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.
your logic is flawed here.
potential reasons why a server should receive no tip or a crappy tip.
1. i asked you for something and you left me waiting for more than 15 minutes or just totally “forgot” to bring it.
2. we were ready to order but you made a big deal about reading the specials, so we chose one, then you come back (15 minutes later) to say “oh we don’t have that”
3. you spilled some substance that stained my tie or suit.
4. you flirt with my date way too much or flat out insult us.
5. i observe you working in some unsanitary, potentially dangerous or harmful manner.
6. you brought us food and it was cold.
if you failed all 6, you probably will not get more than 1% from me ever.
bartenders usually get a heavy tip up front, so they remember you and you get prompt service.
waiters, well they have to wait for a tip, because so much can go wrong during the course of a meal.
money is tight for both patrons and for servers.
servers who are unhappy with their tips or wages should find another job.
patrons who are unhappy with their servers should find another place to eat. (go back to mcdonalds)
one thing is for sure, you are far more concerned about your money from your ‘highly skilled’ shop floor blue collar job and how many comments you get than the humans who are serving you the things you asked them to serve you.
you are right though, you don’t have to tip and you don’t have to make friends in this life, but rest assured, what you do in this life will come back to you in the next and i look forward to not tipping you in the next life.
oh and a final note for any foreigners who have a problem with US restaurant/service industry culture, stay/eat/drink in your own country and it wont be a problem for you. or us.
– James Miller
Obviously the author of this trivial rant doesn’t grasp the concept of economics. With the rising cost of food the profit margins in almost all restaurants are slim to none. Restaurant owners make up for this by paying their employees a low amount allowing the patron to decide how much “compensation” they would like to leave. Without tip you would be paying 10-15% more on average each and every time you ate out, without any option due to the fact that the owner would be forced to raise wages in order to compensate. Why do you think that the government has a different minimum wage for tipped and in tipped employees. It’s not because it sounded fun, its because in order to keep the market flowing this was what was needed. Other countries have their “tips” automatically built into the price that is why you don’t tip in most other countries. Please educate yourself before you dribble unfounded rants. Learn how the system works in the United States as I work so hard to learn the system when I travel to other countries, economics is like physics, its basically universal. If you have a demand for a restaurant someone will supply it to you provided there is profit to be made, if you force the costs up, profits go down, in the end there will be no dine in restaurants anymore. As far as I’m concerned it is a privilege having the opportunity to decide on my tip, not being forced into it. If you don’t like it, eat the garbage at McDonalds where they pay the $7-8 dollar minimum wage because they are not tipped, see a correlation? All you people who do not tip waiters in the United States should die a slow painful death, as you are doing to the restaurant industry, and the employees that allow said industry to exist.
I have been Bartending for 20 years now. I have never in my life been so offended by remarks from a “Customer”. You are the biggest jerk! I am not your slave. I have amazing regular guest’s who appreciate my friendship and the work I do to make sure they have a fun, happy and enjoyable experience in my restaurant. They tip me because they know that the employer doesn’t pay what they should for people to NOT be tipped. you say you work fir your money? Well, so do I. I work way harder than you do, I will lay odds on it. You are such an unhappy person that you have to take your misery out on people you think are beneath you. You must have a serious low self-esteem to blast at people you don’t even know. You also sound rather uneducated, another reason you seem so angry. May God look past your ignorance and your act of total disrespect for all Restaurant Workers. Get some help for your issues!
You sir are a moron. The whole idea of tipping people is so you don’t have to go get your shit like macdonalds. You wouldn’t believe how many people sit in my section and want to be waited on hand and foot and then do not tip. 10% of the bill is a bare minimum that almost doesn’t cut it. I’ve worked construction, sales and factory jobs. Serving is the most stressful by far. It takes a special skill to be able to tend to peoples needs without them freaking out about not having something. Servers in the state i’m from make 2.25 an hour. And you say “take it up with your employer” business is business and the bottom line is legally they don’t have to because it has been decided that most people realize the importance of having a server. Refills, salads appetizers, entrees.. and not to mention that if you weren’t satisfied with your meal then we are the ones who get the kitchen to fix it, make something new or talk to a manager and get it taken off of your bill. i get it “money doesn’t grow on trees” well the kitchen staff is being paid to cook for you. The server is counting on your tip to pay the bills. So if you want some food better than macdonalds instead of treating some poor guy or girl working through school or being a single parent like it isn’t your concern if they can pay their bills. Why don’t you go get a recipe off line take the time to cook it and get your own fucking water, napkins, eating utensils and desert. And when you mess up your own order bitch at yourself. You are an ignorant person who should loose the ability to reproduce because of your stupidity and lack of common decency. How about i come to your job and tell them to cut your wage by 3/4 and then give you the 5 fucking stupid excuses you gave me as a reason and tell you to deal with it. DICK
Don’t tip.
