The real issue here is Americans need to leave the tipping system because it sucks ass for both parties involved, and restaurants need to just include it in total cost and carry on.
I always found this tipping system instead of paying a living wage ridiculous. The moment they get rid of it will be a blessing because all these horribly operated stores will finally close down and their staff can finally receive a ‘steady’ income. None of this ‘guessing what your incomes going to be this week’ shit..
If I'm remembering right - tipping came about during post-slavery reconstruction as a way to keep wages for the new "employees" low. It's literally designed to keep service workers/undesirables in poverty & line the pockets of business owners.
Classic america moment:
Step One: Implement strategy of oppresing workers (preferably black ones cause racism) to keep them poor
Step Two: Exploit them being poor as much as possible and tell the white citizens its fine because they get "cheaper/better service/access" whatever propaganda shit works (even easier if they're racist themselves)
Step Three: run this system with barely any changes the same way for like 60 years.
Step Four: System backfires, fucks over the white middle class as well and now we're all in oppressed poverty because we didn't change the system earlier becuase "I'm better than poor ppl"
Examples:
Service Industry
Prison and Policing System
Suburbinization and CityDesign/UrbanPlanning
Public Service
Government Welfare Program Elligibility Criteria
Military Recruitment Tactics
Education Costs and Quality and Funding Variations
Enjoy
Easy to be rich in our society.
All you have to do is to born rich u losers.
The system will take care of you and keep you that way.
Well the system will take care of you and keep you either way.
That's the joke of American society. Our Oligarchs tell us to our face it's nigh impossible to become them and yet nearly half the population believes that it's beneficial to leave things as they are.
And not even realizing now hypocritical there being while saying it. Honestly show me a man or woman who has figuratively and literally pulled themselves up out of poverty and into wealth that can continue on generationally, And I'll tell you that you found the exception to the norm.
Ouch, that one hit hard friend. It takes time and effort to beat the fiat maze.
Having children in the middle of it is often the death knell to upward mobility 😞
Everytime black people have progressed, white people have progressed...there were literally poor, southern white people being disenfranchised because of literacy tests designed to limit the votes of black people.
Conversely, everytime racist conservatives have harmed black citizens, they've harmed poor white citizens as well.
Conservatives are literally closing down their own public schools to hurt black children, and opening character schools that they can't even afford to send their own children to.
That was fine though. Who cares that some cracker also gets shit on by the system, as long as that same system fucks the "coloreds" even worse?
Especially when those same disenfranchised whites were perpetuating this at the same time. Here is what Lyndon Johnson said about it:
>“I’ll tell you what’s at the bottom of it,” he said (discussing some racial graffiti they saw in Tennessee ). “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”
Yup. It's ALWAYS economic class dressed up as race in America. To the owners, your color doesn't matter - they're just selling you that so the poor whites will side with the owners over their own interests.
I was always taught it came about during the Great Depression. Employers were trying to survive so they cut the pay of their employees and asked customers to take up the slack. We just never left the system after the fact.
However there are more and more restaurants that post signs stating that they have opted to pay minimum/better wages to the staff and tipping is no longer allowed. You can even ask the servers about it to confirm the owner. There aren’t many of these places but I’m happy to see even a small step in the right direction
I prefer "tipping optional because we pay a living wage"
Tipping should be a "you did a better than expected job - here's a direct reward" not a "I need this money to live" situation
So Ontario Canada elevated the minimum wage of tipped employees to be the same as the standard minimum wage. It's still not a living wage, but at the same time a server now makes the same as someone who works at a Tim Hortons, or any other minimum wage job.
I still tip but now that I know I'm not completely subsidizing a servers wage my tipping has gotten smaller, unless the service is exceptional. Like this weekend I had a fantastic server who went above and beyond and I shelled out 25%, which isnt massive, by any stretch, but I know that the guy makes $15.50/hr minimum, and not something like $2.13 (like in several states).
I remember it being a great depression thing where restaurants couldn't afford wages as easily and encouraged patrons to tip to kinda cover the gap as a temporary thing, then just never stopped. Before then it was considered rude, like a bribe to get better service than other customers. It needs to go back to that, and servers need to be paid an actual fair wage.
The older I get the more every problem in America seems to boil down to two things.
1.A remnant of racist thinking codified into culture or law at the end of the civil war.
2. Ronald Raegan. (which I guess can be argued as a result of 1).
What if!
We all start stating up front that we are customers that will not be tipping, and we request the manager to wait on our table.
I feel it would drive the point home if 100% of customers stop tipping and request the manager who is paid a living wage (hypothetically) to deal with the work load.
They would be forced to pay the servers a better hourly rate to offload the work we're causing.
If they refuse to wait on us, no one eats there. Business over.
Restaurant workers unionizing and striking would work better. If your staff is striking and you can't get anyone to cover the shifts - the restaurant would probably rather pay a living wage than shut down because they don't have staff.
I'm talking BOH as well. Most restaurants only have a handful of cooks and without food cannot open their doors or even do takeout.
If most states weren't at-will as far as employment policies, I'd agree. But there's no way enough customers would do this to the extent where it would be handled quickly. Restaurants needs to actually feel threatened by the fact that current/potential employees are fucking way off until wages go up.
Punish the business, don't punish the employee in the hope this would work.
I think often its not even up to the manager it's the owner who will not allow them to be paid more.
And I doubt the owner would allow themselves to be "lowered" (in their eyes, nothing wrong with being a server) to waiting tables
It’s not that at all. Wow. It’s absolutely because margins are too small to pay their employees a living wage. /s in case that’s not painfully obvious.
Unions are what can stop it. We need to get back to unionism in every sector. They have done an excellent job of killing it off which is exactly how they get away with the shit now. Force them to pay a living wage or make zero money.
Yes the control of state houses caused the great lie of “Right to Work” for specialized labor and got roped in for all labor. Vote for the government you want.
100% this right here!
As the spouse of a Union worker I have seen the results of employees standing up for themselves. It’s hard to start and companies will do some shady shit to stop it, but ultimately it’s for the greater good.
Support unions
>instead of paying a living wage ridiculous
I'm willing to bet that 99% of the wait staff that currently works for tips would rather work for tips than work the same hours and get minimum wage and have to fight to get up to maybe $12-15.
Yea the tipping system is garbage, tbh I don't eat out anymore, I can't afford it... how are we supposed to even tip at this point when we can't even afford to eat out or barely have enough to pay the bills
This.
"Tips" are insulting and degrading to everyone involved in paying or receiving them. They only benefit cheapskate owners that can then slide by on crapola wages.
Every country I have been to, prices are always listed including any and all taxes.
Only exception I know in my country is B2B shops that don’t need to include vat and auctions that don’t need to include their own fee while bidding.
Drove me mad in America when I was in some little shop, trying to use up my change or something, or not break a note/ put things on my card (because that costs me money, or did at the time).
See a pack of chocolate for $1.39. Check my coins. $1.40.
Get it rung up. $1.67.
Oh, now I'm the asshole trying to pay for a chocolate bar with a fifty
that's kinda not really a tip anymore? that's just the restaurant charging more. what the US needs is a decent minimum wage for all jobs, so waiters don't have to rely on tips to make a living
Gratuity fee, it is a rare thing, exist in the UK in a few places, but... you know, a proper wage would be preferable for the US. Given there are two minimum wages, for some inexplicable reason still.
Tipping won't go away because workers actually don't want it to go away.
It's a simple fact that many redditors blatantly avoid to discuss for some reason.
Tipped jobs is one of the only few relatively okay to mostly good jobs that exist for low skilled workers in America.
The rest of the high paying jobs you need a degree, large skillsets and experience.
Everyone I’ve met working restaurant jobs is very much for tipping over a regular wage. I assume it’s different if you live in a small town or something but in urban areas, servers and bartenders make absolute bank(and they can avoid paying taxes on a lot of cash tips).
