Today I was at Applebees with someone and was faced with a dilemma that went to the core of my being: my waitress was shitty. I could tell almost immediately that she wasn't enthused to be serving me. For instance she forgot to bring me some sauce that came with my meal, then didn't even come close to our table for like 10 minutes; it was clear she had an attitude. She never refilled my drink unless I asked her too either, and when it came time for the bill she took like 10 minutes before casually throwing it on the desk without a word. In short, she figured I wasn't going to tip her anyway so why give a shit. The place wasn't even crowded so there was no excuse.
You might be saying "PD, if I was you I wouldn't give her a tip, then I'd ask to see the manager." That may seem logical to some, but you are overlooking a very important factor here: the black man's burden. If I didn't tip she would simply think "oh look I was right, another black person who doesn't tip." And thus the cycle would continue: I would be passing that burden to the next black man to bear, instead of bearing it myself and overcoming that shit. That's what black excellence is about. I gave her a 20% tip not because I wanted to or because she deserved it, but because maybe - just maybe - the next black guy who receives her service will get treated better because of my good work. And in turn he'll give a good tip, making her even more receptive to serving black people. And in time we would have built up enough black excellence in the food service community that this tipping stereotype will no longer exist.
We enter life a couple touchdowns behind, and thus have to over perform just to get ahead. Why do you think hyper tension and heart disease are so prevalent within the black community? Because this is a heavy burden to carry, and not everyone is up to the task; and even those that are will die before their time because of the pressure. There are only so many tips you can give, so much medium rare meat you can order, and so much baseball you can watch instead of football before the burden becomes too heavy and you die of a heart attack at 53.
I know what I did to preserve and pass on black excellence today. What did you do today, Himu/Beezy/Green Man?