MODERN TIPPING ETIQUETTE III, PLUS BONUS FRIDAY GRAMMAR RODEO: We received
a question from sknitting yesterday:
Haircuts! How much are you generally tipping?
For context, the place I go is independently owned by two people - one of those people I believe just does the running-of-the-business stuff, and the other cuts/dyes/etc hair, along with two other people (including the person I see) who I assume rent their chairs there.
I'm a woman with really short hair, so I'm generally in every 4-6 weeks to get it trimmed and have the back/sides buzzed, and my hairdresser is awesome and usually charges me the men's short hair price (since it's lower). I occasionally have random colours put in, which takes a long time, and involves a few different steps, so on those appointments I've been tipping 20% (generally $20). But what about the times I'm just getting a cut, it takes 20-30 minutes, and is (I think?) fairly simple? ... is there a general rule for haircut tipping? What is it? Is it some basic grown-up thing that everyone knows that I somehow missed out on along with learning to like coffee and wine?
I've always tipped 20% -- I'm getting someone's undivided, personal attention for a half hour, and also because my hair's not the easiest.
Betty has been cutting my hair every 6-8 weeks for about 12, 13 years now, and I've followed her from her past salon to the new place, so in addition to the tips I also make sure to give her a Christmas bonus each year equal to one more visit. What I've never figured out are two things:
- How much to tip the woman who shampoos my hair, and, if it's Betty herself doing double duty, does she get an extra tip for that service?
- The language question: what do I call the profession of the woman who cuts my hair other than The Woman Who Cuts My Hair? The term "barber," to me, denotes a burly, old-fashioned man with a mustache and a straight razor; "stylist," I dunno. What term do you use?