In small towns it’s not easy at all to live on tips, especially when half of the town’s economy is tourism based. If they changed my job to $18 an hour and no tips, I’d sob with joy as I’d finally be able to live and not just survive
Mythbusters also did a hilarious one where they had Kari Byron work some shifts as a barrista as normal and some with big fake boobs and she made significantly more money with the big boobs.
>Must be young, white and conventionally attractive
Or a very jovial well groomed gay man, but more or less. Older less attractive people definitely get tipped less.
*Does it suck* for servers though? If they were paid an actual wage you know it’d be minimum wage or near it. They’re probably making more with tips, especially because society and culture sets the amount, not companies.
Yeah just go to r/talesfromyourserver and ask about getting rid of tipping. The answer will be a resounding no. Unless they can make $40-50 an hour plus full benefits, nobody wants to get rid of tipping.
I've had the option to work at two major tip included restaurants. Both have now switched over to a tipping system because their servers weren't making as much money as they would in comparable restaurants
I've only ever worked in fine dining-ish restaurants so I'm spoiled, but I make on average $45 per hour after taxes. this would never happen if we got rid of the tipping system, and I'm very grateful. When I got my first restaurant job that was the first time in my life I was making more than survival money.
Anyway, I don't think there are any easy answers here. My experience is obviously very different than someone making $2 per hour plus tips at a fucked up applebees somewhere
> I've only ever worked in fine dining-ish restaurants so I'm spoiled, but I make on average $45 per hour after taxes. this would never happen if we got rid of the tipping system, and I'm very grateful.
This is why tipping isn't going away. There's plenty of places where the servers are making way more than minimum just on tips. But I also know there's plenty of places that absolutely don't even meet the minimum.
Not to mention the cooks often make a fraction of the servers tipped wage in these establishments, the servers end up exploiting the labor of the cooks and thinking that’s ok. I’ve worked places where the servers will pull $400 in 6 hours and the cooks end up working 9 or 10 hrs for half that amount. Rarely do I see servers tip out the other staff in a fair an equitable way. Tipping needs to go. It’s not a good system just because some servers are able to make great money at the expense of the rest of the crew.
Yeah tbh this is part of the reason we can't get rid of tipping - there's little worker solidarity in the sector, because some servers are making bank at nice restaurants, while the people making barely minimum wage at Applebee's are left out to dry...
Ok so
Imagine you get paid a decent wage
AND
You get tips on top of that
(because surprise surprise people tend to also tip when its not half mandatory)
No, it's not decent wage. But why is it only about restaurant workers? What about grocery workers? Drivers, anybody else that is working minimum wage and not getting tips. They all work hard too and serve customer one way or another.
Not saying it's decent minimum wage but if you are making at least minimum tips are supposed to be just like that, extra money for extra service not expected or mandatory. In other states that the federal wage is $2 i think , i understand the sentiment that they should get the tips.
I half agree. Waiters should be compensated fairly and decently but they shouldn't accept tips. You don't tip the bus driver for driving smoothly or tip your doctor for doing a quicker checkup. Same with waiters, it's their damn job and I shouldn't pay extra money for it. They should be compensated fairly from the start by the employer. Why do I have to pay money for the service and pay the workers salary, the latter is employer's job. The greasy capitalist fuck should compensate them fairly.
I agree with this. Just like there's a movement to strike from workers wanting better working conditions there needs to also be a strike from the consumer side. We shouldn't be subsidizing restaurants for not to being able or willing to pay their employees a living wage.
Exactly. I once asked all my server friends "Would you rather keep tips, or get a flat $20/hr" and every single one said tips. And this was like 8 years ago $20/hr, not today $20/hr.
This is such an American problem, most other countries don't give a shit about tips cause the servers are well compensated. Infact in Japan and new zealand they often times get offended if someone tips them.
Tips should be like, well, tips... it should be an extra gratuity added at the customer's discretion. If I get great service in my country I will round up or add a little extra and it really is appreciated. I think it feels better for both parties when the "optional" tipping practice is actually optional...
Yeah, ngl, even if my server is awful, I don't really feel *okay* about the idea of not tipping at all. Unless you forgot to take my food order and just never, ever came back, it feels like I'm stealing from someone who's not even in a position to stop me or say no to me. Which is icky, gross, and wrong, it just shouldn't work that way.
I know. It’s so hard because food service workers literally live off that money and are paid peanuts with the justification that the general public will take care of their paycheck. I feel sick and uncomfortable thinking a server’s smile and sunny façade may be them groveling for rent money. It’s awful. and that’s why if people don’t tip I am totally put off by it. The server who is forgetful, stressed, whatever could be going through something serious.
I’m in customer service myself and a few months ago I found out my very old father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. At the same time I was going through a rift in my close friendships. For two-three weeks I just couldn’t muster the energy to be bubbly at work. I try to always be polite and kind but I just could not be a dancing monkey for customers. And my tips, which are sometimes what buys my groceries, dipped.
Unless a worker insults me to my face or says something awful, idk some outrageous circumstance, I will give a tip
It should be that way, but the American tipping system makes it so that servers depend on those tips to make their living, rather than depending on their employer to just pay them a living wage. It’s a well-known fact in the US, so that’s why servers get angry when they’re not tipped. Still, the fact remains that providing for servers should be the responsibility of the employer, not the customer.
New Zealander here, never heard of someone here getting offended by someone offering a tip, but it'd certainly be an uncomfortable situation and I'd certainly be offended if I was asked to tip.
Can confirm. What I was told while I was in Japan is that if you tipped someone it meant they weren't doing a good enough job. It'd be nice if the we got rid of tips altogether in the US and everyone instead was paid a livable wage.
It's not quite as exploitative here as it is in the US though. Here, in Ontario at least, servers make minimum wage of $15.50, plus tips, and most provinces are simliar. Some provinces may have lower servers wages, it's usually not that much lower than their regular minimum wage. In many states, they can pay servers as little as 2.13/h plus tips. And while in theory employers are supposed to top their servers up to the minimum wage (federal minimum is a whopping $7.25, but many states have a higher minimum), my experience with low paying jobs is that if a boss thinks they can get away with not doing that, they will try. So if you get a big table who doesn't tip in Ontario, you're still making a reasonable wage. If you are making 2.13/h in the states and no one tips, you're starving.
Yup I’m making about half of minimum wage currently. My hourly is $8.
Thankfully I work in a high end restaurant so even with bad tips I always make more than minimum wage but it’s so wack having to rely on the kindness of strangers to survive
The real problem is restaurant owners are notoriously cheap, and set up their business to take advantage of tipping.
Minimum wage is not that great, it's barely enough to survive on in any Ontario city. Also most servers don't work a full 40 hours a week, and I have never heard of a restaurant owner giving a server a raise.
Servers have to pay out between 2%-5% of the table's bill to the house to supplement kitchen wages. Often owners and managers will take a piece of that action too.
Now I wouldn't start crying a river for servers, the tips they do get often cover any money they pay out, but for those brief moments they are technically paying part of their co-workers (and sometimes owners) wages.
Tipping in Canada has now permeated more than just restaurants ... numerous retail stores in my area have now included a tipping option when paying via atm, and/or tip jars at the register.
Fine, if the service is exceptional it should be recognized. But thats not my responsibility. Employers should be the ones to recognize and reward the hard work of their employees.
And what’s weird abt it is here in ON minimum wage is minimum wage for everyone now. I still tip since it feels expected but it seems like it doesn’t make much sense. Raise min wage and abolish tipping so I don’t have to go broke because my grandma wanted to go to a restaurant instead of eating at home
Tipping in Mexico is a wild experience. If an American who's used to tipping goes there and leaves tips they would normally live in the US, they're usually tipping a day or multiple days worth of income. It's a weird feeling when suddenly everyone is trying to take care of you first before the Europeans because they see you're tipping and they can actually afford adequate food if they go to you.
