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.
The minimm wage is 7.45 in Michigan, but the minimum for servers is 2.65 The reason you, as the costumer, are expected to tip is bc in most countries it is built into the price of your meal and the waiters make more an hour. It’s different here. You’re saving on your food so you’re expected to tip. Also, at any chain restaurant you can’t really under-report to the IRS. Every credit card tip is automatically recorded and reported on your pay stub. I would say 75% of my tips are on cards. For cash tips, the computer estimates how mush you made and if you try to report too little or too much, it won’t let you. Please don’t make assumptions when you actually don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re not hurting the restaurant, you’re hurting the waiter. If you don’t like the way we do it in America, don’t eat out here.
In reply to Chelsea
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the minimum wages for servers isn’t low because of magic. It’s because waiters haven’t unionized, and demanded fair wages the way every single service industry – or any other industry for that matter – has done in the past.
The question is, are waiters happy to be receiving tips and a low hourly wage, or would they rather have the standard hourly wage and no tips? If the answer is the former, then you have to take the good with the bad and be willing to put up with customers who refuse to tip at all because such is the nature of the game and tipping. If the latter, then the answer is to simply unionize and fight for your rights. Not to expect customers to do it for you.
In reply to bhagwad
Servers will not want to unionize because they make more money without a union.
They don’t pay taxes on a large portion of their tips because they are such upstanding honest citizens.
IS THEIR ONE SERVER OUT THEIR THAT CAN HONESTLY SAY THEY CLAIM EVERY
TIP THEY RECIEVE ??
If they answer is no then quit complaining until you pay just like all of the other tax payers do.
In reply to Chelsea
Own restaurants – not legal to make servers claim tips from register receipts we can only put on payroll what servers tell us to.
If you can’t afford to tip, stay home. Period. End of story. In America, we tip, and it is rude and disrespectful to not tip. Servers and bartenders don’t make much per hour, so they work on tips. If you don’t want to tip, stay home. YOu’re an ignorant person for not respecting this culture.
In reply to julia
Saying something repeatedly doesn’t magically make it happen :) . I will continue to not tip.
And just so you know, you’re only perpetuating the stereotype that cheap, disgusting Indians are rude, disgusting and don’t tip.
In reply to julia
Yeah well, I don’t remember taking on the mantle of being the ambassador of India. And anyone who draws that conclusion is a bigot all on their own.
I have been scanning most of the comments and it blows my mind that so many people are against tipping. I make 2.13/hr serving and I give excellent service and almost always recieve a 20% or higher tip. If servers were paid minimum wage there wouldn’t be any incentive for them to give anything more than mediocre service. If I have 5 tables and I have a repeat customer who did not tip me before, take a guess who will be getting the least amount of my attention. Non-tippers are only hurting themselves and making themselves look like jackasses. Word definitely gets around a restaurant when someone doesn’t tip. So I wouldn’t be surprised if your food and refills took twice as long as the people around you next time you came in. I don’t understand the point of “boycotting” tipping. The majority of the public understands the importance of it, why can’t you? I’m guessing none of you have waited tables before..
In reply to K.T.
Regular people usually don’t need any extra incentive over and above their salary to do a good job.
In reply to K.T.
Most people are not against tipping. What they don’t like is the attitude of tipping. The poor me- you owe me a tip. The complaining, whining aND fussing if servers don’t receive one. Mostly the assumption that “WE OWE’ you a tip. Nobody owes you nothing. You are LUCKY if you get a tip just like anyone is. So in Washington state servers get $9.04 and hour plus their tips. Some of them make more money than the owners, all make more than the cooks, the assistant managers, the bookkeepers etc. and never::::::::::::::: do they claim they all on their payroll taxes.
***********************SO QUIT WHINING *****************************
Wow! You sure generated quite a bit of conversation with this. I’ve always viewed the expectation of tipping as sort of an assault, to be honest. Circumstances this and circumstances that… profession is a choice.. Some people choose to be waiters in a restaurant.. some people choose to be bums on the street… I don’t think anyone appreciates being pick pocketed by a bum. Thanks for speaking your mind on this subject. Have a great year!
