eat a cookie. Relax.

No takeout for us, and the last thing I want to touch right now is cash. No plans to get any either. I finally thought to check and have a single 1 dollar bill in my wallet right now.

I would like to tip the grocery pickers, but don't see how that would be safe right now. I wish there was a way to add a tip when you pay with a card, like at restaurants and salons.

I seldom eat out, and haven't done so in probably a year, maybe more. However, I stop at a local coffee shop and buy Mother a fancy coffee each week when I take her meals and deliver her groceries. I tip at least the cost of the coffee itself, because I know those people aren't making any tips right now.

I've always tipped generously, I used to own a bar and grille, and Ashley worked her way through college waiting tables at Applebee's while Amanda worked in a local pizza shop. I also try to tip in cash so the server doesn't have to take that 3% credit card charge off their tip, something that never occurred to me until Ashley told me that Applebee's automatically took the credit card fee out of her tips before paying her the remaining amount. Now servers always get tipped in cash.

Because of our location there is no food delivery here, and I'd have to drive 7 miles into town to get take out. Other than Mother's meals and groceries, I don't go anywhere, even our prescriptions come in the mail. I do have a township meeting tonight, only three of us because that's a quorum. We'll approve payment of the bills and adjourn, it'll be about 5 minutes.

I haven't even started my car in a couple of weeks, there's plenty here on the farm to keep me busy. Tomorrow I'm cleaning the brooder that the chicks are in, fertilizing the small fruit trees, weeding the asparagus and garlic and fertilizing them, uncovering the fig trees and if I still have energy I'll be setting up the small coop at the farm for my new chicks, they'll outgrow the brooder in another couple of weeks. Fence needs to be finished so I can let the cows out onto the pasture. The rhubarb is coming up. Other people are complaining that they can't go and I'm thinking what a luxury it is to not have to go anywhere except the feed store!

Annie

Not eating out right now,at SOs insistance. And I am not getting any kind of tip for doing all the cooking either. 😏

We always tip too much anyway,since if we do eat out,we get takeout,never do we eat in a restaurant. I always tip at least 5 dollars if it's a small order just for me on my way to work,10 if it's for the 2 of us. It works out to between 30-50% usually. I tell myself it's the tip that makes them remember my name and order every time,not the frequency that I patronize them. 😬 I mean, ALL restaurants have staff that know your phone number by heart right?!?!?! And greet you with your first name when they answer your call or when you walk in the door??? It's not just me????

I’m using Instacart for grocery delivery because I can “shop” from Raley’s, Safeway, and SaveMart without leaving my home. I’m able to indicate a tip with the online order, and I always make sure I’m giving a whole lot more than the Instacart tip. I figure the “shopper” is spending at least an hour of time plus providing me a needed service.

But since the virus, I also prepare an envelope with cash inside to boost the online tip I’ve indicated. I do that because the shopper is on the front line for me, so I think they deserve a bit more.

I’ve done something similar with our regular postal person. I’m ordering from Amazon a lot more than before, and the poor guy gets stuck delivering all those boxes.

Do people tip UPS, FedEx, etc, deliverers? I've often wanted to tip them when I get heavy/awkward packages but I never know who will deliver things or when. Packages are always just left outdoors and I find them the next time I go out. :p

pm - The frightening part is that it takes a pandemic to make people open their hearts and their wallets to the folks who serve them a regular basis. And worse, that when this is over, these tightwads (and I'm not insinuating anything here) will go back to their stingy tips.

I'm so new to any fresh food delivery I was so horrified the first one a couple/few weeks ago, I did not tip. So distracted and new. The next one with the wholesaler, I put an envelope on the folding table outside with the company name on it and thanked him out the upstairs window and pointed it out. Not sure if 20$ is enough but seems good? (I put on the envelope that we have been home for days without symptoms)

Fed-x, and ups drops and runs. Literally. They do not want open doors and conversations. All wearing masks. (if sunny they drop ten feet from the door)

We are in lock-down so not going anywhere. (we are in a hot-zone, red area)

I babysat pre-teen, then waited tables since 15yrs old all through university as did DH. We have always over-tipped for great service, 20% for good and 15 for mediocre/bad. 50% + for breakfast. (low $ amount tabs). Seniors on fixed incomes I never complained like co-workers did. Might be just a few coins for a tip, but they were always lovely and liked their social time with their friends.

