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.
This article is bullshit. Don’t run your mouth about a job you have never done. It’s white people like you that make me feel stupid for being white. You give us a bad name. You should hope you never cross my path at any place I work at. Fuck you!
If u don’t feel obligated to pay for a service provided for u then u should probably stick to ur beloved m donalds that u mentioned because just as u don’t have to tip is. We don’t have to be fucking nice to u. Keep being a floor sop worker. Its what scumbags deserve to be.
1. The majority of people don’t go out to eat simply for food, they go out for an experience. It is the job of the server to provide that experience. The tip (which is not demanded) is a way of showing appreciation for service above the base level. We get that you’re cheap and hate people. Perhaps you should learn to cook. This would solve both problems. You would be able to save money by preparing meals at home and have all of the push-button interaction that you desire.
2. People seem to think that the employers are to blame for the wages, when the minimum is set by the government.
3. This one makes no sense. You pay for your meal after consumption, so it is impossible to spit in your food because you didn’t tip. I assume that you meant that some action would be taken against you on your next visit. This much is true, but spitting in food is generally reserved to fast food establishments (so I would advise against treating them like a “conveyor belt” or a “computer”) and doesn’t cross into most full-service restaurants. Which leads me to number four…
4. No, I didn’t cook your food, although in some restaurants, your salads and desserts may be prepared by your server. What I did do was time the pace of your meal based on whatever interaction we had upon your arrival and anticipated your needs throughout your visit. Your drink was refilled before it ran dry. The extra side of ranch arrived before you needed it. When I saw that your salad looked a little wilted, I had a new one made. The coffee that didn’t have enough steam was dumped so that you could have a cup from a fresh pot. Believe it or not, these are skills that a server learns. If you choose not to tip, but return for another meal, these things will not be automatic. If you wish to pay only for the food, then that is what you will receive. Any extra service will be forfeited to other tables who are there for the experience.
5. If you tip properly, I will be grateful. I always am. But no tip means that I just paid to serve you. Once the tip-out to the bussers, bartenders, and hosts has been taken, I still have to pay 10% to the government, whether I made it or not. So tell me, are you grateful that I had to shell out my own money to take your table?
You sir, are an idiot. Did you know that servers earn LESS than minimum wage? Some earn as little as $2 an hour even in five star establishments. The people who buss the tables earn more. Heck, fast food workers earn more. They NEED those tips to pay for food, rent, medicine, etc. Period. If you won’t tip, do NOT eat out, ever.
The only excuse to not tip is bad service. ALWAYS tip otherwise. Or just do everyone a favor and never leave your home. I’m sure everyone would be happier that way.
I feel sorry for you!!… And all that nasty food you’re gonna be eating now..
Two things:
1. You’d be the first person crying like a little girl when you go out and every dish is worth 30 dollars, instead of 10 you’re used to paying, because they now pay their employees minimum wage. Why do you think prices are low?
2. What you’re unaware of is that for every table we have that doesn’t tip, we LOSE money because we have to tip out our bussers and bartenders regardless of whether or not you were doing your minimum as a human being.
So let me summarize it like this:
Are you, quite possibly, the stupidest person alive? Im sure I’m not alone when I say, I hope you, and everyone who feels like you, dies horribly in a grease fire. Or maybe I could just say you should keep your slumdog ass in your house until you learn civility.
This article is exhibit A why American servers hate foreigners – they are almost always cheap tippers.
It’s not about an entitlement attitude – tips are how servers here make their money.
They are paid 25% of minimum wage, something like 2 or 3 dollars an hour. Without tips – that’s like Africa wages, not even close to enough to live on in the US. For whatever reason the food industry is exempt from minimum wage laws.
20% is the tip I start off prepared to give at the end of a meal and it goes down if the service is poor. This is considered normal in Chicago.
People who enter a restaurant expecting to leave no tip – they’re not welcomed customers, they’re considered selfish and rude, and if they return after leaving no tip for good service, then they should expect terrible service the 2nd time.
It may be different in your country and that’s fine, but in America you’re expected to tip, so get over it, get over your crap attitude and stop acting like your culture is the only way of doing things because it’s not.
Oh yes, and I’m posting your picture on every Server based website I can find. Maybe I won’t warn all the poor unfortunate people who will cross paths with you, but if even ONE, sees this, and can fuck your experience (and hopefully food) up…mission accomplished.
I have been a server and bartender, and I am personally astonished to agree with so much of this content. The only point I disagree with is the fact that no one is a mind-reader and servers are trained to be friendly and nice; we have no way of knowing that you want to just be left alone unless you specify that. With that being said, I hate when my server pesters the hell out of me during my meal!! This JUST happened the other night- our server tried to play the god-forsaken “Forest Gump Trivia” game with my partner and I- in the middle of eating our appetizer!! I could not have been more annoyed and I promptly sent her away; she returned about 4 minutes later and by the end of dinner, I had heard her entire life story and had not gotten to enjoy my time or meal with my boyfriend. Very irritating.
Employers pay nothing in the lower states- but how IS that the consumers responsibility? Honestly. I also will say that I always treated my tables the way I would want to be treated by trying to read them and their responses and attitude and I NEVER EXPECTED a tip. I may have complained here and there, especially when they got to be 12 hour days, but I chose that job, not the guest!! I’ve never spit in anyones food, EVER. I was always thankful and never treated “low-tippers” any different than other guests; after all, it was PART OF MY JOB. You’re right, money doesn’t grow on trees and I have a hard time processing the fact that the meal I’m purchasing isn’t the only money I’ll be spending. I do, however, tip and I will tip very well if I feel that my service is outstanding. I realize this contradicts my feelings, but I believe in karma and I also remember how thrilled I was when someone thought enough of me to be generous- things like that stick with you!!
Thank you for such a well-written and logical post. I’m sure you’re receiving a flood of hate, but thank you for the great read!!
Good evening. I would just like to say, eat a dick. Whole heartedly. I am an educated, hard working individual who takes pride in the fact that I provide exceptional customer service. If all you value is the nourishment you receive from guzzling waters or cokes and stuffing your face with food McDonald’s doesn’t serve, learn to fucking cook for yourself. Better yet, go back in time, grab yourself some slaves, they can cook and serve you. There is a reason so many people make a living, support themselves, families even being a server or bartender. Self righteous pieces of shit like you who seem to feel they are above or better than those who do it are the reason people in the industry struggle.
Once again, I’d like to reiterate, EAT A DICK