Waiters are understandably upset about why I don’t tip and have given many illogical reasons in support of this ridiculous practice. Here’s a rebuttal of the most common ones.
Bullshit 1: We only Pay for the Food. Service is Extra
The menu price doesn’t include just the cost of preparing the food and paying the chef. It includes the restaurant setting, the tables, the cutlery, the effort and investment that the restaurant owner has put into the dining area. Now guess what? Since I’m paying for it, the restaurant has to give it to me. And how do they accomplish this?
Waiters. Ding ding!
See without waiters, the restaurant has no way of delivering the dining experience to me that I’m paying for. I’m paying for sitting down in a nice place. I’m paying for the air conditioning. I’m paying for the nice tablecloth and for my food to be delivered to me in a reasonable time. The menu price covers all this. Waiters are just the restaurant’s way of bringing me my food. Of fulfilling their part of the contractual obligation.
Bottom line. Servers are not independent contractors. They’re not an “extra” that you have to pay for. By hook or crook, the restaurant needs to deliver the product. Whether they use waiters or conveyor belts (a term that many seem to object to), is not my business. I don’t care. The waiters can just melt into the background and let me enjoy my food in peace. If the menu includes free refills or whatever, then waiters are required to deliver that as well. Why? Because…wait for it….I paid for it!
Bullshit 2: It’s the custom. It’s ‘merica!
Yeah right. You do realize that not all customs are created equal don’t you? Slavery was a “custom” back in the day and so was race and sexual discrimination. Anyone with an ounce of integrity does what they feel is right. There are many harmless customs in the world like bowing instead of shaking hands, or using chopsticks instead of forks etc that are morally neutral. It really makes no difference if you follow them or not.
But tipping? Hell no! It’s not morally neutral. If you get better service because you’re a good tipper, then you’re essentially paying a bribe to servers to get them to do their job properly next time. All customs have a limit. And tipping is such a convenient custom isn’t it? Hell, I wish I had a custom in place for people to just throw money at me.
And just in case someone feels I don’t appreciate the US, there are many great things about this country that I love and I’ve blogged about repeatedly. Freedom of expression, the way Americans show respect to their armed forces, the politeness of people as you walk by on the road, the work culture, the individuality.
I just don’t like tipping. It’s not as if a person has to blindly accept everything in a country without judgment. There are good things. And there are bad things. Just like everywhere else.
Bullshit 3: The cost of food will increase dramatically
Someone needs to do basic math. Increasing the price of food to pay minimum wage to waiters will not double the price of food. Some have even gone so far to claim that it’ll increase 4-5 times. Ridiculous. Totally, utterly ridiculous. Let’s dissect this rubbish.
As an example, I’ll take Chili’s. A waitress at Chili’s was so kind as to comment saying that the price of food at her restaurant will increase by 3 times – $30 for a $10 burger. Using the statistics she herself gave in her comment, there are 12 waiters (at full capacity) who need to be paid minimum wage. That’s $5 extra per hour per waiter making it a net total of $60 per hour that has to be added to the price of food on a full day.
$60/hr? For 12 waiters. That’s it! It’s peanuts. If you assume even that each waiter is serving just four tables. That’s $5 an hour extra they have to make from four tables. Even if we say that each table sits for a massive two hours, the extra paid per table is way less than $5. On the total bill. Worst, worst case scenario.
You know what? Customers won’t even notice. So stop the garbage about the prices of food going up several times to pay minimum wage. It’s utter nonsense. The only reason waiters don’t want this system in place is because they earn a hell of a lot more than than minimum wage using our tips. And they come across as the victims.
Waiters are Struggling Mothers/Students
Look, it’s not as if I don’t have sympathy for those who struggle in life. I just don’t think it’s my problem. And I specially don’t like it being impinged upon me. Generosity is one thing. Having money demanded from you is something totally else. Any tip I give is out of the generosity of my heart and I expect some gratitude for helping those in need. It’s not something I have to do since…refer to Myth 1.
