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.
Did you think logically before posting you’re views on tipping? You should have just went on a live television show and said the ‘N’ word. Honestly, just keep your views to yourself… if you don’t want to tip then just don’t eat out.
In reply to Sean
Any particular reason why I should hold my thoughts back? This is a private blog. I didn’t force you to come here. I didn’t force you to read it. If you’re offended, you take that risk when you browse the open Internet. Not my problem…
I suggest you develop a thicker skin.
In reply to bhagwad
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! People have to realize that business is business and the Internet is open to all sorts of opinions, if you don’t like it, then fine.
Haven’t read through all of these, so this might have already been said…there (generally) are other differences in the dining experience in the US and non-tipping places. 1) Better (faster) service…not talking about the fake smiles, but the service…drink refills, more attention to needs, etc. 2) cheaper prices. So you’re not just paying random fees, you’re receiving benefits that would erode over time if everybody adopted your philosophy. Tipping is not a US only custom. The difference is, the places I would be expected to tip, in say, Australia, tend to be the more upscale restaurants.
I’m seeing so much hate but people tend to forget ITS BUSINESS–you’re feelings should always be checked at the door. You should not bog down the consumer with you’re life story, as unfortunate as it may be. That’s just bad business. The consumer is there to CONSUME, nothing else. This is why tippin is a sham. Tipping should be up to the consumer, however he wants. There is no need to regulate it. If the restaurant does indicate at the door, on the menu, etc. that they have a tipping policy, then the consumer is contractually obligated to follow the tipping policy of the establishment of interest.
2.00/hr is low, but again, who’s to decide? There are throngs of people that, if we removed these silly wage laws, would work for anything and get by with ease. People complain about bills, but again this is not the consumers concern. Leave all emotions at the door. Business is tough people, especially the service industry. Life is tough, it ain’t like the movies. People complain about bills, yet the very people that complain have a social life, eat good food and have a roof. If you feel that your wages are too low, someone else will do it. That’s how a free market works. Tipping is essentially a way of punishing the consumer due to your lack of capital. how does this make any sense? a consumer should only pay what he is contractually required to (ie the menu price, the tax and IF there is a tipping policy).
Lets remove the government from our lives. We should decide what’s good for us, not big brother. Why do we need minimum wage? So wal mart can hire one guy at 8.00/hr while the small business can barely compete because they can’t hire somebody for the same price (gee, why do you think the same policy makers that set minimum wage are also very big business friendly?). Set a wage, and see what happens. If its too low, guess what? no one will work for you. That’s how a free market works.
In reply to Common Sense
I love how you call yourself “common sense” when the truth is, you have none. If you had ANY, you’d know that it is absolutely impossible to “remove the government from our lives”.
You’d also know that this has nothing to do with emotions, but about whether or not we can eat or pay bills. I hardly have a social life (no time when you work 60 hours per week), I don’t eat good food (do you realize how many meals I’ve had to eat at a soup kitchen?), and there have been times where I haven’t had a roof.
Wage laws are around for a reason. Minimum wage at least makes employers properly compensate you for your hours worked. They’d take advantage of you otherwise. The only reason that $2.13/hour is considered acceptable is because of tips making up the difference.
You think you’re being punished because you’re supposed to pay a tip? The servers are the ones being punished when you decide not to tip simply because you hate wage laws.
In reply to Actual common sense
If it was so bad, why don’t servers and waiters unionize and fight for minimum wages on par with the rest of the working class? Every other industry has done it so far…
In reply to Actual common sense
Again, paying your bills is the responsibility of the individual, not the consumer. Fiscally, all bills/lifestyles etc. should be considered by the employee upon accepting a position. THis is how fere market works. You mentioned that more money is made via tipping, so why are non-tippers demonized? Waiters have accepted a status quo as have the restaraunt owners, just like the rest of the US, accepting a status quo of static government regulation. All of these rules and regulations are actually ways for the rich and powerful to litigate the masses while they knowingly find loopholes in the system and profit that way. If the government were completely free from the free market, the RICH are the ones that suffer. We have been fed these lies for far too long.
I hate to sound mean, but again, you paying my bills should not be a concern as a consumer. If we were to care for the manufacturer of a common good, let’s say a plastic fork, we have to consider the good of the employee in that situation too. Most of the common items in your home were not manufactured in the United States, but rather India, China, Vietnam where (with the exception of India) workers have no right to unionize and if they quit their jobs, they would be punished (yes you read that right). Sometiems they receive NO wages as the government sometiems mandates it this way. It is an unfortunate fact of life, but a fact nonetheless. If we let the government intervene in our lives, we’re pretty much headed the same direction.