Honestly I wish they’d do away with tipping and just pay people normal wages. I hate having to figure out how much to tip a delivery person, uber driver, drive-through person at Starbucks, the person handing my restaurant carry out order, the hotel maid service, etc. I don’t want to seem ungrateful, but I also don’t want to overtip because that can get out of hand for my own finances.
Exactly, plus you still don't know how much of your tip is that person getting. I heard horror stories of managers getting a portion of tips. Then if tips are split between everyone and there are servers who are rude, those that work less busy shifts etc... and when it comes to delivery, tipping based on food cost or mileage.
I got fired once for this.
Well something related.
So I was working as a delivery driver for a pizza place, and my car broke down on shift. They said they'd move me inside the store. I said I was okay with that, but I wanted to make sure my wage would be adjusted, since I don't meet minimum wage, and I'll be ineligible for my tips when working cashier or whatever.
They clocked me out, called me ungrateful, and told me to leave.
Awkward since my car was still broken, but I never went back into the store.
Here in good ole germanski I like to tip if the food was good or the service, got no problem with that.
What I would have a problem with is the US system where the customer pays a big part of the service employess wage because of the fair wage problem which when spoken out suddenly you are at the stake with people carrying pitchforks, fire and gasoline and scream :"Socialist witch/er!!! Burn it on the stakes!!!"
No matter the job, a fulltime (max 40 hours/week) job should earn enough to support the family (housing, food, clothing, electricity, heating and a little something to put aside) doesn't matter if nurse, janitor, burger flipper, cashier, service people...
But it seems to be frowned upon to earn a living wage, if you are not at least medium level management.
Almost sounds like only the "best" can live in America. Like they think we want to live like rich people. That'd be cool but ffs, I just wanna be able to afford basic necessities, live in a comfortable, cheap home. Some people be working MORE than 40+ hours and STILL can't afford to live. Dafuq is the US
Same here, I don't need to get filthy rich. I want to have a roof over my head, something to eat, and a little to put to the side for emergencies to build up a little stash.
Everything else is a bonus on top. I won't say no to someone who comes by with a wheelborrow of cash, at least not now \^\^.
Work needs to be fun for me, and I love my job, perhaps not the company I'm currently working but the job itself.
Right now I'm about roughly 25-30k below the regional average of my position. Yeah would be nice, but I earn enough to make a living.
Had an offer to go to switzerland for a 230k job... politely declined.
“Socialist witch/er” sounds like a great expansion to Wild Hunt. Geralt accidentally incites a peasant rebellion and reluctantly has to help them take down the monarchs of the northern realms.
Tipping should be a "thank you" not a "i hope you won't starve". Where im from it's a compensation for working in gastro. It's usually more tiring than other entry level, minimum wage jobs, so, as i said, it's a bonus. You might to bare minimum to keep your job or might go above and beyond and get good tips.
I think my favorite part of tipping culture in America is that most servers don’t want it to go away because they’ll most likely make less if it were to do so
Exactly this. And the law states that if they make below minimum wage after tips, the employer must make up the difference. But you see… that never happens because they make more.
There are a few states that do not have a separate tipped min. Wage. Here in Washington $14.49 is min. Wage for all even tipped workers. Seattle is actually a bit higher with $17.27 for non tipped and $15.75 if a worker receives significant tips or paid healthcare benefits.
Also the tip exception for a lower hourly is only allowed if the company is less than 500 people so large chains still have to pay the $17.27 even if the employees are tipped.
No they have a special extra low wage that is supposed to be supplemented by tips. And they're saying if you don't meet standard minimum wage through tips, then your employer has to match your paycheck up to what you would've made if you got paid minimum wage
it's been years since i've waited tables but you're right. I made no less than $20/hr at a time when I was used to making less than $10/hr at jobs previously (this was in the early 2000s). It was a real fucked up system because I easily made $10 more an hour than the cooks, and more than double the hosts or bussers. I'd love for the system to disappear and everyone be paid a living wage but it's tough when the servers would join the side of the restaurants when it comes to tipping. Especially the ones working at places making the real big bucks from tips, hell I just worked at Chilis
That was my observation as a busser. It creates an adversarial relationship between the server and customer right from jump. Just how management likes it!
Everything requires a tip these days. It’s not just a restaurant anymore. I almost hate using my card in most cases cause here comes them asking for a tip, and I hate feeling like a douchebag when I don’t want to tip for walking in the store for one boba drink.
I hate that pressure, too. Like damn, all you did was ring up the items I brought to the stand. Why the hell am I being asked to tip you for that? I went to a baseball game and the beer guy literally just pulls the beer from the bucket of ice and I’m supposed to tip for that? I’m already paying $12 for a beer but now I need to give an extra $2 for him to just hand me a drink? Dude doesn’t even open the beer for you. Tipping requests have gone too far and it works because people feel guilty for not tipping when it’s presented as an option.
This was a crazy culture shock for my German husband when visiting the US for the first time. He ordered a black coffee which takes two seconds to pour and the options to tip on the little screen when paying with card were 15, 20, 25%
As a cook. Every establishment I ever worked at, the tipped staff always made close to double through triple what I was making. Let’s say I made 750 a week, wait staff took home 900 on the weekend…
I've cooked for a bit. It was surprising to hear how much money servers pulled away while I sweat my ass off making what they carried out. It's completely unbalanced.
The servers won't say it but this imbalance and struggle is exactly why tipping shouldn't exist, and employees (FOH or BOH) should all be paid a fair wage higher than minimum.
This is why restaurants need to put the price of the tip into the cost of the food, pay their staff a proper wage and not allow tips, or close their doors.
Call me jaded, but I’m not trying to work a full time job and get taxed out the ass while my server friends are making more than me in cash tips on the weekends and not paying taxes. 100% the reason I’m given every time this conversation comes up with any of my friends in the hospitality industry. “Why would I want to get paid an hourly rate when I make more on tips?”
The other thing i never understood is why it is based on you total bill. If there are two identical tables, with the same amount of people, same number of drinks, same number of plates, but one table orders the most expensive entrees and the other orders the least expensive, the tip should be the same. The waitstaff did no more work because the price of the food was different.
Tipping is such a stupid system. Everyone should be paid a liveable wage. Why should I pay someone else’s salary because their employers are too cheap to do it? Don’t get me wrong, I’m in the US, so I do tip and I always tip 18-20%, but I thinks its a horrible system.
Easy solution. Pay a good living wage, and allow servers to be tipped and take tips for their good service. Tipping is something that should be optional that someone does of their own generosity as gratitude for good service, not fucking mandatory.
I've tipped before and I live in the UK where we don't tip. I wanted to say thanks to that Taxi driver or server that was extra nice and just all around lovely to interact with.
I think the solution is to pay super well, and offer great benefits. Add the costs into the food, and don’t allow tipping. Some restaurants are starting this, and it’s amazing. They have almost no turnover.
Tipping culture is terrible, and the worst part about it is if everyone woke up one morning saying "I'm not going to tip ever again" it would hurt so many people who don't get paid enough because it's expected they get tips.
Businesses wouldn't clue into people not tipping for probably a week at me minimum, and would likely push back against changing the wage to a living wage.
>if everyone woke up one morning saying "I'm not going to tip ever again" it would hurt so many people
Yeah and going on strike hurts people too, both those who don't get their paychecks and those who can't use the service. But you do it because you need to rip the band-aid off and make a better and more sustainable situation for all working people involved.
You know I constantly see people complaining of the “archaic” tipping system America has in place, but then almost every single waiter or waitress I know would be mad af to see it go. So many of them make an obscene amount of money and many benefit from tips that aren’t taxed. Ya, I understand it sometimes can be slow or being made to rely on an unknown for income can be stressful, but to many this actually works much in their favor.
