It never fails to shock me how a tip is demanded in the US. People simply refuse to listen to reason when we (yes, there are others!) tell them that leaving a tip isn’t necessary. Well, I’m hoping for too much here, but if you’re a waiter, here are 5 reasons why I will try my best not to give any money to you and why the reasons for tipping are crappy.
1. You act as if you’re my best friend
Just leave me alone ok? I don’t want to bloody chit chat with you. I want food. FOOD! Get it? It’s a restaurant. I go there to eat. I go because I want either Italian food, Chinese Food or something else which I can’t get in a McDonald’s. So I come to a restaurant to fulfill my cravings for it. I will pay for what I value – food. Not you.
Christ, you offend me – kneeling down next to my table, pretending to like me and chatting as if you’re my best friend when it’s obvious that all you’re after is the tip! I’m not a bloody money bag you know. I will pay the bill which includes the cost of the food, the environment and the salaries of the people involved – nothing more.
The only way to get money out of me that I don’t have to legally pay is by prying it out of my cold dead hands…
Bottom line: I don’t want to know your name, or interact with you for any longer than I have to in order to place my order. As far as I’m concerned, you’re the equivalent of a conveyor belt that brings me my food and a computer into which I input my order. Of course, I won’t be rude. But don’t expect me to interact with you any more than I would with some stranger.
Image Credit: cafemama
2. You don’t get paid enough
And this is my problem how exactly? It’s astonishing that customers are expected to make up for your employer’s cheapness in not paying you a decent wage. Please include the full cost in everyone’s bill thank you very much. I’ll pay it because I have to and the charge is there for me to see.
What’s really funny here is that no one seems to criticize the employers! All criticism is reserved for non tipping customers instead of the owners of the restaurant for not paying a decent wage. Wtf! Could it possibly be because you guys know you can make much more by tips and under report your income to the IRS?
3. You’ll spit in my food if I don’t tip you?
And I’ll shoot your kid if you don’t give me a million dollars. Seriously, am I even hearing this right? You’re actually using the threat of blackmail to make me pay you? Well as long as you’re openly claiming to be a criminal it’s all right I guess.
Fortunately that’s why I prefer buffets. Listen apart from it being illegal, this shows your poor integrity. But if you spit in someone’s food because they didn’t give you money you didn’t earn, then you’re a loser and deserve to be a waiter for the rest of your life.
4. Bringing me my food isn’t worthy of being paid extra
Did you cook it? Did you invent it? No. You picked it up and brought it to me. While it might not be easy, there are plenty of jobs which are much worse – shop floor workers for example. And I’ve been a shop floor manager, so I know. Face it – compared to other jobs, being a waiter is unskilled. You get paid what the market will think your services are worth. You don’t deserve more for your work over and above what your employer should pay you.
5. Money doesn’t grow on trees
I expect you to be grateful and pray for me at night if I tip you 10%. Be happy I gave you anything at all. I worked for the money in my wallet and by giving you some I didn’t have to, I’m doing you a favor. Learn to remember that when people give you something they don’t need to, it’s a favor. You don’t complain that they didn’t give you more!
By the way, the same thing above applies to all professions that demand tips including those on cruise liners.
So now that you understand why I won’t give you money you don’t deserve, stop with the “oh how could you?” attitude. I can. And I will.
Update: Here’s a rebuttal of the many silly justifications for tipping that people have given in the comments section.
You have obviously never waited tables before. And you also sound completely ignorant. It is a LAW that servers get paid $2.13 per hour in the state of Texas. I am a college student, paying for my own college and just bought myself a brand new car, LIVE off of what my tables leave me. It is very necessary that everyone tips, and in my opinion that should be anywhere from 3-10 dollars per person. Please tell me, when you go get your nails done…you don’t tip? When you get your hair cut…you don’t tip? I could go on and on. I, personally, am not the waitress that tries to kiss ass or try to be your best friend. I keep it short and simple but I still expect to get some sort of tip at the end of every meal UNLESS something goes absolutely wrong. I understand that we are “doing our job” but that $2.13 an hour doesn’t cut it. Think about it…yes, I bring out your food and drink, but I also do about a million other little things that your small mind probably doesnt even think about. And dealing with people like you is one of them. I hope that one day you lose your job and go broke and find yourself waiting tables for less than minimum wage.