Just make sure you tell them beforehand. They at least deserve to know how cheap you are.
Before I ever worked in the service industry I knew to tip at the very least 15% because of various tip sharing reasons. Do you want to know why servers or bartenders continue with their jobs? Because some nights I make $20. Others I can make over $300. It is a way for me to be able to pay for school as I go and not have to take out any more loans. I worked in fast food for 4 years before this and am in serious debt.
You are allowed to do whatever you want. I would never spit in anyone’s food. BUT what I will do is not come to you quickly when you need another drink, you will receive a weak drink, and will probably get an attitude. People will remember you.
Anytime I hear people say these reasons for not wanting to tip it just means you are cheap. You are not showing anyone anything. The person who waits on you will just think that they did something wrong. When I don’t want to tip someone I cut my bangs myself, pump my own gas, and buy food at a grocery store to make. It’s really that simple. If you don’t want to do it don’t go somewhere where a person will have to serve you.
If you don’t want to tip then eat at one. Cook it your self and serve it to your self. Don’t waste my time and money!
You do realize the entire conerstone of your viewpoint on this subject relies solely on the fact that you’re OK with being a stingy prick right?
This is you….
“Hey look at me I’m a stingy prick! Hahah the law doesn’t say I have to tip so I won’t tip! Lol! Aren’t I a dick? I’m totally cool with that! I have lots of dick friends and we’re all just HUGE DICKS and we don’t care what you think! It’s great! Not having any type of empathy with my fellow human is the shit. Empathy is for pussies. Maaaaannnn…see that homeless dude over there? Aint no law says I gotsta pay him so fuck that homeless fuck! Law says I do NOT have to hold the door open for old ladies. Nope. Not gonna do it. Fuck that lady. She was probably good looking in her youth. Fuck her. Law says I do NOT have to let this guy trying to get in my lane over so ya know what? FUCK HIM. High five to my dick friend, slap! Law doesn’t say I have to go to my mothers funeral either so you know what? I’M STAYING HOME! WOOOOT GO USA!”
You’re an idiot.
In reply to Ron Gast
See the difference between tipping and all those other examples you gave is that tipping costs money. It costs nothing to hold the door open for an old lady. So I do it. It costs nothing to have empathy for others and be kind. So I do it when I can.
Tipping? Nah uh. That costs money, so forget it. Good try there!
Well said and I could not agree more with these comments. I think the blame should go to the cheap owners not the people going to the resturants because without us you would be out of business and then these people would he making nothing. Also I always make sure to never tip in cash, that way it has to be reported as income. If you want to complain about not getting tipped then get a real job, because in those you don’t get tips for doing what you were hired and payed to do.
In reply to Joe
Real job?? How is working in the service industry not a real job?
Do you have any idea how hard it is to take care of, lets say, 10 tables in 1 hour? Let’s say for instance each table is a 4 top. That’s 40 people getting service at once. Each person getting everything thing they ask for in a timely manner by 1 lone waiter. That’s 40 different personalities at once. Probably at nighttime…do you work nights? Comfy day job? Make shitty money cause you sit at a computer all day? Save up all week to go to a ..what’s that…a restaurant? Where the “fake” jobs are? Ummmmmmmmmm.
You’re an idiot.
In reply to Ron Gast
Yeah it sounds really tuff. You must be the next Einstein. You know what I do work days because I got an education. At least I do not wake up in the moring feeling like a worthless piece if shot like I am sure you do everyday. Iam fortunate to be able to do what I want and eat where ever I choose because I work hard ay my comfy day job and make more in a year then you probably will in a life time. With that comfy day job I can afford to go to restaurants that the only way that you can get in is when you are my servent for the night.
In reply to Joe
If everyone “got a real job” as you say then who would be there to serve you?! Wtf is wrong with you? If you make so much money why is tipping even an issue for you? You can easily afford it. People are people and deserve to be treated with respect regardless of their job
No dude, I didn’t spit in your food, I wiped my ass with it. If you don’t like the culture here, get the fuck out !
I hope you get hit by a car. Better yet, I hope you never experience happiness. Finally, I truly hope I get to run into you one day. I would love to show you what pain feels like.