One of the things that really bothers me about people, and I don't know why it happens to be this aspect, is when they deliberately live a cheap lifestyle. Don't get me wrong; I am not referring to people to opt to spend less money on things in order to save. I'm talking about taking advantage of people and things and thus being "cheap".

I have two friends I met in college that I hang out with quite frequently. They are pretty cool guys to hang out with, and for the most part, are extremely friendly. They are both second-generation Indian students that grew up in America (diverse friends kick ass). However, it bothers me to the core with some of the things they do.

-We went to wild wings the other day and they ordered about 20 dollars worth of wings each (they took a lot of them home). They tipped a dollar. I called that shit out because the waiter was very nice and responsive to us and had our food out quickly. He even brought us free dip.

-One of them buys televisions from Walmart, big 52" LCDs and surround sound systems, uses them until the last day of the return policy, and returns it and alters the packaging to make it look like it was unopened.

-The same guy bought tire shine, used it, then returned it to Walmart after filling it up with water to make it look like it was unopened.

-The same guy bought $400 arm weights, and conned the front office of the apartment complex into thinking they lost his package, forcing them to give him $400. He used the money to buy another set of weights... so now he has two.

-Both of them went to one of the dining hall buffets and took tuppleware and secretly loaded up about 7 meals worth of food. They never ate it and threw it away.

-One of the guys drives an Infinity G37, decked out with all of the luxury features.

-The other guy drives a BMW 3 series with a sports extension.

One of the things that really bothers me is that they claim it's alright because they're Indian. What the fuck does that mean? They're not even in the realm of being poor. I really wonder what kinds of behaviors they acquired growing up, because that's fucked.

I can't go out to eat with them anymore. It bothers me too much. One time we ordered such an expensive meal and they didn't tip worth shit, so I made some excuse to them about needing to go to the bathroom and I went back and apologized to the waitress because she was awesome and they left her nothing. Sometimes I wish waiters and waitresses had the ability to charge up to 15% extra on the customer's bill if they are rude or inconsiderate to them.

Anyway, do you guys know anyone that cheap?

It means they feel that they have the emotional privelege. It's rather expected, especially from people that can fake not knowing the language. I hate to play a racism card, but think about the scene. A heavily-accented indian man screaming at a confused desk-clerk about his lost TV, then expects compensation for it because that's the way it's done back home, stupid American. Ragetastic. These guys are dicks taking advantage of their social position. Call them out on their bullshit. Tape the results. ?????? Profit.

I do not consider myself cheap, but one thing i DO NOT do is tip! To me tipping is like crumpling up my money and throwing it right into the garbage. And yes i realize that servers generally get paid less but thats really not my problem. Oh and i refuse to eat in restaurants that include a 15% gratuity in their prices.

I tip big for any restaurant I expect to come back to, unless the service is shitty. I always try to tip in cash. Biggest tip I've left was something like $50 or $60. Can't remember now but it was the best waiter I have ever had at one of my favorite restaurants.

The whole purpose of the tip is to ensure good service. You get good service you pay full price, you get bad service you don't have to. Assholes like you just piss off everyone in the restaurant and ultimately degrade the quality of the dining experience for everyone else. Unless you think you deserve to not pay the full price for your meal then you should pay it.

You're also paying for a service. I thought that was obvious. That's why you don't tip if you order a meal to-go from a restaurant and pick it up.

When we have robot servers I will stop tipping. Until then, restaurants mean tips (Fast food excluded).

I can see things from both perspectives.
Who invented tipping anyway!?
I think there should be no such thing
I think waiters and waitresses should be nice and give you excellent service because its their JOB.
Is the reason that they get such crappy pay because they are assuming that it will be made up in tips?
Did you know that at some places they aren't allowed to keep the tips?? That means you're just paying 15% more for your food for nothing.
I'm poor so usually I just tip the 15% even though im not happy about it. BUT one time I was at olive garden and the waiter spilled a persons food at the table next to mine and my bf and I felt bad for him so we gave him a lot bigger tip haha
Anyway, I think the whole tipping habit is kinda getting out of hand... soon we will be tipping bank tellers and garbage men. actually... i know someone who sets a can of soda out for the garbage man every week :)
haha anyway, its just annoying that you have to pay extra for someone to do their job correctly. As the consumers, we should expect them to be polite and quick and everything because that's their job and they are getting paid by their employer to work there..
anyway...
yeah.

You are forgetting about human nature, and that there is a rather large disconnect between what people should do and what they actually do

Most resturants, with the exclussion of large chain resturants, have very low profit margins which is why there employees tend to have low wages. Also waiting tables is a rather "unskill" job and as such there are a large number of people willing and able to do the work, also resulting in low wages.

Thats not entirely true, most places like that, the tips are placed into pool with each waiter getting a percentage.

Thats sort of the idea to me, 15% for what you expect, if you cause waiter trouble for things that weren't his fault (you spilled something, having to send things back to the kitchen because the kitchen messed up) then you tip more, if the waiter screws up then less.

Sounds like my grandmother. Seems like anytime people are working around her house (gardenors, utility companies, construction workers) she is on hand with a pitcher of something cool and refreshing.

Lets not forget that tips are also beneficial to the restaurant owners because it encourages them to be efficient, because moving 4 or 5 table a night has a serious monetary gain for the waiter (~$50 a night $250-$300 a week).