I have a given and a received. I'll start with the given:

I once gave a guy a $100 tip on a bill just over $400--in just two hours.. The guy almost crapped.

(And after going back and reading, it looks like I may be the only one in this room without tattoos...which would be why I didn't tip my tattoo artist for their work like you guys did...)

Without too much detail, a department at my school sponsored a program where you could take a teacher out to lunch--and they'd give you a card to use to pay. So I went to the office that was doing the program and signed up. They gave me a prepaid debit card and asked for a receipt. We went to the nicest restaurant at which the card was accepted--a little Italian place.

Before we sat down, I asked them to swipe the card and give me the balance..

We had a nice, quiet lunch and I went up to the register to pay.

She swiped the card and the balance went up. It was a credit card, not a debit card. No limit.

"Can I put a tip on this?" I asked.

"Yes, you can." I didn't know that and had already left a tip on the table.

I returned the card t the department sponsoring the program, with the receipt, and about two weeks later, near the end of the school year, what seemed like a good idea-popped into my head---about 20 of us were going to show how much we really liked our teacher and wanted to take him to lunch--at the same time.

I signed out the exact same card and we went to lunch during one of our regular class periods

We got a private room, or as I remember, an alcove. It was decidedly less classier than your typical class. People were ordering appetizers for the table. Everyone ordered a soda (this place didn't serve alcohol). I heard things like "Did We get enough bruschetta for the whole table?" or"Bring us two orders of mozzarella sticks--no, make it three. Make sure those guys down there get one.."

There was only ONE waiter assigned to the table. I called him over, and I'll never forget his name or what I said to him: "Mike, listen, I'm the one paying for everyone at this table--the whole shebang. Just keep the food coming and keep the drinks full and I will guarantee you that you'll be very happy."

The crowd was getting a little rowdy for a non-alcoholic crowd--I think someone sent an appetizer to a random couple in the place and we all waved--but I kept reminding the waiter, not in a nasty way "Uh, Mike, ain't no one getting parched, are they?"

I went up to the front to pay the bill and as she rang every item in,, the receipt grew. The manager sauntered over. The receipt was a mile long, seemingly. The total was a little over $400.00 I asked the cashier to put a tip on. "Certainly," she said. "How much did you want to leave?" Fifteen percent of $425 is $63.75, so it would have been a hefty tip to begin with.

Does it go directly to the server, " I asked.

"Yes, sir, it does," she said.

"Okay, then. One hundred dollars, please."

She wasn't sure she heard me correctly--she looked at the manager then back at me and repeated it.

"Yes, that is correct, one hundred dollars, and you know what, you should give Mike a raise--he was fantastic. My group and I were here for a celebration and his service was excellent."

"Okay, we appreciate that. One hundred dollars it is."

I signed the $500+ receipt and went back to the table as everyone was getting ready to leave. Apparently, Mike had been told about the tip. He came up to me and shook my hand and thanked me.

"Mike, we were here for a party, and you made it perfect. I promised you that I'd make your day."

"My wife isn't going to believe this!"

"Well, Mike, I really appreciate it. Thank you very much."

I returned the card to the department to whom it belonged and this time, the woman was puzzled as she unfurled the receipt. "Look, see..I just took twenty-two people off your list. And the cost per was exactly what it would have been if we'd gone individually--a little over twenty bucks each. It's less work for you. Your program's a success!"

None of us ever went back to the place again, I don't think.