“Minimum wage at least makes employers properly compensate you for your hours worked. They’d take advantage of you otherwise” this is an assumption that the entire workforce is making minimum wage. only 10-15% of the workforce makes minimum wage and around 60% of thsoe are inexperienced employees. Free market forces dictate what the wages are for a mechanic, a waiter, a scientist, or an engineer. If you pay too low, you’re not going to get the best employee for the position of interest. Free markets always work more efficiently and faster than the government.
Me not tipping is just my form of fiscal responsibility. I pay what I am contractually obligated to pay. If there is a tipping POLICY, then yes I tip. You may think of guys like bhagwad and I as mean people, but unfortunately in business, emotions have to be left out of the door. There are many many other people that can’t pay their bills due to other unfortunate circumstances. On a consumer/market level, however, this is of little to no concern to the consumer. As logn as the consumer is receiving a good/service in which he or she has contractually bartered with the institution, there is little to no need of empathy, sympathy, etc.
Because for the most part, we make more money this way. But I started waiting tables at age 18, and I was making shit for money. It all depends on what type of restaurant you work in. I was working in a failing restaurant that wouldn’t reimburse us for minimum wage if we didn’t make the equivalent of that every week (which is what they’re supposed to do). However, who the hell can live off of minimum wage? Where I live, you’re lucky if you can find a bed bug infested studio apartment for less than $700/month. Moving isn’t an option right now, either.
Not to mention, you work the counter at McDonalds for minimum wage. That’s the easiest job there is (trust me, I worked there when I was 14). I work much, much harder now, and I should be earning more money.
Now that I’m working in a better place, I’m doing alright. The food I eat isn’t super good and there isn’t a lot of it, I don’t have time to hang out with friends, and I share a two-bedroom apartment with three other people. However, it’s much better than before.
There are super high end restaurants where people do really well, and I’m next in line for a job at one after one of the older servers retires next year. After that, I’ll be absolutely fine.
Not all servers are going to unionize, and the ones who work at the shitty restaurants aren’t going to make an impact. It’s never going to happen, and you not tipping isn’t going to change that.
In reply to Actual common sense
Alright – so the current situation is beneficial to a lot of servers. Which means they like the status quo and are fine with the risk that some people are not going to tip.
There are good employers and bad ones. It sounds like every other industry out there. You say that you deserve more than minimum wage. But what makes you assume that being a server entitles you to more than that?
In reply to Actual common sense
I totally empathize with you, Actual common sense, but again, the consumer is in an establishment only to consume, that is it. The responsibility of the employee should befall on the employer, not the consumer. Servers should unionize, as they have a right to in this country and fight for beter wages. EVERY OTHER INDUSTRY has done so. Labor, mechanical, even custodial.
Again, government needs to remove itself from our lives in order to create a more productive and systematic commercial atmosphere in this US. Nations such as Germany, Norway and Brunei are pretty wealthy and the government doesn’t tell any of its citizens how much the employers should pay its employees and the such. MARKET FORCES DICTATE WAGES. Again if I wanted to pay an employee a dollar/hr, if the market dicates that is too low for a sufficient employee, I will not receive one.
if McDonalds paid better, why not stick with McDonalds? Why work harder for less pay? That doesn’t make any fiscal sense.
Lets go with a specific example of tipping scenario:
Three restaraunts: Denny’s, Olive Garden and a 5 star. I can get a meal at Denny’s for 6 bucks. I leave 3 dollar tip–50% of the bill. I go to the Olive Garden and get a dish for $15. I leave the same tip–20% tip. I go to a five star and get a $60 dish–5% tip. The work is all the same, so why should an arbitary number like the actual bill dictate how much I pay? That should be solely dependent on other factors ASIDE from the bill itself. The labor in the food at a Denny’s is not too different from say an Olive Garden. A 5 star maybe a bit more different but again, if I get an expensive dish such as what I listed, the tip can’t be worth more than say $5 dollars (8%). So why are tips based arbitarily on the bill itself? And WHY cant restaraunts enforce a tipping policy if the employees are in such dire needs? and if the wages are so low, and i ask thsi respectfully, why can’t the employees unionize, fight for better wages or QUIT? Me not tipping is me acting fiscally responsible for my own self, and that’s how real business runs. Socialist nations are huge on spreading the wealth. I go to a restaraunt to enjoy the food/ambience and I pay what i am CONTRACTUALLY obligated to pay, thats it. I still feel that everyone on this board is bringing in their emotions and forgetting to realize that business is business. The employer and you agreed on a wage, you can always re-negotiate or quit. Simple as that. Your current standing in society (food, shelter, etc.) should place no immediate need on the employer, as when you do that and involve the government, that creates an assumption that society/market forces are static, which they are not. markets change/fluctuate many many times over, and creating static regulations do not help.