You are the scum of the earth. What makes you so special? You don’t want to tip someone graciously serving your dinner, then eat at home. You don’t like the system in the U.S. then go to Europe. Do you even realize people are raising families on income made from tips? I’d like to see your wage cut in half and see how you like it. The problem lies with people like you, not bar and restaurant owners. It should be standard that people work in a restaurant before graduating from highschool, maybe then we could weed out people like you from society, and maybe then people like you would learn a little bit about manners and even better, some people skills.
In reply to CJS
Wow – “graciously serving me dinner”? That’s a new one. How about just doing their job for which they’re getting paid by the restaurant owner?
Yes, I agree with Bhagwad. Why work for tips when I can rip people off with my freelancing skillz yo! 20 dollars an hour? For writing such literary gold such as this? Then you go and dare criticize us? Tell us to unionize? Nah, I’d rather keep working for what I’m making now. I’m sure I walk out with more than 20 dollars an hour.
Sure, let’s go unionize and force all employers that have tipped positions to pay hourly wages. Let me work this out so you can understand. If all restaurants were forced to pay by the hour and kick the tips…a LOT of people will become unemployed due to the establishments making up for that lost income by 86ing jobs. But that’s not your problem, right Bhagwad?
Then smaller family owned restaurants might go out of business from all the extra labor cost. But that’s not your problem that those cheapos might go out of business, right Bhagwad? Families that own restaurants losing everything…man, I hope that thought doesn’t upset your picture up there. I wouldn’t want you to cry a manly tear into that cup of joe.
Also, you think all of these restaurants are going to keep their food and drinks affordable? No, they’re losing money, they’re going to raise prices as well to make up for the shortfall. How happy would that make you Bhagwad? Having to pay an extra $5-10 bucks to go out for dinner? You might have to write for an extra hour or two this week just to take your date out. Oh no!
Seriously Bhagwad, why are you spending so much time here throwing your opinions around for free. I mean, this site and your opinions…I’d definitely give you a nickel for all of this literary gold. I mean, you’re costing yourself so much money by doing this blog for free man.
Oh, and I guess by unionize…you mean, be like the rest of the world. Nah, I’ll pass. I’ve seen unionized servers. Laziest bunch of morons I’ve ever had the displeasure of working with. Hope you get to deal with some of them one day. Have fun trying to get your cup of coffee up there refilled when it’s union break and no one gives a damn.
(And before you come up with one of your oh so witty replies will sitting on your toilet Bhagwad…I like the idea of unions. It’s holier than thou attitudes like yours that make me sick.)
In reply to Bhagwad Jr
Nice to see you (partially) lucid – do these moments last long? :)
In reply to bhagwad
So no response to any of his logical arguments? You’ve really got to do your research and think your opinion through if you’re going to delve into such a hot topic.
Whoa, whoa, whoa…hold on here. My post said 9:53 am. Your profile says you live in Florida Bhagwad. You aren’t in India anymore. Stop being lazy and update your time zone.
you my friend are a scumbag and sbould not be allowed out to eat. you ever think that the reason your food isnt more expensive is because most servers make anywhere from $2-4/hour. maybe we should get paid $12/hour and jack up the food prices and see who complains then. asshole. we live off your tips. you dont know anything about what youre talking about so shut up and go take your ego somewhere else.
In reply to Matt
Yes – please do that. Jack up the food prices if you have to. It’s how I buy the rest of my stuff . You know, that outmoded concept of a bill and a receipt?
In reply to bhagwad
Agree with you bhagwad.
don’t understand what’s so special about this food/restaurant or so-called service industry has such a special tips system.
my boss doesn’t tip me to photocopy, and i won’t shout in his/her if I over achieve but he/she doesn’t tip me.
In reply to Matt
come to vancouver and say that and you will be flying home via the hospital
In reply to Matt
wow, so many losers in America.
So here is my career plan:
1. drop out of school and be a loser
2. apply for the easiest job (and only job that I can do without totally screwing up)
3. agree to work for a wage that I am happy with, a wage that reflects my skills and intelligence
4. beg and ask for handouts from anyone that has money
5. troll the internet crying that others should give money to beggers
6. scream at anyone that has brains and doesnt give me a hand out.
7. use caps lock on the internet because that REALLY makes a difference.
I have a quick question bhagwad. Do these rules apply to pizza delivery drivers? How bout military members that lost their full-time above minimum wage jobs (due to the business closing down) while away for war and have no choice but to deliver said pizzas? (Mainly for the fact that no matter how many applications he puts in, no matter how great he makes his resume. No one will even call him in for an interview and whenever he calls them he gets the run-around.)
