The hubby and I took his brothers and sister-in-law to Ponderosa on Saturday. We love Ponderosa because we usually eat the buffet and then pack the meal for the next day. It's kind of like eating out twice.
It is also a sentimental pick as both the hubby and I have fond memories of childhood meals at Ponderosa. My Grandparents used to take my Mom and the six kids (myself included) to Ponderosa at least once a year. This was a big deal as it was our only sit down restaurant meal (I'd have the fish and chips, now I have the sirloin tips). My hubby's parents used to take him and the other brothers there on no-cook Saturdays (the hubby's Mom doesn't cook dinner on Saturdays) if they had a coupon (if they didn't, it was KFC).
Anyhoo…
It comes to leaving a tip. The hubby and I, since we paid, also left the tip, a generous tip. Both of us have worked in service before. Both of us have tried to survive on minimum wage before (we did it by working multiple jobs). We know that people making minimum wage work as hard (or harder) than people making 100k a year. We figure if we're fortunate enough to be going out to dinner or traveling (staying in hotel rooms), we're fortunate enough to share the wealth. I also like the notion of helping people who are obviously helping themselves.
Yep, we had quite a few reasons. Why? Because we constantly have to defend our choice. This situation was no different. The rest of the party was more conservative in their tipping. I don't think we convinced them to change their views but they did seem to accept that we had a base for our own choice.