In reply to Brittanay
****$2.13 PER HOUR!!
In reply to Brittanay
“It is a LAW that servers get paid $2.13 per hour in the state of Texas.”
Bullshit. You mean that a business paying waiters MORE is breaking the law?
In reply to Brittanay
for the love of god…he means the minimum payment for waiters in Texas is 2.13, and many restaurant owners go along with that!….Use your fucking cheap brain, you indian idiot!….or is it already overridden from thinking of reasons to stiff people?
I have no idea is where in the world you came up with this crap, but apparently you must not have any friends either. Most people are decent and have no problem talking to strangers, let alone a server who is making sure that you have a proper order and are WELL taken care of. After reading this article, I am appalled that you would have the nerve to say any of the stuff you said. In order for you to comment on this, you need to spend a day in the shoes of a waiter and experience all that they do behind the scenes. To think that most of the people chose to be in the industry isn’t fair either. Look around the economy is horrible, and to wait tables is better than being jobless. I agree that servers should be paid at least minimum wage, but that’s not the case. You seriously need a reality check, and I most definitely hope karma comes back and kicks you in the ass. You are a rude that thoughtless individual which is why when your type of people walk into the restaurant no one runs to take your table. We all know that Indians don’t tip and demand great service. You have no idea of the type of work that goes into being a server. Sorry but being stiffed on a table doesn’t pay my bills. You are such an arrogant piece of shit, I hope I never encounter.
In reply to meg
LOL… giving away free money doesn’t help most people pay their bills either!
Great thread, well done for standing up and rejecting a system of extortion based primarily on peer pressure (to avoid looking stingy), partially on guilt (about the low wages the server receives), and partially on fear (tip or else….). The ignorance and viciousness of some of the responses you have received are scary (these people are allowed to vote and reproduce…).
I’ve just returned from the States, and my feeling on the whole matter can be summed up as follows: I am going to come into your restaurant, choose a meal, eat the meal and leave. I will give you money for this. Tell me up front how much money I am expected to pay, and put it all in the bill!
As a subtle form of extortion, the tipping culture added an unpleasant element to every night out we had, and I refuse to support it. To all the servers who are posting on this thread; repeatedly stating that ‘it’s the culture here’, reinforcing the peer pressure aspect by insulting/threatening non-tippers, and complaining that you are not paid enough and need this money to do whatever (ie begging for my cash) does not render this aspect of your culture valid, and I will not perpetuate it!
I refer all follow-up comments to Mr Pink’s speech on tipping from Reservoir Dogs ;)
In reply to Colin
Ya, Mr Pink says it all!
I am from India and I am very glad to say that Tipping is not mandatory in our region. I read all the comments and understand that the suppliers wages are low, so they want the customers to pay them enough they want ? that is not the solution. if you want better wages, ask your government to increase your wages.
I know that the hike in wages would affect the food prize also. so the customers can easily abandon the restaurants
What is the job of a supplier ? supply the food. then do it
In reply to appu
Tip 15-20% or get your cheap ass to take out! End of story!
a comment by an maerican citizen , i think in a blog
I’m 50 yrs old, and remember when 10% was the appropriate tip. Not sure when/why it jumped to 15%, but now I’m hearing/reading 20% is minimal? What? A few decades from now will people think nothing of 30% being the norm? When will it end?
http://www.billshrink.com/blog/7156/the-history-of-tipping/#comment-82341
funny, is nt it ?
In reply to appu
Bc the cost of living has increased and continues to do so. This why 20% is the appropriate tip. I am not even a waiter. I have a 9-5 job and a masters degree. I know to tip 20% for good service and over 20% for great service. You and this bhagwad guy are just ignorant and cheap assholes with no moral compass to guide you! Karma. It will come around to the both of you!
“Tipped employees” are a class of employee for which the standard federal minimum wage does not apply. Instead, employers must pay a tipped employee at least $2.13 / hour. HOWEVER, the law also states that if an employee’s wage plus that employee’s tips do not equal at least the standard minimum wage (currently $7.25 nationally, higher in some states), the employer MUST make up the difference. This is non-negotiable, FEDERAL LAW that the employer cannot ignore.
So, regardless of whether someone tips 15% or nothing at all, the employer is REQUIRED by FEDERAL LAW to ENSURE that the employee earns AT LEAST the standard minimum wage.
