How to not be tacky while dining (Part I)

Being classy is not about having a lot of cash. Goodness knows you can be making the big bucks and still be one tacky, flashy, gaudy hot mess. You can also be scraping by as a lowly grad student and manage to be mighty classy in both appearance and behavior.

Today's tacky tale: the bad tipper.

I have heard every argument about why it's not essential to leave a good tip. Yes, I realize they don't do it in Europe, but the point is that those men and women bring you your burger, your steak, your beer, your wine, or whatever it is you ordered are working their BUTTS off for $2.15 an hour. You don't have to be paid minimum wage when your employer can demonstrate that you have the opportunity to make it in tips. And your waitress is already automatically having money deducted from her nightly tips to pay out the kitchen, the bartender, and the hostess.

So how tacky is it for your little pampered butt to assume that 10% is adequate?

But the tackiest of the tack is when you go out to a nice meal to impress someone and then SKIMP on the tip to save YOU some cash.

Now, maybe it's tacky for some restaurants to automatically add in gratuity, but honestly - you should probably be tipping at least that. Have you ever tried to wait on a table of four couples and three single friends who want split checks but shared wine? Damn straight that waiter gets at LEAST 18%.

Going out for nice dinners is a way to treat yourself right. Avoid the tack and budget in for that extra 18-20%. I promise, if someone catches you undertipping they will be HORRIFIED (especially if they are an alum of the fine fellowship of waitstaff), but if you overtip all they will be left to think is: damn, that's one classy guy.

Giving a cake but eating it, too!

I've always thought it was classy to bring something with you when you go to someone's house for dinner or a party. While any good host or hostess will tell you not to worry about it, secretly he or she may be judging you for arriving empty handed.

While there are the obstacles standing in the way of the appropriate gift (flowers or chocolates? wine or beer? red or white? does this go with what we're eating?) there is one absolute no-no...

Do not bring half-a-dish.

Over the holidays my parents hosted a nice holiday dinner party. Food and wine were plentiful, but most guests (being the classy people my parents associate with) still came with wine, appetizers, and small gifts in hand.

And then there was one half of a chocolate cake. No sad story that part of the cake had fallen apart during baking, no excuse that the kids got to the cake before she could... this guest just really wanted to keep the other half for ANOTHER party.

Two parties + One cake = Tacky