Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge

Moominoid asked me if my dessert was really $22.

I just pulled out the receipt again. MOMA charges a 15% gratuity. I added a little less than 10% on top of it because the waitress was being extremely nice after the long wait for service, the spill that landed on me, and the free drink.

But the math works out. I gave her a 25% tip for making up for the poor service.

Check:
Lunch (Soup and entree) $25
Dessert (which I thought was included in the fixed price) $8
Soda (gratis) $4
Tax charged on subtotal $2.76
15% gratuity $4.95
Total: $40.71

In NYC and SF, I usually put about 17-20% for tip. But I also tend to calculate 15% of the POST tax total, rather than before. In DC, that’s 9% extra, so the math kind of evens out to about 17% with things like rounding up, etc.

I tacked on an extra $3.29 for tip to cover the lost 60 cents for the free soda, and to give a little more for the good service.

In the end, I gave her 25% of the check, and 22% of the total with soda. Which is inline with what I wanted to give her. But it was complicated to figure it out since I had to do these weird adjustments with the gratuity they added in. I would rather they charge a cover charge like in European restaurants so I’m not stuck diddling with the calculator on my cellphone.

Really. The killer app on your cellphone is actually the calculator!

Side note: A quick review of MOMA’s current exhibits. I loved the work of Richard Serra. The massive scale is wondrous. The balancing of heavy steel juxtaposes the lightness you feel seeing something floating mid-air. Really neat. Worth the admission price of $20, but on top of that you get to see stuff like Picasso’s Three Musicians, Braque, DeKooning, Pollack, Rothko, Monet, Manet, Cezzane, Johns, Miro, Brancusi, etc. Turning a corner and seeing a painting I learned about in Art History staring back at me makes me smile. It’s like seeing an old friend you haven’t visited in a long time. My last visit there was probably 15 years ago in high school for my Art History course.

Because MOMA is one of the few museums open on Mondays in NYC, admission can take a while. I showed up right at opening time, but didn’t get in till about 15 minutes later because of the queue. It was worth the wait.

Also, one reason why I ate in the expensive, but extremely delicious cafe was that I wanted to sit and eat without having to go out and back in. To relax on the 5th floor was worth it. Sometimes you are buying experiences, and that luncheon was pretty amazing food. It was sublime. The soup was a cold creamy cucumber soup with shrimp and cress. The entree was a grilled salmon, but very well cooked. It was tender and not gross and dried out. I hate when restaurants overcook my fish. This stuff was delicate and tasty with a nice teriyaki-style sauce. The dessert of $8 was two types of sorbet, raspberry and fromage blanc. This is where the waitress earned her money. I asked if I could get scoops of each flavor and not just one. She said yes and I got two of each. That lunch was better than anything I was going to find on the street for $12. OMG it was really good. It still makes my mouth water while I think about it.

As you can see, I really like food and art. I put a priority on experiences over things a lot of times. I try to deny myself nothing, but I know that people think I’m crazy because I don’t have a TV. To each their own.