A lot of restaurant employees are either not told this, or feign ignorance when trying to whine about how their wages are dependent on their tips, which simply is not true. They are GUARANTEED the standard minimum wage ($7.25 per hour) under FEDERAL LAW.
So restaurant servers / “tipped employees” are guaranteed the standard minimum wage per hour even if they don’t get a single tip during their entire shift. So as a server, if you want to earn more than $7.25 per hour, stop whining and get a better-paying job, otherwise be thankful for the minimum-wage earnings you make as someone with no other marketable skills or higher education.
If you are employed by a restaurant as a server, and let’s say you are on the schedule to work from 2pm to 10pm on a Saturday, you will be there for the full 8 hour shift regardless of whether the place is packed with customers or not, and your employer is still required under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (United States) to ensure you are paid at least the standard minimum wage of $7.25 per hour in the event you do not make enough tips to bring you to that level from the minimum required cash wage of $2.13 that the owner normally pays as salary.
So if the customers do tip generously and your hourly wage (including the minimum required cash wage of $2.13) is over the standard minimum wage of $7.25, then your employer (in most cases) will only pay you as salary the minimum required cash wage of $2.13, and the rest of your wages are comprised of tips.
Tipping in America is basically nothing more than a scam perpetuated by business owners to place the burden of their employee salaries on the paying public. If I go into a restaurant, and I pay for a meal, the “service” is assumed to be included in the cost of the meal. I should not be expected to pay “extra” for the “privilege” of someone doing their job, being courteous, and not tampering with my food. That is what is expected of you as an employee in your position, and is not something the customer needs to pay “extra” to receive as part of their dining experience.
If I don’t tip, you will still be guaranteed a wage of $7.25 per hour, which I believe is acceptable for not only the actual “work” a server does, but also the amount of time spent actually doing anything related to me or my meal.
The total amount of time spent by a server dealing with me, my meal or my table very rarely ever surpasses 5 minutes total. I feel it is ridiculous to tip someone 15% (in some places 20% is expected) of my meal cost for spending a total of 5 minutes throughout my entire meal to simply:
1. Inform me of the specials or whatever they are trying to push (Required by the restaurant, as I don’t want to hear it)
2. Take my order
3. Bring drinks
4. Bring the order to my table
5. Ensure drinks stay filled (which in many places doesn’t happen)
6. Spend 10 seconds every 15 – minutes to ask if the table needs anything
7. Bring the bill
8. Clear the table for the next diners
The issue is that servers, like everyone else I suppose, wish to earn far beyond the standard minimum wage of $7.25, but do not perform any function or work to actually justify that. The other issue is that restaurant owners in America charge rather high prices for their meals, and then through sheer greed pocket all the profits, and attempt to pass on the burden of the employee salaries onto the public.
There is not a huge difference in price between the cost of a decent meal in a decent restaurant in America, and one in Europe. Yet in many parts of Europe, tipping is discouraged if not openly frowned upon, because the restaurants pay their servers a full wage commensurate to the position, and the cost of that employee salary is built into the meal cost. The difference is that in America, the restaurant owner simply keeps it all for restaurant expenses and profit. That in turn becomes a burden on the servers to receive enough in tips to allow them to live well. The funny thing is, that in Europe you will often find that the full cost of a meal (without paying a tip…and the server is paid a full wage by the restaurant) is still less than the full cost of a meal in America with an added %15 tip, which simply further illustrates the point that the American system of tipping simply perpetuates greed on the part of the restaurant owners.
Then of course, you hear the argument from servers that “If you can’t afford to tip, you shouldn’t dine out”, because they are not satisfied receiving $7.25 for unskilled labor that does not require higher education, and are attempting to entice the consumer into feeling some type of moral indignation that might prompt them to tip generously.
When I dine out, I pay for the meal (with the service included in the cost of the meal), and am not legally obligated to supplement the salary of the server simply because the restaurant owner chooses not to do it. The functions the server performs in no way justifies a voluntary 15% increase in the amount I pay.
In America you see this same type of setup in many salons as well, where you pay anywhere from $15 – $30 for a haircut, and then are expected to tip the barber / stylist $5 – $20 on top of that, because like servers, their employer does not pay them a full wage, and treats them as “tipped employees”. If I pay $15 for a haircut, the expectation is that it would be done well and look the same regardless of whether I tip or not, because I am paying for the service of receiving a haircut in a professional manner in a style that I describe, just as at a restaurant I am paying for the meal and it is expected to be delivered to the table in a timely and courteous manner without being tampered with, without me paying anything beyond the actual cost of the items I consume to receive that service.