Bottom line: Socially mandated tipping is a scam. I can’t believe how intelligent people have been hoodwinked into it. Probably because they like to come across as “nice” people and feel sorry for servers who hover around looking expectantly. Well, I find that irritating and I won’t buy into it.
What is being described by this idiot is that he prefers McDonald’s menu over an actual human interaction. It’s an understood and overall accepted social norm in the United States to tip a server. If he doesn’t want the expected service then he should go through his favorite drive thru, I’m sure they know his name!
Ok, i just have to weigh in here. There are some seriously over entitled waiting staff here.
1. It should be your EMPLOYERS RESPONSIBILITY to pay you a reasonable wage. This wage should be covered in the cost of the food in the same way the running costs of the establishment and the wages of the manager are. This isnt a difficult concept!
2. Why does a waiter deserve a tip when a shop clerk doesn’t? Its still customer service, they’re still required to be knowledgeable about the products and to provide exemplary service so why does one kind of service deserve a gratuity and another does not? Should your nurse at hospital be tipped for changing your sheets? No! So why should i pay any other kind of staff directly.
3. As a shop clerk, I frequently have to stand for 30-60 minutes discussing the virtues of a given product with a customer who reeks of his own urine. If i dont get a tip for that i fail to see why anyone else should.
4. I get a wage. Minimum wage to be exact and that is enforced by law. In this country. (the U.K. incase you were wondering) even waiters are paid this. This allows tips to be given for GOOD SERVICE not as a matter of course. I am simply baffled as to why America doesnt feel the employer should be responsible for paying thier staff and ,instead, delegate this responsibility to the customer.
Take the BS out of the equation. Pay your staff properly. Charge customers a price shown on the menu and allow good service to be rewarded if the customer feels the service was truly exemplary. Stop standing around expecting more than you deserve and feeling butt-hurt when its not forthcoming. Scrap this stupid auto tip culture. sort out your minimum wage laws or get a real job.
FYI I have worked as a waiter and when I was given a tip it was truly unexpected and received with gratefulness. Y’know, the way it should be!
Gratuity definition (aka TIP); something given voluntarily or beyond obligation usually for some service.
In reply to Nat3ski
It’s all boils down to different cultures and their customs. I’m sure not tipping isn’t the only custom that differs from our customs here in American culture. It’s just how it is. It’s very rare here to get stiffed as it may be very rare in the U.K. to receive a tip. As when I wait on people from your country here in America I’m aware that they won’t tip me, that doesn’t stop me from giving them wonderful service and when I visit the U.K. I will always tip because that’s my custom! : )
In reply to Jenna
It’s more of a simple belief that when someone performs a job they deserve to be paid. This is the employers responsibility.
Should I bring my own waiting staff with me to a restaurant? Seeing as I’m paying them myself it seems strange I don’t get to interview and pick my waiting staff. If that much is being done for me why am I the one expected to handle payroll? It simply flies in the face of reason.
If they work for the restaurant then the restaurant should pay them and I should pay the restaurant. Same as in every other business.
The issue here is that your government doesn’t respect you enough to consider waiting staff in equal standing to other staff and the sheer readiness to make this the customers fault is frankly sickening.
The complete apathy of said staff to take this up with governers and statesmen is equally baffling and decidedly undemocratic an unamerican!
Tipping did not originate in America but you as a whole have chosen to make it the status quo and its about time y’all chose to change that.
You have categorically ruined the value and the very definition of the gratuity and have only yourselves to blame.
No other industry would take this type of remuneration as par for the course and the restaurant industry shouldn’t either.
I get paid to do my job to the best of my ability for a wage agreed upon upfront and so should you. I don’t get paid extra for doing it well and neither should you. A gratuity should be my choice to reward those I deem worthy of rewarding not as an act of subsistence for the recipient.
tips should be viewed in the same light as soldier’s medals, they should be awarded for going above and beyond the call of duty. (though I know America has devalued this practice aswell)
In reply to Nat3ski
As an aside the mentality that a patron of your business that pays their bill can “stiff you” as you so colourfully put it is absolutely sickening and just the thing that I’m talking about. Unless they dine and dash a customer CANNOT STIFF YOU! Your boss paying you the pathetic circa 2 dollars an hour is the one screwing you over. They are barely paying you at all.