(Coincidentally, four years after that day, I went into the hospitality industry myself, becoming concierge, and I've had many similar experiences of pulling off the seemingly impossible for my clients. While a tip was never requested or expected, it was never turned down. My clients were corporate people, not hotel guests, and I was on a salary. But it still happened in rare cases. The one time that sticks out the most was the tip I received for my sheer luck. My best client was flying out for one day to San Francisco to meet a business prospect and close a deal. He wanted to take the client to lunch and impress him. In 1993 we didn't have the internet at our desks, and I was on the East Coast and had never been to San Fran before. As luck would have it, though, I was familiar with our local office of the San Francisco Convention & Visitor's Bureau, right around the corner, so I called the woman I knew there. She gave me the name and number what she said was the nicest restaurant, high atop the city, but added "It could be foggy and the view would stink." San Francisco is well-known for having a foggy bay, but I took a risk and made the reservation anyway--at least the restaurant would be good. The client returned to the office two days later, held out his hand to shake mine as he walked by my desk, and without even looking or stopping, he said, "Nice view. Thanks.,'" as he pressed a $100 bill into my palm..)

Having worked in a coffee shop for years and LOVING tips, I generally tip pretty well in most industries; even those where people don't usually tip. I never really calculate; I just round up to the nearest $1, $2, $5 that would be most appropriate. It I have a lot of change, I tip more. Anywhere from 5% to 50% depending on the cost of the item, how much change I have, and how good of a mood I'm in.

Highest tip? I have several tattoos, and it's customary to tip your tattoo artist. I usually give my artist $20 as a tattoo usually starts around $100. However, once my artist finished very quickly at only changed me $70, so I gave him the standard $20. 28% tip. It's worth it for quality work!

Does it have to be money given as a tip? I recently visited Nepal and was trekking in the Himalayas and wonderfully cared for by the Sherpa guides who do not have the classy equipment that we perhaps have in the West. Nothing was too much trouble and they worked really hard making sure the group was safe.
So we gave a financial tip but what was far more appreciated was the gift of a four seasons sleeping bag to someone who had never owned a sleeping bag and had to camp in the mountains, waterproof clothing, water bottles, pens. I never thought anyone would want my dirty socks after walking up to 20 miles a day in them- but hey! As soon as they were donated the women were washing them in the nearby river and recycling them for use.

I generally tend to be on the other side of the tip situation but my highest is also for tattoos. Actually one of my tattoos was only paid for by tip so I don't know what the percent is. I gave 100 dollar tip and i think it costs 3 or 4 dollars for the ink.

The highest percent tip I have ever been apart of was this. One time I drove pizzas to a bar/venue for the security guards and one of them happened to also work the door at the bar right next to my pizza place. He was happy that it was someone he recognized that delivered the pizza and went to EVERYONE that worked at the company and demanded money. It was somewhere around a 90% tip on a 70 dollar order.

Then the highest tip i have ever seen came from a creeper. Its funny how a tip can easily go from nice to creepy in an instant.

There was a regular who legally changed his name to "HERB-DA-VORE" and made his millions off an herbal Viagra called "Stiff Nights" (you don't have to believe me but i have no reason to lie)

This man came in everyday because we had vegan pizza, and was very fond of one server. He asked her a couple times to be his "personal assistant" and would always make lewd jokes. Then one day she comes into the kitchen with a 75 dollar tip on a 8 dollar sandwich. MESSAGE TO OLD MEN EVERYWHERE: young girls will not have sex with you for an outrageous tip, your wasting your money. Servers may be selling their services for an hourly wage but they are not prostitutes.

I gave a $150.00 tip to my tattoo artist when we finished my back.

He (we) worked on it over the span of a full year and a half whenever I had the time to come in. I think we logged more than 30+ hours! Still, when I gave him my final payment when we got it all done, I gave him an extra $150.00 for not only a job well done, but as a gift for his time.

The highest tip I ever gave someone was about $300.00 to a mutuel clerk at a horse racing track. I won a lot of money that day, and this particular clerk offered to hold the money for me until the end of the night. It's customary to tip the mutuel clerk (if you go to the same one all night.) His offer to hold the money was exceptional service because people notice if you get a big payout. It's hard not to get excited when you know you just hit a BIG trifecta, and sometimes the wrong people take notice. By the clerk holding the money, I didn't have to worry about it. And I really appreciated that.