Bottom line, if “tipped employees” aren’t happy receiving $7.25 an hour, which they WILL receive as it is guaranteed under United States Federal Law, they should seek employment elsewhere without whining about the tips they receive, as they are not legally entitled to them, and the customer is not legally obligated to provide them. The problem “tipped employees” have is with their employer, and not the customer, if you really think about it.
I realize this was a little long, but I felt it was necessary to fully explain so people understand that “tipped employees” in America WILL receive $7.25 per hour even if they don’t receive tips, and that people also understand the justification for not ever tipping a server or any other type of “tipped employee” in America. The burden of paying an employee salary is on the business owner that employs them, not the public.
There is no need to pretend that tipping a server is not my responsibility, because it absolutely isn’t. It’s not about “taking something for free”, or not being altruistic. If it was my legal responsibility to financially compensate a server 15% of my bill for 5 minutes of work, then it would be included in my bill and it would not be optional, it would be mandatory under law. You don’t work for me. You work for a greedy restaurant owner…your salary issues lie with them, not the public consumer.
The cost of my meal absolutely includes you taking my order on behalf of your employer, because if you didn’t, there would be no sale. The cost of my meal also includes the responsibility of the restaurant to deliver the goods I purchased to me. Performing those services that are required on behalf of your employer in no way entitles you to compensation by me for performing them.
I also never said that not having a higher education means that you deserve a minimum wage job…what I said was that if you are not satisfied with an unskilled minimum wage job, then endeavor to get a higher education, or some marketable skills, that will allow you to earn a wage commensurate to your skillset or education. Being deserving of anything has nothing to do with it. Just because you cannot survive off minimum wage does not mean that the public consumer is in any way responsible to supplement the income that your employer is too greedy to pay you to ensure you can make $15 – $50 an hour (and yes, I have met waitstaff that make $50+ an hour totaling several thousand dollars per month).
At a decent American restaurant, a typical dinner for two is in the neighborhood of $50…at a more upscale establishment, the bill is typically $100+.
A server spending 5 minutes with me throughout the meal to take my order and deliver the food will never justify $7.50 on a $50 tab, and certainly not $15 on a $100 tab for literally 5 minutes of their time.
The issue is not about being cheap, or trying to get something for free (which we are not). The issue is that I refuse to directly pay a full hourly salary for someone that only serves me for 5 minutes. Doing so is simply akin to me giving money to someone that neither earned it, or frankly deserves it based on the service performed directly for me.
At the rate of the standard US federal minimum hourly wage, which is $7.25, you are entitled to earn 12.0833 cents per minute (60 minutes x 12.0833 cents = $7.25). If you spend 5 minutes taking my order, bringing the food and refilling drinks, then you are entitled to 60.4165 cents to compensate you for your time, and not a preposterous 15% of my bill. I would be courteous and even round it up to 75 cents, or perhaps a full dollar if I have no change, but that is realistically all you “deserve” for what you do and the time it takes you to do it.
The functions a server performs are simply not worth more than the standard federal minimum wage, which was basically established to regulate the minimum wage for unskilled labor such as waitstaff.
Sorry if people that work in the service industry take offense, but if you read all of my posts and think about the issues in a logical manner, instead of reacting emotionally, you cannot dispute the law or the logic. Your salary is in no way the responsibility of the consumer just because your employer doesn’t want to pay you.
You are willingly choosing to basically perform volunteer work at a restaurant in exchange for the privilege of receiving charity from patrons. It’s not their responsibility to pay you for doing a job, as they do not employ you. You are employed by the restaurant, and they should be paying you. My legal obligation for a financial exchange for goods and services is solely with the restaurant.
If you were to not work for tips, and received in salary of $7.25 per hour from the restaurant, and a customer decided to tip YOU, they are still tipping YOU directly, and NOT the restaurant. The restaurant wouldn’t legally be entitled to any tip left. The truth of the matter is that waitstaff simply feel they are somehow entitled to earn exorbitant amounts of money for unskilled labor, and then make pretty weak arguments as to why they should, and why their earnings are the burden of the public consumer and not their actual employer.
As a purely charitable act, I will tip 12.0833 cents per minute to supplement your income that is the responsibility of your employer. Now earn your pay.