DEAR ABBY: When are you going to get through your thick head the proper status of a tip?
By contract law, a tip is a gift, although tax laws make it an exception to the exception. To request or expect a tip is nothing more nor less than mooching.
Payment of an adequate wage is the responsibility of management and not of the customer. We should patronize establishments that proudly display a sign "Our Help Are Paid Adequate Wages. Tipping Is Not a Courtesy Here. It Is an Insult." -- MOST SINCERELY YOURS, ROLLIE F. EMMITT JR., RETIRED ATTORNEY, PITTSBURG, KAN.
DEAR MR. EMMITT: I respectfully disagree. Although a gratuity is discretionary, tipping is a fact of life in our culture, and many servers rely upon tips to survive. The next time you go to a restaurant, chew on that a while.