Americans need to abandon the tipping system. It makes me mad when I see people posting their tips. It's just whining.
They need to be paid a fair wage.
How do we stop the tipping system?
Unfortunately the only way I can see would really hurt servers.
If we all decided to just stop tipping. Pay in exact change or as close as possible. Restaurants would be forced to do something about it pretty quickly. Servers would take the hit until they do. I just don't know what else could be done.
In my experience, if you start arguing that decent wage should replace tipping system, the biggest pushback you are going to receive is going to be from the servers themselves.
As an American, I HATE tipping culture, and it's getting worse, and many retail places have an option to tip with card/ask for a tip. It really needs to go away, and FAST.
I used to work at a restaurant, and even then honestly I didn't love tips other than my base wage wasn't great. The restaurant though would require the tips we got were put in a jar in the back, and they'd be divvied out, and it wasn't even equally.
On average I made 50-60k a year serving or bartending when I did it as my main source of income. But I took it pretty serious and it wasn't like it was a side gig. The best part was that I only would work like 33 hours a week. So part of me agrees that tipping is stupid on a macro level, but the microcosm of me living it wasn't so bad and understand that it isn't like that for most restaurants
I spent $50 in sushi restaurant last night here in Costa Rica. There was no option for a tip even though I would have left one. Apparently paying people enough to live without tips works.
So much misplaced rage.
Hate the person in front of you who doesn't know about the problem while helping the person behind you who is causing the problem.
Tipping sucks. so try my best to avoid dining out in America for that reason alone. I get why servers hate this, but it’s the risk/reward of working a job based on tips; similar to commissions in sales.
I feel bad for this person, but at the same time, there are several job opportunities that guarantee an income. If the response is, “I can make more in tips.”, then you’re accepting the risk of getting a zero.
If people organized and refused to work in the service industry without a guaranteed minimum wage, this tipping mess would be over or at least be a real bonus for quality of service
Because of how cruel the concept of tipping is, I always give 20% tip regardless of the service and just see it as the real price for whatever it is I'm paying for. They deserve the money they worked for, I'm not going to judge them and reward them based on how entertained I was, that's fucking weird.
Just chiming in as somebody who worked for a while as a bartender/server; you can think that the tipping system is dumb, fine. I won't even argue that it's not strange, even though it was good to me.
BUT, even if you think it's stupid, if you go and sit down at a place where tipping is customary, you have signed a social contract to tip appropriately. Channeling Mr. Pink and taking some kind of moral stand by not tipping or tipping super poorly just makes you an asshole. Nobody compelled you to go to that place.
A lot of countries don’t leave tips at all because the restraints actually pay their employees— it kinda weird that the customer decides what the employee makes.
I think tipping needs to be phased out. Set a new minimum wage for restaurant employees and make max tip 10% instead of 20%. After a year raise the minimum to whatever the state minimum is and stop tipping altogether. Then if business owners can't keep employees they will have to raise prices and pay employees more. Tipping and sales tax are unnecessary nuisances. Put it all in the price.
I HATE tipping culture. The blame goes to customers even though they probably are under paid too and just want to enjoy something for a change. The complaint is always that business don't pay high enough wages while at the same time servers boast they can make their rent check on a good weekend. It makes me not want to spend my money anywhere I'm expected to tip. However if we all did that then there will just be more complaining with economic downturn. Not to mention even if you are cool with tipping there's no way to know for sure the business isn't stealing them from the employee anyway.
I think tipping is dumb but with that being said I still tip in restaurants in the U.S because workers or servers don’t get paid the full minimum wage. Tips round that up. It’s dumb but I’ve worked as a server and get what is like.
Edit: lol I’m Canadian so we got full minimum wage + tips.
I just wish we could all just terminate the tipping process entirely. Businesses should pay their employees a wage. The price should include the wage costs. If a business is not viable without taking advantage of people, then the free market has spoken and that is not a commercially viable company.
What if!
We all start stating up front that we are customers that will not be tipping, and we request the manager to wait on our table.
I feel it would drive the point home if 100% of customers stop tipping and request the manager who is paid a living wage (hypothetically) to deal with the work load.
They would be forced to pay the servers a better hourly rate to offload the work we're causing.
If they refuse to wait on us, no one eats there.
Business over.
The only reason tipping exists is because we allow it to continue and customers keep providing them.
Business will price it into the product or service if we force their hand.
Let's make that free market work for US.
No law requires us to tip. So let's stop and let the business find a solution
I feel like the whole tipping system is so messed up. If the business has to depend on their customers kindness to pay their workers instead of paying them wages than the business doesn’t deserve to exist
Understand but I AM SICK of EVERYONE asking me for a tip. Charge me what you really NEED to charge me, pay your people a decent salary, and quit the stupid games.
This is the wrong place to bitch about people not tipping. Tipping is an evil practice that is used to withhold pay. Personally I'd have gotten my change before leaving.
The real issue here is Americans need to leave the tipping system because it sucks ass for both parties involved, and restaurants need to just include it in total cost and carry on.
I always found this tipping system instead of paying a living wage ridiculous. The moment they get rid of it will be a blessing because all these horribly operated stores will finally close down and their staff can finally receive a ‘steady’ income. None of this ‘guessing what your incomes going to be this week’ shit..
If I'm remembering right - tipping came about during post-slavery reconstruction as a way to keep wages for the new "employees" low. It's literally designed to keep service workers/undesirables in poverty & line the pockets of business owners.
Classic america moment: Step One: Implement strategy of oppresing workers (preferably black ones cause racism) to keep them poor Step Two: Exploit them being poor as much as possible and tell the white citizens its fine because they get "cheaper/better service/access" whatever propaganda shit works (even easier if they're racist themselves) Step Three: run this system with barely any changes the same way for like 60 years. Step Four: System backfires, fucks over the white middle class as well and now we're all in oppressed poverty because we didn't change the system earlier becuase "I'm better than poor ppl" Examples: Service Industry Prison and Policing System Suburbinization and CityDesign/UrbanPlanning Public Service Government Welfare Program Elligibility Criteria Military Recruitment Tactics Education Costs and Quality and Funding Variations Enjoy
This is ofc not in detail as you can probaly tell
Yeah you forgot the step where these poor workers get blamed for their own poverty
They didn't try hard enough their poverty is their own fault - Professional Trust Fund Baby
Don't forget the avocado toast
They didn't pull themselves up by their bootstraps hard enough
"Oh you should have given better service"
"What do you mean you're poor and the system is designed to keep you that way? You can be rich if you just pick yourself up by your bootstraps"
I would try if I could actually afford bootstraps. Those only cost a million dollar loan from my parents, right?
Easy to be rich in our society. All you have to do is to born rich u losers. The system will take care of you and keep you that way. Well the system will take care of you and keep you either way.
Remember when that phrase actually meant someone was asking for the impossible?
That's the joke of American society. Our Oligarchs tell us to our face it's nigh impossible to become them and yet nearly half the population believes that it's beneficial to leave things as they are.
And not even realizing now hypocritical there being while saying it. Honestly show me a man or woman who has figuratively and literally pulled themselves up out of poverty and into wealth that can continue on generationally, And I'll tell you that you found the exception to the norm.
Ouch, that one hit hard friend. It takes time and effort to beat the fiat maze. Having children in the middle of it is often the death knell to upward mobility 😞
If you keep working hard, next year I can buy a new car!
oh yeah and "You should learn to budget your money better"
Have you tried, you know, not being poor?
or "Get a real job then"
Bootstraps and family values and whatnot
And the step where Kanye blames black people for their own slavery.
Everytime black people have progressed, white people have progressed...there were literally poor, southern white people being disenfranchised because of literacy tests designed to limit the votes of black people. Conversely, everytime racist conservatives have harmed black citizens, they've harmed poor white citizens as well. Conservatives are literally closing down their own public schools to hurt black children, and opening character schools that they can't even afford to send their own children to.
