Gratuity

According to Websters, the definition for gratuity is:

A favor or gift, usually in the form of money, given in return for service.

Now, I had with my family and friends, a party of 6, just this evening, had an after dinner dessert and drink. A modest, 7 cannolies 3 lemonades and a latte, for $42.50.

Now, I admit, my eyeballs popped when I saw the check, and I gave it the once over, and found that, besides paying $24.50 for 7 cannolies, (an outrage for ricotta cheese, sugar and 1 ounce of fried dough) - I had a $6.85 charge for GRATUITY. At the bottom of the check, with an asterisk, it said, "We add an additional 20% gratuity for parties of 6 or more".

How convenient, helping me with the gift giving. Now, I can almost (ALMOST) understand when a restaurant adds these things, (not really, but bear with me here). However, in this little coffee shop, where the wait staff took all of 10 seconds to take my order and deliver it - coffee from the dude behind the bar, lemonades out of the Italian bottles, we poured ourselves and cannolies, brought over from the bakery next door. For this "service" I was forced to give the gift of 20%.

Now, if you serve me and I give you a gift, I'm ok with that, I usually tip well, unless the service is really lousy, and I give 15% for small meals, 20% for larger ones. But I choose. When you make me give you the gift, well, it ain't a gift. It's a fee or charge or tax, but not a gift. And that ain't a gratuity. Of course, in a place like this, they get so much business they just don't give a shit if I drop dead right there in my chair, sipping my latte, but it just isn't right to force me to give you a gift.

Is this logical? I don't know, it just pisses me off. You take money from me under false pretense, that's what it is, you're passing on a surcharge to me for having more that some magic threshold of people in my party. And I don't like it.

Will I go back there, probably. But I can tell you this, I will remember that I got stiffed for paying a forced gratuity, so I will be a little tighter next time, especially if my party is under 6. And if we're over, we'll just tell them we're really two parties of 3.

Maybe I'll get a card and have it printed up to say "It is my policy to NOT pay automatic gratuities" and I'll leave them the bill, short of the surcharge with my "policy" card.