How about when the food is quoted to be delivered in 50 minutes, but it’s there in 30. How about when the driver gets to a hotel, a place of business, a bar or a strip club, he comes with plates, napkins, parmesan, peppers and sauces that the customer somehow forgot to request?
How bout bartenders, who actually go to bartending classes in order to make the great drinks people get from them? Oh, yes, now onto servers. I’m not saying that you should be expected to tip no matter what. I’m saying, hey, if you do see someone go way out of their way preforming their job for you, why not show appreciation?
I’m a delivery driver, when I order food at a restaurant, I tip. Unless the server is doing less than what I expect from them. I expect quite a lot from a server too! As a driver, I go above and beyond. I deal with retards not unlike yourself on a daily basis on the road. I know all the shortcuts in this town in order to get to any place as quick as possible. I preform QC on all orders before I take them on the road. I get my vehicle fixed due to it being worn and torn for my customers.
I deal with the possibilty of being robbed by gunpoint every day. In fact I was robbed by gunpoint delivering pizzas. However I was a good little employee and had just the $20 I’m supposed to carry. I report all my tips, cash or credit. But I also make some serious damn good money. Do I ever complain or treat a customer different face-to-face? No. Let’s be hypothetical for a moment. If YOU ordered from my establishment 10 minutes before another customer did. You were known as a no-tipper, they were known as good tippers, or even 2 dollar tippers. I’m going to deliver to them first, before you.
You don’t deserve to have your food delivered to you quicker than the time frame we quoted to you to begin with. I’ll gladly go get fuel, get a soda, read a blog at the side of the road until 5 minutes before I’m supposed to be at your home(provided we’re slow). I’ll arrive “on-time” and no one will know the better. We have heat bags for our pizzas, they keep them hot. The other person however, deserves to get their food as quick as possible. I’ll gladly deliver their food and be extremely happy about it. Guess what, I’ll also gladly deliver your food and be extremely happy about that too. Want to know why? Cause I still met expectations, because you are too niave to know that there is something better than “average”.
Also, please don’t try to tell me that delivery fees are tips themselves. Being experienced in this field, I know that the majority of that fee goes to advertising for the corporation, maybe a small portion goes to the driver, if they’re lucky.
You know the kicker? Even though drivers pay for wear and tear and fuel for their vehicles, they still get paid less-than minimum wage.
You know what else is rather interesting? In mexico, they don’t tip drivers, but they tip servers. They don’t see how a driver did anything, but they do see that servers work hard and tip them generously.
On another slightly related note-
I’ve tried and am still trying to get myself another respectable job. However, right now, I’m kind of stuck, no one seems to be interested, even when I bug the shit out of their company. No one seems to give a shit anymore that you fought for your country.
Sincerely, your happy go-lucky, NEVER angry neighborhood delivery driver. By the way, my customers always ask me what a good tip is. Want to know what my response is? “I am not allowed to offer my opinion.” Most ask me why. My response is, “It’s rude and against the rules to mention a tip, even if a customer inquires about it. If you are real curious, call the pizza shop and ask the manager their opinion.” I love my customers, even if a very small amount of them are cheap and inconsiderate.
In reply to Jake
So, you are not a Pizza Delivery man; you are a blackmailer. State your profession accurately.
In reply to Dwi
How does that make me a blackmailer?
In reply to Jake
Blackmail:- -( from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/blackmail)
— to extort money from (a person) by the use of threats.
— to force or coerce into a particular action, statement, etc
You just tried to blackmail, when you said you would deliver food quicker, and in a hotter condition, to the one who tips, and delay it to the maximum possile, for the one who does not. That is Blackmail.
Elementary, my dear Mr. Watson.
In reply to Jake
Jake says “Also, please don’t try to tell me that delivery fees are tips themselves. Being experienced in this field, I know that the majority of that fee goes to advertising for the corporation, maybe a small portion goes to the driver, if they’re lucky.”
So whose fault is that? The customer has paid his dues. Now you want to fleece him for more, through tips , because you do not have the guts to demand from your employer, what is rightfully yours. So you prey on the weak link, the customer, by blackmailing him, for more. You prioritize the one who pays the larger tip, to the one who pays just $2.
So, a millionaire who pays you $3, will get his pizza quicker than the 99% who can only afford a $2 tip.