The tip culture is beneficial for the owner of the restaurant and no one else. Why not pay staff on a commission basis of a percentage of total food sold? Shift the onus onto the employer not the customers. Eating out should be a pleasure not an effort in mathematics, social convention and what is essentially grovelling servitude. Employment shouldn’t be equal to charity but somehow America has made it just that.
In reply to Nat3ski
Many of the Anerican population has worked as a server at some point in their lives, they see the good money in it, so why would we argue with the government to take that away? That’s the plus side of serving, making lots of money in a short amount of time, sometimes making more than those with a college degree. As I myself am a college student, even after I obtain a diploma, I will most likely still wait tables. You don’t have to like it, it’s just the way it is. Call it unamerican if you want, but I assure you our government does way worse things than allowing restaurants to pay us under
minimum wage(this is the least of their concerns) In my life as a server the only people I’ve heard complain about this matter are people that live in different countries. Just be happy you have the way you see fit in the U.K. and leave it to use to do what works for us. It’s the job I chose and agreed up getting paid 5.15/ hr plus tips. People will continue to complain and bitch about this until they are blue in the face or dead, if you’d like to waste your breath that’s on you. I don’t see the tipping customs being changed anytime soon and until they do servers are going to continue to make boat loads of money if they are good at what they do. I always go above and beyond with my tables and treat them as I would expect to be treated.
In reply to Jenna
And I’ll bet you view non tippers as screwing you over? waiting tables is a low skilled job. In that I mean it requires the bare minimum of education so it shouldn’t be brilliantly paid but should guarantee a minimum standards of living as should any employment of similar skill.
My objections are mostly to the sense of entitlement shown by many here for customers to pay them when their employers don’t feel they should.
How can someone providing customers to your establishment screw you over!? That’s a disgusting attitude to have towards your patrons.
If you already out earn college graduates then I dare say your customers are more generous then you deserve.
I hope you generously tip your mother when she cooks and then brings your food to the table.
Though I find it strange that someone making such good money would trawl a forum about not tipping.
In reply to Nat3ski
If I could find a restaurant that pays 30$/hour and provides benefits then yes I would apply in a heart beat. Stiffing is just the word we use to describe someone not leaving a tip. We didn’t make these choices, we only choose to work with them, and any smart person who chooses to live life and work less, this is the job for them until reaching a career they truly care about. If I get stiffed (geesh I hope I don’t hurt your feeling by using such an ugly
word) I don’t cry about it. I treat everyone with respect and courtesy, even if they smell of piss and garbage. If they come in the next week, I’ll continue to treat them in the same manner because this is the job I chose and not getting ripped comes along with it. You chose to work at a place with minimum wage. That’s your choice. For every person out there that is against tipping there is a person happy to tip me obnoxious amounts just because they feel cool throwing money around. It’s the way of life in the service industry. If you don’t like to tip than dont. It’s not affecting you one bit by us getting ripped besides your butt hurt because I work less and make more. If you had that option would turn it down? That’s your choice.
In reply to Jenna
So why do I keep hearing that not tipping leaves y’all unable to pay your bills and feed your kids. I’m guessing you don’t tip the man who gives you your paper. You don’t tip your police officers, divorce lawyers doctors etc. So why tip anyone else who is just doing their job? It doesn’t make sense. Why should tips be the reserve of waiters, cab drivers and bag handlers? When was the last time you tipped anyone not driving a cab or handling your food? If tipping must exist in such an expectant manner why is it not applied universally across the board?
Seems to be dual standards. And two different stories at both ends of the scale. I’m sure I too would perpetuate a custom whereby people threw money at me but it doesn’t make it a good system. Tips should be for all or not at all.
fyi I find my wage perfectly acceptable for the job I do, which is as skilled as waiting, which I too have done. I don’t expect to be paid by customers for doing my job and neither should custom dictate as such. My employer pays me and that’s the way it should be.
