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 man is the scum of the earth. We make our living off of this. If you don’t have enough money to leave a tip then you don’t have enough money to go out to eat. Stick with your dollar menu, jackass.
Your an asshole. I hope you lose whatever job and money you have and have to get a job waiting scums like you and see how you like it. Just because we have jobs like this does not mean we dont have money. Stop being such a jackass and try doing our jobs one day and see how much a little tip can help. Ass whipe.
your negativity disgusts me. people like you are why the world is going down the shitter. what a self centered selfserving way too look at the world. please go back too the negative black hole you crawled out of where it is apparent ok too be a cheap heartless selfish git
Why not put a picture of yourself on this rant so we all know who you are rather than hiding if your so passionate about not tipping. T.I.P. S= TO insure proper(prompt, service. You know we are at you beck and call and to lazy to go to the store, cook clean up after yourself but want to feel as your the god of everything and deserve to have us do it for free for you. Scum bag. But I would still never spit in the food, It’s called hospitality
If you don’t want to tip your server then don’t eat out. If you don’t agree with the social agreement that exists in the U.S. regarding tipping then leave, don’t visit. Better yet realize that cultures around the world vary widely and as a traveler one needs to adapt accordingly. Douche.
Wow. I can scarcely recall a more inane, thoughtless, ass-backwards diatribe than this. You present absolutely NO valid points for your case, do nothing with this article except show what a cheap, heartless, head-up-the-ass prick you are. Waiting tables is, has always been, and will always be a tipped service. You are tipping the person for SERVING YOU YOUR FOOD you moron. You pay the bill to cover the cost of food, but preparing the food, serving it, then cleaning up after you shovel it down your throat, desperately trying not to suffocate because of the god damn mouth-breather you most certainly are, are an extra service they provide.
If you don’t want to pay for someone to just give you the food, then go to a cafeteria style place. You mentioned McDonalds, so I guess you have enough functioning brain cells to understand that there ARE indeed such places in the world. You want the Chinese, Italian or other foods you can’t get at McDonalds? Well how about you go to a Chinese or Italian take-out joint? Get your food, sit down, eat it, and get the fuck out. Of course there’s also the option to get off your lazy fat ass and make your own goddamn food, but I’m sure that such things are outside your skill range.
Your “points” are nonsensical, and if you are so secure that this is an appropriate way to conduct yourself, and a valid stance to take, I think that when you walk into a restaurant, you should immediately let the hostess know that you will not be a tipping customer. That way your server can act like the “conveyor belt” you seem to think they are, and not waste their time trying to be courteous to you so they can focus on tables who will ACTUALLY help them continue their livelihoods.
See, most human beings on the planet actually want people to be nice to them, and the server most likely isn’t pretending to be nice to you, then cussing you out the moment they turn their back. Do they actually wanna be your friend? Of course not, you’re a customer, so they’re being nice to you so you like your time in the establishment and come back, not just to get a tip. That wouldn’t be necessary, because most HUMAN BEINGS understand that when you have a person specifically assigned to your table to come out, have knowledge of the menu, explain those things to you, take the order, put it in, balance their time so that you get all the attention that you DESPERATELY seem to need along with the other twelve tables they have, bring your food out in a timely manner, refill your beverage, and then check out your bill at the end… They should get tipped.
Apparently these things are a strange concept to you though, because you are some kind of alien who was probably kicked off his own planet for being a bastard. Guess what? This planet is ready to do the same. Please PLEASE tell your server you don’t plan to tip, so you don’t waste anyone else’s time with your useless existence. I see the titles of the other articles on the side-bar to this one, and I can clearly see that you are a piece of shit who’s completely out of touch with the rest of the world, so I’m going to end my statement now and move on with my life, which I share with other people, while you can fester in your own stupidity and feces alone for the rest of your pathetic life.
Here’s to the people that should not go out to eat and for the servers that wait on these cheap assholes:
A friend tagged me in a post regarding this blog. To further humor myself, I read some of the comments. Some people are illiterate fucks, but I do agree with one comment especially: it’s a custom.
I know that in Australia servers get paid minimum wage, which is at least $13 an hour, but it’s not their custom to tip. Honestly though, why not tip someone who is serving you? A tip is not free money from someone who supposedly “works harder.” If you don’t tip well, and we have to claim whatever tips we do make, which come out of our hourly wages to equal a gained minimum wage, we end up paying for you to eat out on top of having to serve you. Not only do we have to be on our feet, running around for hours at a time, carrying 4 to 5 plates of food to your table, running back to get drinks and refills, multitasking, handling large sums of money from possibly 10 to 20 different guests all at the same time, but we do this with a smile on each of our beautiful faces. Not to mention cleaning up after some of you pigs. It’s stressing trying to make an experience enjoyable when you have so much to do, especially for those that demand a lot. It’s not like we can say, “No, go do it yourself.” That’s the service you pay for. Some people don’t take into account that the bill pays the wages for the cooks and inventory of the food and drinks, just barely us. The custom is to tip for service, not give us free money because we act like we like you. We don’t even know you, but it’s our job to make it a good experience whether you’re an asshole or not.
Tipping is courtesy to the service of a good dining experience, and everyone should understand that.
If you, probably a spoiled, inconsiderate twat, still disagree,
fuck you right back and get your own damn food.
This guy is a straight up MORON!! Thank god most people don’t think like this ungrateful piece of dog shit. I’ve been a server for a long time because im good at it and make great money, i can easily make 150 pluss a night so ill give you 3 reasons you should go fuck yourself.
1. Tipping is a part of dinning at a restaurant, if you don’t like it…take your broke ass to Mc Donald’s.
2. We don’t know that you’re a cheap douche untill you’re long gone so if anyone spits in your food its not because of the tip. It’s because you’re a terrible person.
3. If restaurants paid servers normal wages the servers would have no reason to give their guests good service. The harder you work to make your guests happy the more cash in your pocket. Btw im glad i only make 2.13/hr because i average 30$/hour IN TIPS!!
No one wants to be your friend…
Next time you dine out, read your 5 reason your a dick hole rant about tipping to your server and i pray that they shit on your food and dip their nuts in your drink.
In reply to Luis
Moron might not be the right word. He is getting the same food and service for less money than you and I pay.
I like this guy a lot. I am a banquet server, and most of my wage is based on service fees and tips, but I like him because he takes a stance.
I agree with #2. Why can’t I just be charged for the full price of the meal? I don’t even see how this system is legal. An owner should charge enough for his/her meals to pay his/her workers a decent wage. Why do owners get away with trusting the public to cover what he doesn’t charge for?
After dealing with family who constantly ask for money, I’m inclined to agree with this whole post. If you don’t like what the owner pays you, get another job or a second job. Don’t ask me for handouts. I’m tired of giving people handouts. That’s not to say that I don’t tip because I know the owner ISN’T going to pay a decent wage. Just like I always end up giving family money. It’s exasperating.