un cheers to certain conference goers

This will be my first rant. There are a certain group of people in town who are here for an academic conference and had some cocktails in the bar (note: some attendees excluded here, this is a generalization based on the overall tip income this evening). Perhaps the ivory tower has you so far removed from life that you forget that people work for wages. Tipping ten percent is not appropriate behavior. I don't care if you are post modern or new formalist--there are industry standards. 20% is what you should tip...at least 15%. You tip 10% if you receive sub-par service. I know that there isn't any money in academia (I'm in the industry as well...which is why bartending is the main source of cash flow.) But employees who receive tips usually do not make a sufficient wage, i.e. the tip is their wage. Don't act like I'm telling you something new. If you can afford to come to the conference, stay in a swanky hotel (especially if it's on your university's dime) you can afford to tip 20% on a $40 tab. It's the difference of $4. I suppose I can take solace in the fact that I'll be the one writing the literature while you're still teaching comp.