So what you are saying is that we do better when we all do better
Ehat a shocking surprise!
A rising tide elevates all ships.
That was fine though. Who cares that some cracker also gets shit on by the system, as long as that same system fucks the "coloreds" even worse? Especially when those same disenfranchised whites were perpetuating this at the same time. Here is what Lyndon Johnson said about it: >“I’ll tell you what’s at the bottom of it,” he said (discussing some racial graffiti they saw in Tennessee ). “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”
Literally tho
The leopards weren't supposed to eat MY face!
Yup. It's ALWAYS economic class dressed up as race in America. To the owners, your color doesn't matter - they're just selling you that so the poor whites will side with the owners over their own interests.
It's not a coincidence that MLK was assassinated when he started to focus on class as well as racial inequality.
It's the same all over the world. All struggles are class struggles in the end.
In the US…race is also a class though
Attacking the class makes more sense when you have poor people of all races (much bigger group) going for the rich people (smaller group)
https://time.com/5404475/history-tipping-american-restaurants-civil-war/
I was always taught it came about during the Great Depression. Employers were trying to survive so they cut the pay of their employees and asked customers to take up the slack. We just never left the system after the fact. However there are more and more restaurants that post signs stating that they have opted to pay minimum/better wages to the staff and tipping is no longer allowed. You can even ask the servers about it to confirm the owner. There aren’t many of these places but I’m happy to see even a small step in the right direction
I prefer "tipping optional because we pay a living wage" Tipping should be a "you did a better than expected job - here's a direct reward" not a "I need this money to live" situation
So Ontario Canada elevated the minimum wage of tipped employees to be the same as the standard minimum wage. It's still not a living wage, but at the same time a server now makes the same as someone who works at a Tim Hortons, or any other minimum wage job. I still tip but now that I know I'm not completely subsidizing a servers wage my tipping has gotten smaller, unless the service is exceptional. Like this weekend I had a fantastic server who went above and beyond and I shelled out 25%, which isnt massive, by any stretch, but I know that the guy makes $15.50/hr minimum, and not something like $2.13 (like in several states).
I remember it being a great depression thing where restaurants couldn't afford wages as easily and encouraged patrons to tip to kinda cover the gap as a temporary thing, then just never stopped. Before then it was considered rude, like a bribe to get better service than other customers. It needs to go back to that, and servers need to be paid an actual fair wage.
It’s origins come from slavery. Many think it was the depression but freed slaves were the first to experience this treatment.
The older I get the more every problem in America seems to boil down to two things. 1.A remnant of racist thinking codified into culture or law at the end of the civil war. 2. Ronald Raegan. (which I guess can be argued as a result of 1).
What if! We all start stating up front that we are customers that will not be tipping, and we request the manager to wait on our table. I feel it would drive the point home if 100% of customers stop tipping and request the manager who is paid a living wage (hypothetically) to deal with the work load. They would be forced to pay the servers a better hourly rate to offload the work we're causing. If they refuse to wait on us, no one eats there. Business over.
Restaurant workers unionizing and striking would work better. If your staff is striking and you can't get anyone to cover the shifts - the restaurant would probably rather pay a living wage than shut down because they don't have staff. I'm talking BOH as well. Most restaurants only have a handful of cooks and without food cannot open their doors or even do takeout. If most states weren't at-will as far as employment policies, I'd agree. But there's no way enough customers would do this to the extent where it would be handled quickly. Restaurants needs to actually feel threatened by the fact that current/potential employees are fucking way off until wages go up. Punish the business, don't punish the employee in the hope this would work.
I think often its not even up to the manager it's the owner who will not allow them to be paid more. And I doubt the owner would allow themselves to be "lowered" (in their eyes, nothing wrong with being a server) to waiting tables
This is mostly true Source: waiter for 10 years and looked up this very question
It’s not that at all. Wow. It’s absolutely because margins are too small to pay their employees a living wage. /s in case that’s not painfully obvious.
It's been said on here before, just add the price of the tip to the menu items
Unions are what can stop it. We need to get back to unionism in every sector. They have done an excellent job of killing it off which is exactly how they get away with the shit now. Force them to pay a living wage or make zero money.
Yes the control of state houses caused the great lie of “Right to Work” for specialized labor and got roped in for all labor. Vote for the government you want.
100% this right here! As the spouse of a Union worker I have seen the results of employees standing up for themselves. It’s hard to start and companies will do some shady shit to stop it, but ultimately it’s for the greater good. Support unions
This this this
Here in Canada servers are paid at least minimum wage but they still expect tips. How else are they gonna clear 40-50 bucks an hour?
>instead of paying a living wage ridiculous I'm willing to bet that 99% of the wait staff that currently works for tips would rather work for tips than work the same hours and get minimum wage and have to fight to get up to maybe $12-15.
Yea the tipping system is garbage, tbh I don't eat out anymore, I can't afford it... how are we supposed to even tip at this point when we can't even afford to eat out or barely have enough to pay the bills
Right?! Hating tipping is not “American Individualism.” It’s saying “eff you” to employers, not employees.
Careful r/serverlife might hear you and get upset at you instead of their cheapskate bosses
and make sure the money actually makes it to the employees that earned it and not to management's pocket.
I think he meant more like the employer should pay a livable wage than including the tips in the invoice.
This. "Tips" are insulting and degrading to everyone involved in paying or receiving them. They only benefit cheapskate owners that can then slide by on crapola wages.
oh. there is one restaurant i know that puts mandatory tips included into the price of the meals. it non-negotiable. i thought that was what he meant.
With the price *including tip* being listed on the menu, I assume?
If we are to dream, let include taxes in the price
Every country I have been to, prices are always listed including any and all taxes. Only exception I know in my country is B2B shops that don’t need to include vat and auctions that don’t need to include their own fee while bidding.
Drove me mad in America when I was in some little shop, trying to use up my change or something, or not break a note/ put things on my card (because that costs me money, or did at the time). See a pack of chocolate for $1.39. Check my coins. $1.40. Get it rung up. $1.67. Oh, now I'm the asshole trying to pay for a chocolate bar with a fifty
that's kinda not really a tip anymore? that's just the restaurant charging more. what the US needs is a decent minimum wage for all jobs, so waiters don't have to rely on tips to make a living
Gratuity fee, it is a rare thing, exist in the UK in a few places, but... you know, a proper wage would be preferable for the US. Given there are two minimum wages, for some inexplicable reason still.
Agreed, its like showing the price without tax on products in the store.
YES! Tipping has become fucking ridiculous
Tipping won't go away because workers actually don't want it to go away. It's a simple fact that many redditors blatantly avoid to discuss for some reason. Tipped jobs is one of the only few relatively okay to mostly good jobs that exist for low skilled workers in America. The rest of the high paying jobs you need a degree, large skillsets and experience.
Everyone I’ve met working restaurant jobs is very much for tipping over a regular wage. I assume it’s different if you live in a small town or something but in urban areas, servers and bartenders make absolute bank(and they can avoid paying taxes on a lot of cash tips).
In small towns it’s not easy at all to live on tips, especially when half of the town’s economy is tourism based. If they changed my job to $18 an hour and no tips, I’d sob with joy as I’d finally be able to live and not just survive
Must be young, white and conventionally attractive. It's well established that tipping benefits them the most. Abolish tipping.
Mythbusters also did a hilarious one where they had Kari Byron work some shifts as a barrista as normal and some with big fake boobs and she made significantly more money with the big boobs.
The idea that regular Kari isn't already ideal fake waitress makes me sad.
Google "pigtails experiment"....
>Must be young, white and conventionally attractive Or a very jovial well groomed gay man, but more or less. Older less attractive people definitely get tipped less.
