Basically, my life is an episode of Seinfeld

It's hardly an original or unique observation, but I honestly believe my life is just one long episode of Seinfeld. The situations I get myself into -- many of which could easily be solved by merely speaking up and clarifying a situation -- often feel like they could happen to George Costanza or one of the other hapless characters.

Take this evening, for instance. By no means do I consider myself cheap. I'm careful with my finances, but I never hesitate to buy gifts for no reason for the people in my life. That being said, I find tipping to be the biggest scam going on, and it's happening right in front of our eyes. And it continues to happen because nobody in a position of influence has stood up and said, "how did we get convinced to do this?" Nonetheless, I still submit to the social norm and tip my 15-20%, depending on service and how often I frequent the establishment. And sometimes more or less, when extreme examples arise.

But I do draw the line with pick-up orders. If I make an order over the phone and go to pick it up, I don't tip. I don't care if I'm "supposed to," but in my eyes really no service was provided. Anyway, I made an order at Charlie Brown's, and went to go pick it up. It came out to $13.90. I put $14 on the bar, but the bartender was completely ignoring me. So I'm left in an uncomfortable position. Either I stand there and wait Lord knows how long for 10 cents (certainly not worth my time), or I just leave it, making it seem like I'm leaving a 10 cent tip. Ultimately I just did the latter. Not that they deserved a tip anyway -- I got home and they forgot to include my sour cream.