Friday, November 25, 2005




Jesus would have tipped well

The above statement is obviously pure speculation (as well as a tad silly, but that hasn't stopped me), but I'd like to think it's a good guess.

An acquaintance of mine has for some time waited tables at a certain big-headed-brothers-touted Italian chain restaurant. This particular location is frequented on Sundays by churchgoers. A Christian herself, she laments the dread surrounding working a Sunday - these churchgoers are notoriously bad tippers. We're not talking about 15% instead of 20% bad tipper; we're talking more of the 10% if she's lucky variety bad tipper.

Not to toot the old French horn, but the fact that I'm married to a one-time waitress has made of me a fairly good tipper. I shudder at the sight of someone using their cellphone to calculate the to-the-cent amount they should tip - shudder for the wait staff and for mathematics. But these people are a far worse breed, apparently tipping based solely on the smallest bill present in their wallet/purse.

I know tipping doesn't exactly qualify as charity, a principle still often absent from the Christian community as I see it. Yet this still strikes me as a pretty lousy attitude, considering how highly Jesus spoke of those who serve.

Christians Baptists (like most things that cause me shame in my faith, it seems like this is a problem specific to you - surely this will bring my first hate comment): being a good witness doesn't just mean shoving tracts down the throats of everyone you meet, especially if you're fouling up a thousand opportunities to show what should be true Christian character the rest of the time. There's absolutely no reason to be this miserly. If you can't afford the extra few dollars to make your tip more than just an insult, then eat at a buffet where you do all the work.

The soapbox is yours.


Posted by Joel at 11/25/2005 06:32:00 PM