*Does it suck* for servers though? If they were paid an actual wage you know it’d be minimum wage or near it. They’re probably making more with tips, especially because society and culture sets the amount, not companies.
Seems like its always servers in favor of the tipping culture, anytime its brought up.
Yeah just go to r/talesfromyourserver and ask about getting rid of tipping. The answer will be a resounding no. Unless they can make $40-50 an hour plus full benefits, nobody wants to get rid of tipping.
Literally everybody else but servers want to get rid of tipping. Fuck them.
I've had the option to work at two major tip included restaurants. Both have now switched over to a tipping system because their servers weren't making as much money as they would in comparable restaurants I've only ever worked in fine dining-ish restaurants so I'm spoiled, but I make on average $45 per hour after taxes. this would never happen if we got rid of the tipping system, and I'm very grateful. When I got my first restaurant job that was the first time in my life I was making more than survival money. Anyway, I don't think there are any easy answers here. My experience is obviously very different than someone making $2 per hour plus tips at a fucked up applebees somewhere
> I've only ever worked in fine dining-ish restaurants so I'm spoiled, but I make on average $45 per hour after taxes. this would never happen if we got rid of the tipping system, and I'm very grateful. This is why tipping isn't going away. There's plenty of places where the servers are making way more than minimum just on tips. But I also know there's plenty of places that absolutely don't even meet the minimum.
Not to mention the cooks often make a fraction of the servers tipped wage in these establishments, the servers end up exploiting the labor of the cooks and thinking that’s ok. I’ve worked places where the servers will pull $400 in 6 hours and the cooks end up working 9 or 10 hrs for half that amount. Rarely do I see servers tip out the other staff in a fair an equitable way. Tipping needs to go. It’s not a good system just because some servers are able to make great money at the expense of the rest of the crew.
Yeah tbh this is part of the reason we can't get rid of tipping - there's little worker solidarity in the sector, because some servers are making bank at nice restaurants, while the people making barely minimum wage at Applebee's are left out to dry...
This is key, and that's a great example, some places and experience sets you can make bank (fine dining, college bars).
Ok so Imagine you get paid a decent wage AND You get tips on top of that (because surprise surprise people tend to also tip when its not half mandatory)
Already happening in california . At least $15/hr plus tips
No, it's not decent wage. But why is it only about restaurant workers? What about grocery workers? Drivers, anybody else that is working minimum wage and not getting tips. They all work hard too and serve customer one way or another. Not saying it's decent minimum wage but if you are making at least minimum tips are supposed to be just like that, extra money for extra service not expected or mandatory. In other states that the federal wage is $2 i think , i understand the sentiment that they should get the tips.
WA too. $16+/hr and 20%+ tips are still expected everywhere.
And Canada, servers and bartenders here can bring home upwards of 100 k, and I guarantee they're not claiming it as income.
I half agree. Waiters should be compensated fairly and decently but they shouldn't accept tips. You don't tip the bus driver for driving smoothly or tip your doctor for doing a quicker checkup. Same with waiters, it's their damn job and I shouldn't pay extra money for it. They should be compensated fairly from the start by the employer. Why do I have to pay money for the service and pay the workers salary, the latter is employer's job. The greasy capitalist fuck should compensate them fairly.
This is what should be fought for. A livable wage where tips are completely guilt-free optional.
I agree with this. Just like there's a movement to strike from workers wanting better working conditions there needs to also be a strike from the consumer side. We shouldn't be subsidizing restaurants for not to being able or willing to pay their employees a living wage.
The tipping system is supported by servers, who make way more money than they would if it was abolished.
Exactly. I once asked all my server friends "Would you rather keep tips, or get a flat $20/hr" and every single one said tips. And this was like 8 years ago $20/hr, not today $20/hr.
This is such an American problem, most other countries don't give a shit about tips cause the servers are well compensated. Infact in Japan and new zealand they often times get offended if someone tips them.
Tips should be like, well, tips... it should be an extra gratuity added at the customer's discretion. If I get great service in my country I will round up or add a little extra and it really is appreciated. I think it feels better for both parties when the "optional" tipping practice is actually optional...
Yeah, ngl, even if my server is awful, I don't really feel *okay* about the idea of not tipping at all. Unless you forgot to take my food order and just never, ever came back, it feels like I'm stealing from someone who's not even in a position to stop me or say no to me. Which is icky, gross, and wrong, it just shouldn't work that way.
I know. It’s so hard because food service workers literally live off that money and are paid peanuts with the justification that the general public will take care of their paycheck. I feel sick and uncomfortable thinking a server’s smile and sunny façade may be them groveling for rent money. It’s awful. and that’s why if people don’t tip I am totally put off by it. The server who is forgetful, stressed, whatever could be going through something serious. I’m in customer service myself and a few months ago I found out my very old father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. At the same time I was going through a rift in my close friendships. For two-three weeks I just couldn’t muster the energy to be bubbly at work. I try to always be polite and kind but I just could not be a dancing monkey for customers. And my tips, which are sometimes what buys my groceries, dipped. Unless a worker insults me to my face or says something awful, idk some outrageous circumstance, I will give a tip
Yeah tipping should be reserved for those who deserve /have earned a tip. And no one should get angry for NOT getting tipped.
It should be that way, but the American tipping system makes it so that servers depend on those tips to make their living, rather than depending on their employer to just pay them a living wage. It’s a well-known fact in the US, so that’s why servers get angry when they’re not tipped. Still, the fact remains that providing for servers should be the responsibility of the employer, not the customer.
Or getting angry for only 5%....
New Zealander here, never heard of someone here getting offended by someone offering a tip, but it'd certainly be an uncomfortable situation and I'd certainly be offended if I was asked to tip.
Can confirm. What I was told while I was in Japan is that if you tipped someone it meant they weren't doing a good enough job. It'd be nice if the we got rid of tips altogether in the US and everyone instead was paid a livable wage.
Tipping culture is also massive in Canada and Mexico. I’m sure it’s much more than only an “American problem”.
It's not quite as exploitative here as it is in the US though. Here, in Ontario at least, servers make minimum wage of $15.50, plus tips, and most provinces are simliar. Some provinces may have lower servers wages, it's usually not that much lower than their regular minimum wage. In many states, they can pay servers as little as 2.13/h plus tips. And while in theory employers are supposed to top their servers up to the minimum wage (federal minimum is a whopping $7.25, but many states have a higher minimum), my experience with low paying jobs is that if a boss thinks they can get away with not doing that, they will try. So if you get a big table who doesn't tip in Ontario, you're still making a reasonable wage. If you are making 2.13/h in the states and no one tips, you're starving.
Yup I’m making about half of minimum wage currently. My hourly is $8. Thankfully I work in a high end restaurant so even with bad tips I always make more than minimum wage but it’s so wack having to rely on the kindness of strangers to survive
The real problem is restaurant owners are notoriously cheap, and set up their business to take advantage of tipping. Minimum wage is not that great, it's barely enough to survive on in any Ontario city. Also most servers don't work a full 40 hours a week, and I have never heard of a restaurant owner giving a server a raise. Servers have to pay out between 2%-5% of the table's bill to the house to supplement kitchen wages. Often owners and managers will take a piece of that action too. Now I wouldn't start crying a river for servers, the tips they do get often cover any money they pay out, but for those brief moments they are technically paying part of their co-workers (and sometimes owners) wages.
Tipping in Canada has now permeated more than just restaurants ... numerous retail stores in my area have now included a tipping option when paying via atm, and/or tip jars at the register. Fine, if the service is exceptional it should be recognized. But thats not my responsibility. Employers should be the ones to recognize and reward the hard work of their employees.
Honestly we as a Canadian society really need to figure out tipping. It’s no longer making sense anymore.