We had no mail delivery a few days last week. (they lost a few co-workers) then back last Sunday trying to catch up. Drove by twice today.

All my wonderful dedicated delivery service personnel will be getting whatever we think of to honor them. Gift cards? Cash?

I tip twenty percent, same as if I were eating at the restaurant. I spent one summer as a waitress and good tips made all the difference.

Oh yeah. I’ve been stopping at a local cafe for a cup of coffee and a croissant on the way to work. I heat the heck out of the croissant in the office microwave, because I don’t want to eat anything cold (virus). I drink the coffee sitting outside the cafe. It is quiet, almost no traffic, peaceful, a few people walk by but everyone keeps their distance. For a $6 purchase I hand over $10 and ask them to keep the change. I’m saving money on lunch anyway, since nothing near my office is open.

why would any one want to tip over delivery drivers.

War Garden, I think it's the urban version of cow tipping. :)

I'm not tipping at all. No home food deliveries, no take out deliveries or even pick ups so nothing to tip for :-)

I've always tipped well (18-20%, and more if my order came to less than 10% at a diner), but when it was obvious that things were to be shut down, and restaurants were already seeing a severe decline in business - I over-tipped. Especially the Chinese restaurant, at which I was the only non-Asian present.

Our state shut down the evening of March 16th. I haven't eaten or ordered out since, except once a few days after - we got fish and chips.

Meals aren't delivered to my area to begin with, and I really haven't wanted to do take out. My part of the state has been the last to be affected, but more cases are cropping up now.

I really wish restaurants would pay the wait staff decent wages and end the tipping requirement, like more civilized countries such as in Europe and Japan. There are some Japanese restaurants in L.A. that do not allow tipping, and they pay their wait staff decently. Then there are some restaurants that automatically add the tip to the bill, and I think this is deceitful marketing - better to put the increased price up front in the price of the food instead of tacking it on later - that is just tacky.

I don't think it should be the customer's responsibility to make sure that wait staff is paid properly - that should be the responsibility of the employer. Whoever does the hiring should pay the wage. If you feel you have personally hired someone to do something (like a taxi driver or hairdresser), then it would be appropriate to tip.

That said, we do tip 18-20% at restaurants - 18% at expensive restaurants and 20% at cheaper restaurants, depending on how much work the server has to do. We seldom eat out, and so we don't really have favorite restaurants here, except for one or two, and we go to those maybe once or twice a year.

We have shoppers and they are getting minimum 15%-20% tip. They have been heroes for us.

Remember, the person you're tipping often shares tips with the back of house, and servers in some places pool tips entirely. It's worth weighing whether the service was bad enough to short the busboys and dishwashers, or store pickers vs. drivers. Yes, it's better where they pay the staff well, but I don't see it becoming standard here.

Tipping was prevalent among the leisure class in Europe, centuries ago, when they would give tips to the servants for doing extra tasks, or personal errands. Tips were given to random people who were enlisted to hold horses. And to servers. It was a way for obnoxious rich people to get good service. Now, the way we do it, it's an expected compensation, and prices are artificially low because of that expectation. Yes, it would be better if it were just on the bill, and the people were well compensated, but there would also have to be a concomitant increase in listed prices. Americans hate that, even though it's just slight of hand.

I remembered to check and increase the amount for my coming grocery order, making sure there was a good tip. I have a few non-food items coming from elsewhere and wish I could tip everyone along the delivery chain for bringing me things.

Foodonastump, your comments brought back memories of my dad, who was a frequent breakfast customer at a diner in his hometown. He always left large tips for the servers. Always. There were times he'd stop in for just a coffee and chat with the servers and the regulars, and leave $20 on the counter. He himself often dressed like a hobo, but he was one of those generous souls.

When he passed, a large group of us went for lunch at the diner after his funeral service. The staff had set up our tables with his favorite candy that he'd bring them, shared pictures and told us stories about him that made us laugh and cry. They were his extended family.

Come to think of it, I'm going to do something for them during this time. I'm sure they're all feeling the effects of this pandemic greatly.