I have to wonder, why am I paying $15.00 for a hamburger and fries if that doesn’t include any service. I buy a 1 kg bag of fries for under $1.00. $3.00 a kg for ground beef, and under $2.00 for 12 buns. It’s not like these restaurants have HELL’S Kitchen winner chefs making $250 000 a year. Now on top of my $15.00 you want me to pay you to serve me. Next, there will be a $4.00 charge if I want a chair with my table. And if they play some music, that will be extra. I’ve seen tip jars at corner hotdog stands, and in the liquor store. OMG where does it end!
In reply to Zapious
you should only pay what you are contractually obliged to pay–for example if a hamburger is $15 plus local taxes, you receive a bill of that $15 + the taxes. The receipt is essentially a contract between you and the insitution. You are now obliged to fulfill that contract. If that receipt DOES NOT require a serive charge, you are thereby exempt to pay such charges. IF the establishment does, however, have a service fee (a tip) you are required to pay the fee. You do not need to tip unless there is a tipping policy at the establishment in question. even if you receive snooty looks from kids that complain about their wages, you still do not need to pay. You have fulfilled your end of the contract.
BTW please be aware of tipping policies. They differ from restaraunt to restaraunt, which is their right. Most restaraunts, however, have a tipping policy of 15% if there is a party larger than 6 people (fair enough).
Please do not let the people on this board complaining about their bills and living guilt you into paying anything other than what you are contractually obliged to do. They may make you feel guilty, but do not understand how law and economics work. They may threaten to spit in your food, etc. but luckily the tipping procedure takes place AFTER food has been served, so do not feel threatened.
The restaraunt industry is filled with employees that feel the need to vent their frustrations on the consumer. They forget rule #1 in business–THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT!!!!!! If you have this mentality, maybe the employees will receive a worthy tip.
You have obviously never served.
You’re rude and I hope you choke.
In reply to Lori
again, its all business. Why are you bringing emotions into business? The free market dictates that not everyone is meant to make the same wages. Some make high wages others make low. Again, if a job pays too low, you can ask your employee to pay more, unionize and demand better wages or quit.
Service workers are yet to create a union. Meat packers, who work in some of the dirtiest environments used to make low wages. They demanded their employers to pay more on a threat of quitting. The employers paid more.
Do yourself a favor adn don’t bring emotions into wages. Let’s say you tell everyone to stop goign to a restaraunt that doesn’t tip. According to a lot of statistics, almost half of consumers don’t tip appropriately. So if you lose half of your customers, that will force the employer to raise food prices AND lower your wages.
If you cannot pay your bills/make ends meet, that is not the responsibility of the consumer. That is YOUR responsibility. This is not by ANY MEANS BEIGN RUDE! Take any economics class and that’s how our economy works. Socialism is another form of economics that does gurantee EVERYONE fair wages, etc. We have a better system where free markets dictate wages. THe problem is with today’s overly bearing government, we cannot let our market act freely as we have so many regulatiosn (safety, wage, harassment, etc.)
In reply to Lori
Now if you were to choke in a restaurant, and the server did the heimlich maneuver, and saved your life, that would be worth a little something extra.
In reply to Zapious
Absolutely that is worth something, but I’m still not contractually obligated to pay a tip even if my life were saved. Do firefighters/cops/soldiers etc. receive tips? no.
Obviously i would leave a more generous, but out of all of the times I have been to a restarauant, I’m yet to receive the heimlich. Until then, I will tip how I feel and not leave an arbitrary 15% tip.
So do the people here that don’t tip servers also not tip barbers and taxi drivers?
In reply to Chris
do you tip you’re doctor for a check-up? or do you pay the cashier at wal mart an incentive tip? why pay someone for doing their job? if the job pays low, its always easy to quit and find a new one.
In reply to Common Sense
E X A C T L Y ! P.S. I was a cab driver, and I drove the night shift. Put up with a lot of rude, childish drunks. I didn’t receive much for tips. I was lucky that some even paid their fare. But I always treated people nice. It wasn’t for the tips (by any means) I just took pride in my job. It says something about a person, that can only be kind to another, because they expect something. (be it money, or what ever).
The author of this article is a tool. Until the culture in this country changes, and tipping is no longer how waiters earn their income (and no a baseline salary of 2 dollars an hour is NOT a living wage you cheapo) the only thing YOU do by stiffing your waiter is make them work for you for free. With the taxes they pay 10% tip means they break even. But Im sure a cheapo like you feels no qualms with someone serving you for free, or more likely, having to PAY to serve you if you leave no tip. It’s really funny that you think you’re making a statement by not tipping. People like you are just cheapos trying to morally justify their horrible scrooginess. With an attitude like that Id be surprised if waiters havent shat in your food by now, and Id applaud them if they did.
In reply to janet
The only thing YOU do by stiffing your waiter is make them work for you for free.
They do NOT work for me. I didn’t hire them. They work for their employer who tells them what to do. End. Of. Story.