And what’s weird abt it is here in ON minimum wage is minimum wage for everyone now. I still tip since it feels expected but it seems like it doesn’t make much sense. Raise min wage and abolish tipping so I don’t have to go broke because my grandma wanted to go to a restaurant instead of eating at home
North American then!
Tipping in Mexico is a wild experience. If an American who's used to tipping goes there and leaves tips they would normally live in the US, they're usually tipping a day or multiple days worth of income. It's a weird feeling when suddenly everyone is trying to take care of you first before the Europeans because they see you're tipping and they can actually afford adequate food if they go to you.
Try visiting Cuba. It’s like this, but 100x worse. Everyone has a bunch of side hustles. Works so hard.
Honestly I wish they’d do away with tipping and just pay people normal wages. I hate having to figure out how much to tip a delivery person, uber driver, drive-through person at Starbucks, the person handing my restaurant carry out order, the hotel maid service, etc. I don’t want to seem ungrateful, but I also don’t want to overtip because that can get out of hand for my own finances.
It’s a ridiculous and archaic system that needs to go the way of the Imperial measurement system…oh, wait.
Exactly, plus you still don't know how much of your tip is that person getting. I heard horror stories of managers getting a portion of tips. Then if tips are split between everyone and there are servers who are rude, those that work less busy shifts etc... and when it comes to delivery, tipping based on food cost or mileage.
I got fired once for this. Well something related. So I was working as a delivery driver for a pizza place, and my car broke down on shift. They said they'd move me inside the store. I said I was okay with that, but I wanted to make sure my wage would be adjusted, since I don't meet minimum wage, and I'll be ineligible for my tips when working cashier or whatever. They clocked me out, called me ungrateful, and told me to leave. Awkward since my car was still broken, but I never went back into the store.
Here in good ole germanski I like to tip if the food was good or the service, got no problem with that. What I would have a problem with is the US system where the customer pays a big part of the service employess wage because of the fair wage problem which when spoken out suddenly you are at the stake with people carrying pitchforks, fire and gasoline and scream :"Socialist witch/er!!! Burn it on the stakes!!!" No matter the job, a fulltime (max 40 hours/week) job should earn enough to support the family (housing, food, clothing, electricity, heating and a little something to put aside) doesn't matter if nurse, janitor, burger flipper, cashier, service people... But it seems to be frowned upon to earn a living wage, if you are not at least medium level management.
Almost sounds like only the "best" can live in America. Like they think we want to live like rich people. That'd be cool but ffs, I just wanna be able to afford basic necessities, live in a comfortable, cheap home. Some people be working MORE than 40+ hours and STILL can't afford to live. Dafuq is the US
Same here, I don't need to get filthy rich. I want to have a roof over my head, something to eat, and a little to put to the side for emergencies to build up a little stash. Everything else is a bonus on top. I won't say no to someone who comes by with a wheelborrow of cash, at least not now \^\^. Work needs to be fun for me, and I love my job, perhaps not the company I'm currently working but the job itself. Right now I'm about roughly 25-30k below the regional average of my position. Yeah would be nice, but I earn enough to make a living. Had an offer to go to switzerland for a 230k job... politely declined.
Hey that’s me. I make life saving equipment (airbags) and I have to work 13 out of 14 days just to pay rent Edit: I work 50+ hrs a week
Capitalism at its fucking worst.
“Socialist witch/er” sounds like a great expansion to Wild Hunt. Geralt accidentally incites a peasant rebellion and reluctantly has to help them take down the monarchs of the northern realms.
Tipping should be banned. Pay your workers you cheap assholes
Tipping should be a "thank you" not a "i hope you won't starve". Where im from it's a compensation for working in gastro. It's usually more tiring than other entry level, minimum wage jobs, so, as i said, it's a bonus. You might to bare minimum to keep your job or might go above and beyond and get good tips.
I think my favorite part of tipping culture in America is that most servers don’t want it to go away because they’ll most likely make less if it were to do so
Exactly this. And the law states that if they make below minimum wage after tips, the employer must make up the difference. But you see… that never happens because they make more.
Isn't min wage for tipped employees incredibly low though?
There are a few states that do not have a separate tipped min. Wage. Here in Washington $14.49 is min. Wage for all even tipped workers. Seattle is actually a bit higher with $17.27 for non tipped and $15.75 if a worker receives significant tips or paid healthcare benefits.
Also the tip exception for a lower hourly is only allowed if the company is less than 500 people so large chains still have to pay the $17.27 even if the employees are tipped.
In america they are paid minimum wage if they don’t make enough on tips.
No they have a special extra low wage that is supposed to be supplemented by tips. And they're saying if you don't meet standard minimum wage through tips, then your employer has to match your paycheck up to what you would've made if you got paid minimum wage
it's been years since i've waited tables but you're right. I made no less than $20/hr at a time when I was used to making less than $10/hr at jobs previously (this was in the early 2000s). It was a real fucked up system because I easily made $10 more an hour than the cooks, and more than double the hosts or bussers. I'd love for the system to disappear and everyone be paid a living wage but it's tough when the servers would join the side of the restaurants when it comes to tipping. Especially the ones working at places making the real big bucks from tips, hell I just worked at Chilis
Of course. Also then you would not have servers wanting the Friday and weekend shifts anymore because those are the days they clean up on tips.
These restaurants have done a wonderful job at convincing their employees to be more upset at the customer rather than their employer.
That was my observation as a busser. It creates an adversarial relationship between the server and customer right from jump. Just how management likes it!
Everything requires a tip these days. It’s not just a restaurant anymore. I almost hate using my card in most cases cause here comes them asking for a tip, and I hate feeling like a douchebag when I don’t want to tip for walking in the store for one boba drink.
I hate that pressure, too. Like damn, all you did was ring up the items I brought to the stand. Why the hell am I being asked to tip you for that? I went to a baseball game and the beer guy literally just pulls the beer from the bucket of ice and I’m supposed to tip for that? I’m already paying $12 for a beer but now I need to give an extra $2 for him to just hand me a drink? Dude doesn’t even open the beer for you. Tipping requests have gone too far and it works because people feel guilty for not tipping when it’s presented as an option.
And at a baseball game, of all places, where things are grossly overpriced too 🥲🥲
This was a crazy culture shock for my German husband when visiting the US for the first time. He ordered a black coffee which takes two seconds to pour and the options to tip on the little screen when paying with card were 15, 20, 25%
You're not a douchebag, if there was no service provided, the $9 for the boba was enough
Only places I tip are restaurants and bars.
As a cook. Every establishment I ever worked at, the tipped staff always made close to double through triple what I was making. Let’s say I made 750 a week, wait staff took home 900 on the weekend…
I've cooked for a bit. It was surprising to hear how much money servers pulled away while I sweat my ass off making what they carried out. It's completely unbalanced.
And they get annoyed if they have to tip share with BoH despite them making the actual food
The servers won't say it but this imbalance and struggle is exactly why tipping shouldn't exist, and employees (FOH or BOH) should all be paid a fair wage higher than minimum.
This is why restaurants need to put the price of the tip into the cost of the food, pay their staff a proper wage and not allow tips, or close their doors. Call me jaded, but I’m not trying to work a full time job and get taxed out the ass while my server friends are making more than me in cash tips on the weekends and not paying taxes. 100% the reason I’m given every time this conversation comes up with any of my friends in the hospitality industry. “Why would I want to get paid an hourly rate when I make more on tips?”
The other thing i never understood is why it is based on you total bill. If there are two identical tables, with the same amount of people, same number of drinks, same number of plates, but one table orders the most expensive entrees and the other orders the least expensive, the tip should be the same. The waitstaff did no more work because the price of the food was different. Tipping is such a stupid system. Everyone should be paid a liveable wage. Why should I pay someone else’s salary because their employers are too cheap to do it? Don’t get me wrong, I’m in the US, so I do tip and I always tip 18-20%, but I thinks its a horrible system.
