Cheapskates: the non-tippers

Last night as I was playing the piano at The Chef's Table, about 60-70% of everyone that came in left the restaurant without tipping me. I was getting frustrated. Why am I getting so frequently stiffed? I thought about telling them, "Hey you! Did you like the music?" I also thought about just banging the piano in frustration, to make them appreciate me. So why don't people tip? There are generous people, and luckily I walked away with $56 after three hours. But as I said before, that money came from a small percentage overall.

I think there are a few reasons why people do not tip. 1) They are not familiar with fine dining etiquette. It seems like wealthier people used to the environment are more likely to tip. But that is not always the case. And when it's not? I think the reason lies in the area of appreciation.

Two nights ago, The Chef's Table hosted a party for a law firm. I was playing that night, and figured that a bunch of lawyers would do me pretty good. I got two bucks and a ham. Now, I appreciate lawyer jokes.

In this scenario, 70-80 wealthy people are familiar with fine dining. But they don't understand what it takes to present to them what I play for them; the hours spent preparing the particular pieces and the years leading up to the moment learning the craft.

For this latter reason, I felt like banging my piano and screaming, "Don't you get it?" But I refrained, and let the people carry on in ignorance.