Reader: Is adding an automatic gratuity a dirty, slutty practice?

Our post on a bar tab for the "dirtiest slut you have ever seen" quickly veered into a discussion of whether automatically adding a tip -- as Trios Enoteca did on a three-drink check -- is a dirty, slutty practice. Here's the take from anon: I've worked in the service...

By Patricia Calhoun

June 13, 2011

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Our post on a bar tab for the "dirtiest slut you have ever seen" quickly veered into a discussion of whether automatically adding a tip -- as Trios Enoteca did on a three-drink check -- is a dirty, slutty practice.

Here's the take from anon:

I've worked in the service industry and depended on tips. I have also protested tips being added to the total automatically at places I've worked. Why? Because really good service and a little well-placed flirting and decent jokes can net you a HIGHER tip than the automatic tip and people don't tip over an automatic gratuity unless they're too drunk to notice the gratuity. If you're not good enough to go over that percentage at least part of the time, and make a decent amount, you shouldn't be doing your job.

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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