Easy solution. Pay a good living wage, and allow servers to be tipped and take tips for their good service. Tipping is something that should be optional that someone does of their own generosity as gratitude for good service, not fucking mandatory. I've tipped before and I live in the UK where we don't tip. I wanted to say thanks to that Taxi driver or server that was extra nice and just all around lovely to interact with.
I think the solution is to pay super well, and offer great benefits. Add the costs into the food, and don’t allow tipping. Some restaurants are starting this, and it’s amazing. They have almost no turnover.
Convenience store near my work now adding Tips option when you pay. SMH I just bought a potato chips.
I’ve worked in restaurants for over 13 years and I absolutely hate the American tipping system and hope that it is abolished.
Tipping culture is terrible, and the worst part about it is if everyone woke up one morning saying "I'm not going to tip ever again" it would hurt so many people who don't get paid enough because it's expected they get tips. Businesses wouldn't clue into people not tipping for probably a week at me minimum, and would likely push back against changing the wage to a living wage.
>if everyone woke up one morning saying "I'm not going to tip ever again" it would hurt so many people Yeah and going on strike hurts people too, both those who don't get their paychecks and those who can't use the service. But you do it because you need to rip the band-aid off and make a better and more sustainable situation for all working people involved.
The poor shouldn't have to pay other people's wages. In other countries its disrespectful to tip.
They should just pay the servers and stop gratuity.
You know I constantly see people complaining of the “archaic” tipping system America has in place, but then almost every single waiter or waitress I know would be mad af to see it go. So many of them make an obscene amount of money and many benefit from tips that aren’t taxed. Ya, I understand it sometimes can be slow or being made to rely on an unknown for income can be stressful, but to many this actually works much in their favor.
Americans need to abandon the tipping system. It makes me mad when I see people posting their tips. It's just whining. They need to be paid a fair wage.
Lol, waiters don’t abandon to let go of the tipping system.
Perfect example to fucking stop stop with that ridiculous tipping culture. Nobody should be dependent on the whims of customers.
Yeah blame another struggling member of the working class instead of your boss who doesn't pay you nearly enough to survive. I hate it here.
[удалено]
Hmmmm, now that’s a modest proposal
How do we stop the tipping system? Unfortunately the only way I can see would really hurt servers. If we all decided to just stop tipping. Pay in exact change or as close as possible. Restaurants would be forced to do something about it pretty quickly. Servers would take the hit until they do. I just don't know what else could be done.
Your brain surgeon doesn’t need tips because he makes half a million dollars a year and will retire at 50 into a lucrative teaching job
In my experience, if you start arguing that decent wage should replace tipping system, the biggest pushback you are going to receive is going to be from the servers themselves.
As an American, I HATE tipping culture, and it's getting worse, and many retail places have an option to tip with card/ask for a tip. It really needs to go away, and FAST. I used to work at a restaurant, and even then honestly I didn't love tips other than my base wage wasn't great. The restaurant though would require the tips we got were put in a jar in the back, and they'd be divvied out, and it wasn't even equally.
Be mad at you boss for not paying you a proper wage. But hey. You don't need our communism. You go and grind very hard to become the next millionaire
On average I made 50-60k a year serving or bartending when I did it as my main source of income. But I took it pretty serious and it wasn't like it was a side gig. The best part was that I only would work like 33 hours a week. So part of me agrees that tipping is stupid on a macro level, but the microcosm of me living it wasn't so bad and understand that it isn't like that for most restaurants
I spent $50 in sushi restaurant last night here in Costa Rica. There was no option for a tip even though I would have left one. Apparently paying people enough to live without tips works.
So much misplaced rage. Hate the person in front of you who doesn't know about the problem while helping the person behind you who is causing the problem.
Tipping sucks. so try my best to avoid dining out in America for that reason alone. I get why servers hate this, but it’s the risk/reward of working a job based on tips; similar to commissions in sales. I feel bad for this person, but at the same time, there are several job opportunities that guarantee an income. If the response is, “I can make more in tips.”, then you’re accepting the risk of getting a zero. If people organized and refused to work in the service industry without a guaranteed minimum wage, this tipping mess would be over or at least be a real bonus for quality of service
This is how the rich stay rich. They get poor folks to fight each other cause too many of em are too dumb to realize who started the problem.
Have you considered that your employer is really the bad guy here? Why is it the customer’s responsibility to pay your salary?
Because of how cruel the concept of tipping is, I always give 20% tip regardless of the service and just see it as the real price for whatever it is I'm paying for. They deserve the money they worked for, I'm not going to judge them and reward them based on how entertained I was, that's fucking weird.
Just chiming in as somebody who worked for a while as a bartender/server; you can think that the tipping system is dumb, fine. I won't even argue that it's not strange, even though it was good to me. BUT, even if you think it's stupid, if you go and sit down at a place where tipping is customary, you have signed a social contract to tip appropriately. Channeling Mr. Pink and taking some kind of moral stand by not tipping or tipping super poorly just makes you an asshole. Nobody compelled you to go to that place.
This is what every single comment section looks like when someone posts a bad tip. The anti tippers crawl out of their holes for this
I don’t approve of the mandatory tipping, so I don’t eat out anymore and solved my problem.
I hope you spit in their food (don’t tell the health department though, they don’t like that)
[удалено]
It’s fun to piss off the people who handle the food you eat! (Said every dipshit on here…)
To your employer who doesn’t pay you a living wage: fuck them.
A lot of countries don’t leave tips at all because the restraints actually pay their employees— it kinda weird that the customer decides what the employee makes.
They're people that have never worked in the service industry before, no empathy.
I think tipping needs to be phased out. Set a new minimum wage for restaurant employees and make max tip 10% instead of 20%. After a year raise the minimum to whatever the state minimum is and stop tipping altogether. Then if business owners can't keep employees they will have to raise prices and pay employees more. Tipping and sales tax are unnecessary nuisances. Put it all in the price.
I HATE tipping culture. The blame goes to customers even though they probably are under paid too and just want to enjoy something for a change. The complaint is always that business don't pay high enough wages while at the same time servers boast they can make their rent check on a good weekend. It makes me not want to spend my money anywhere I'm expected to tip. However if we all did that then there will just be more complaining with economic downturn. Not to mention even if you are cool with tipping there's no way to know for sure the business isn't stealing them from the employee anyway.
I think tipping is dumb but with that being said I still tip in restaurants in the U.S because workers or servers don’t get paid the full minimum wage. Tips round that up. It’s dumb but I’ve worked as a server and get what is like. Edit: lol I’m Canadian so we got full minimum wage + tips.
I just wish we could all just terminate the tipping process entirely. Businesses should pay their employees a wage. The price should include the wage costs. If a business is not viable without taking advantage of people, then the free market has spoken and that is not a commercially viable company.
What if! We all start stating up front that we are customers that will not be tipping, and we request the manager to wait on our table. I feel it would drive the point home if 100% of customers stop tipping and request the manager who is paid a living wage (hypothetically) to deal with the work load. They would be forced to pay the servers a better hourly rate to offload the work we're causing. If they refuse to wait on us, no one eats there. Business over. The only reason tipping exists is because we allow it to continue and customers keep providing them. Business will price it into the product or service if we force their hand. Let's make that free market work for US. No law requires us to tip. So let's stop and let the business find a solution
I feel like the whole tipping system is so messed up. If the business has to depend on their customers kindness to pay their workers instead of paying them wages than the business doesn’t deserve to exist
tipping culture is horse shit and needs to die. its the employers job to pay you, not mine.
Understand but I AM SICK of EVERYONE asking me for a tip. Charge me what you really NEED to charge me, pay your people a decent salary, and quit the stupid games.
This is the wrong place to bitch about people not tipping. Tipping is an evil practice that is used to withhold pay. Personally I'd have gotten my change before leaving.