In reply to bhagwad
Well said bro. Again the employer’s responsibility is to provide the wages, NOT the consumer. People need to take economics 101.
Oh and the person a few posts up blathering on and on about paying only what theyre contractually obligated to… it’s called a goddamn social contract. They LIVE off of their tips. They make a fraction of minimum wage without tips. You know whats also not contractually obligated? Showering or being a decent human being. Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it. Dumbest most simplistic argument I’ve ever heard. Have some shame you cheap shits. There is NOTHING righteous about your behavior. It’s sickening. Nothing worse than a person who expects someone to slave away for them for nothing. Go eat at Mcdonalds.
In reply to janet
In this country, we rely on physical contracts in the world of commerce. For example, if I go to a Wal-Mart, the cashier asks for $500 for a TV that is marked $300, I would then demand the latter price due to switch/bait law (dependent on state).
you are right, showering and being a decent human being are NOT contractually obligated upon anyone, but who defines what a decent human being is? you janet? are you the spokesperson for decency? Lets get back to the arbitrary case of tipping.
why 15%? why not 14%? why not 16%? why not 10, 20, etc. Who came up with it?
You request decency, yet you swear away very much so. Interesting.
Again, in the world of commerce, like any high school economics student will tell you, a consumer ONLY pays what is contractually obliged (ie what is on the receipt). Wages, living conditions, etc. are NOT the consumers responsibility, regardless of how poor etc. they may be. If you are so concerned about well being, etc. you better stop purchasing any cotton garments because 80% of cotton garments are manufactured in sweat shops in countries like the Phillippines (who by the way, the employees perform the work proudly.)
The wonderful thing about the free market is the market dictates wages and living conditions, NOT arbitrary customs that carry little to no weight other than guilting people to provide extra change.
Someone needs a lesson in economics. The tipping culture is what it is. I dont agree with it I think waiters should have salaries but that doesnt mean Im not gonna pay them for the service they provide. It’s an ubiquitous part of our culture. Which means this. If an employer paid waiters fair salaries instead of them relying on tips the price of food would go up. Hence that restaurant would not be able to compete and would go out of business. Write to your senator if tipping bothers you or dont eat out. When you entered that restaurant you entered a social contract. The waiter upheld their end by providing you a service. It’s wrong of you to not uphold your end of the social contract .
Btw Im not a waiter never have. Im a fairly poor person. But I always tip %15-20% because I have too much respect for myself and the person working for me to allow someone to work for me for free. Its not slavery. And finally when 95% of their income is coming from the customers then yeah you better believe they work for you the customer.
In reply to janet
What “social contract”? Can I please get a copy of it? Last I saw, no restaurant showed me a copy. If I didn’t agree to it, it doesn’t exist. What gives you the right to just make up “social contracts” of your own?
In reply to janet
i agree everyone in the restaraunt business needs a lesson in economics. In commerce, we do not accept cultural norms. If a waiter’s livelihood is so dependent upon tips, those tips should be reflected upon the final billing statement. When I have repair done to my house, each piece of repair AND LABOR is included in the final billing. If the labor is a necessity, WHY CANNOT THAT BE INCLUDED? I applaud restaraunts that do have tipping policies, as they make it perfectly clear how much tip I need to leave. Other restaraunst rely upon out-dated social norma and guilt. If you believe in tips as social norms, why cannot other social norms be used in commerce? They are not.
No one has answered Bhagwad and my question–if the labor is so difficult, why not unionize? Why not QUIT from working at the establishment of interest.
I actually have written to my congressman multiple times regarding the tipping industry and they agree (1 republican and 1 democrat). Guess what they indicated? THE WAIT STAFF INSISTS ON THE CURRENT PRACTICES! I no longer eat out. Especially after the Great recession, the quality of food outside of my house has SHARPLY declined, with the exception of Mom/Pap restaraunts (which I do tip). 5 star restaraunts have also horrifically declined in quality. Rather than changing previous practices, restaraunst insisted on them more, alienating their client base, forcing quality (and quantity) to decrease alogn with service.
I’m yet to see an intelligently stated argument against the COMMERCIAL aspect of tipping. All i see are people using their emotions and the poor wait staff to state their arguments, while guys like bhagwad and i are treated like war criminals simply for arguing against an out-dated, unnecessary CUSTOM (yes a custom, like Asians removign their shoes in the house custom). Customs, social contracts and lip service do not belong in commerce.
Let’s do ourselves a favor–let the government out of our lives, stop the regulation. Let liberty and commerce reign free as it is supposed to in this wonderful country of ours. In the commercial world, your wages are not my responsibility, that is YOUR responsibility. Its tough, and I am a charitable person, however this system is called CAPITALISM. The other system fell after their big wall came tumbling down in Berlin. They had a system where everyone made a reasonable wage. Unfortunately that did not work too well for them (and they’re still barely getting out of the hole).