Way to go, my man! I salute your service for the country.
In reply to Dwi
Honestly, it’s not whether or not they tip, it’s whether they DON’T tip out of spite. By the way, rich people don’t tip, neither do poor people. The people who tip all the time is the middle class, at least in Omaha, NE. I never blamed anyone for the delivery fee, so don’t put words in my e-mouth. I never said that I want to “fleece” my customer, neither do i blackmail my customer. If he chooses not to tip me, whatever, not a big deal to me, the next customer will most likely make up for it and then some. I don’t have a sad face, I don’t try to look the poorest I can look. In fact I try to look good, ask the customer how their day was, inform them of upcoming specials, comment on their pets or their lawn, etc. All positive comments by the way. If they choose not to tip me, I don’t care. I leave knowing I fulfilled my side of the deal PLUS extra. Whether they choose to appreciate that with a tip or not is none of my concern. Why? Because I walk out with over $120 every night after a 4-5 hour shift. AND it’s ALL reported to the IRS.
I like claiming deductions, so I claim all my tips, I get almost all my taxes back that way. So I’ll stay the straight path, because it’s ME dicking the IRS by using the system CORRECTLY.
So fuck anyone who think’s I’m trying to screw the customer, hell no. Tip or no tip, I’m smiling, but if you make a ritual of complaining about perfectly fine pizza (to get more free pizza), for instance, watered down dough!?!? (How the hell can you water down dough, cook it, crisp it in the oven and cut it when it’s “watered down”) or not tipping, ever, then yes, I’m going to put my more appreciative customers first. I give every customer 5 tries before I push them down or up my list. If the orders are within 5-10 minutes of each other, the tipper gets it first. If they both tip, the first one that ordered gets it first.
I’ve witnessed first hand, customers lying to my manager about what was wrong with their pizza, when, I made it, cut it and delivered it myself. And you know what? I have my customers OPEN the boxes BEFORE I leave to make sure it’s to THEIR satisfaction. And still, they have the gumption to call and complain!? Obviously if it’s something that you can’t see from opening the box, we’ll replace it. But if you say the cheese was stuck to the top and the toppings were flailed around the box, when I personally watched you open the boxes and check the pizzas to see if it was to your satisfaction, you’re a lying piece of shit who should be shot.
By the way, I keep a list of all the customers in my phone, there’s an app for us pizza delivery drivers. Makes it real easy to keep track of the customers and of the average in tips I get from each household or the whole day/week/month/year. Not to mention my mileage and pay is recorded into it.
It’s also good to mention the customers who don’t tip, but are very nice, courteous, and appreciative when I deliver to them. THEY will always be #1 to me, because they REALLY appreciate what I do. I’ll always volunteer to take those deliveries because they always brighten my day up, regardless what’s going on. I love it when they call and tell the manager how awesome I was to them. I know it won’t get me anything, but it’s good to know people who don’t tip still care enough to try to get me a raise for what I do.
By the way, I do have the guts to demand to my employer. I have also, demanded from my employer, but I got nothing. However, I still enjoy what I do, however “menial” it might seem to you. I hope this clarified some things for you as to where I am standing on this matter.
In reply to Dwi
By the way, blackmail is when you go up to a person and tell them “if you don’t tip, you’ll get your order later”. I don’t do that, the customer has no idea that’s going on, therefore, it’s not blackmail, it’s protocol. Learn to use your “defined” words correctly. I don’t go to a customer and say “if you don’t tip next time, your order will be delivered later”. I don’t tell the customer anything except “Hello, how was your day! Wonderful, Your total is $15.06, I appreciate the be business, Thank you for ordering, please order again soon!”
In reply to Jake
That is called indirect blackmailing. You don’t have to spell it out, customers are not fools. By delaying the non-tipping customer’s order to the last minute everytime, you make your intentions obvious to them.
“I’ll gladly go get fuel, get a soda, read a blog at the side of the road until 5 minutes before I’m supposed to be at your home(provided we’re slow). I’ll arrive “on-time” and no one will know the better.”
And you call yourself an honest upstanding serviceman? You are intentionally wasting time to make the customer know that he better tip even though you are getting paid by your boss to deliver all pizzas as fast as you can. Next time your TV or fridge breaks down, call me and I will do such a shoddy repair job that it will break down again within a month, all because of no tipping. I would like to see how you like that.