In reply to Nat3ski
Well thats not the way it is. This is the real world and not everything is the way it should be. All we can do as mature adults is evaluate every situation separately and act accordingly. Is it wrong for an employer to expect costumers to pay their employees? Probably. Its also wrong to be informed of the workers lack of pay and still use their services with no intention of compensating them? Definitely. You are not only condoning the business owners payment method by choosing to be a costumer you are furthing the wrong doing by not tipping the worker off the services they provided knowing the entire time they are doing it for the tip that you have no intention of giving them . Luckily there is law to protect the fairness of taking advantage of another human. Its called the law of attraction. Any energy you put out into the universe will materialize in your life either positively or negatively depending on your intentions. It doesn’t matter to me whether or not you tip your server because another person will make up for your disregard of another human. What bothers me is if your intention was to make said worker wait on you for no money and not realize that you have taken advantage of that person. You know they dont get paid hourly and you know that the person serving you is doing it for a tip from you so why eat out? Because your rude and only thinking of what you can squeeze out of life to better benefit yourself. You might have saved a couple bucks at the restaurant last night but the damage to your karma is greater. so the answer to the question of why one should compensate a worker when their employer does not is BECAUSE ITS ETHICAL. You chose to be seated and served and you know what is expected of you while at the establishment so why ignore it? Because your cheap and rude and obviously have no regard for anyone other than yourself. But really its no ones else’s business how you choose to live your life because your the only one who has to suffer the consequences of the negative energy you put into the world. Good luck I have a feeling your gonna need it!!
In reply to l
Your apathy at not getting the situation corrected yourself is pathetic. If all waitstaffs across the country what do you think would happen. This is how most people have fought for minimum wage. To tell us to stay home and not go out to dine would cost you your job. You are fine with that. Please shift the blame where it belongs. I can assure you it isn’t the customers fault.
In reply to ghpham
So you blame the employee? That’s add bad as blaming the customer and a cowards response. Money talks and bullshit walks. So if you want the system changed don’t eat out. They affects the owner and then one responsible for the system.
In reply to Jim DeVinney
That isn’t how it works. You need to take control and forces them to pay. By me stopping eating out all that does is cause the restaurant to lose money and forces them to let go of waitstaffs. It pretty cowardly of you to blame the customers instead of of where it rightfully belong, the owner!
In reply to Nat3ski
Have you ever waited tables before?? I assume not. It definitely requires more brains than your standard minimum wage job (if you want to be good at it) and when you really think about what the day can consist of it CAN be a lot of work. Not only are you keeping track of 25-30 people at all times anywhere from 8-12 hours per day all day, you are also walking (running sometimes if you’re really busy) literally for miles every day through the course of your shift all while carrying anywhere from 25-50 pound trays full of food or empty dishes, all in the 85 degree restaurant because your boss doesn’t want to run his/her electricity bill through the roof because of the air conditioning. It’s the people who say these things about waiters and waitresses and bartenders who need to come to their local busy restaraunt/bar and throw on an apron and get down and dirty for a week and see what it’s really all about. And oh yeah…if you think all the job consists of is putting in a food order and bringing it to your table then you’re nucking futs.
In reply to Lou
I assume as you can write you can read also. As I have already stated I have indeed waited tables, and during Christmas no less so I know exactly what is entailed in this job. It really isn’t as difficult as you are making out unless those you work with are thoroughly incompetent. Do you tip your nurses at the hospital? No? Well thier job is essentially the same but with added stresses and intricacies. They also bring you food on top of all that. So if you don’t chuck a few dollars at them why should a waiter get any?
Think about it objectively people, rather than just blindly following a custom which, as a matter of fact, used to be frowned upon in the USA when introduced from Europe due to its demeaning insinuation.
In reply to Nat3ski
Thinking about it objectively nurses used to make 3 to 5 dollars an hour in roughly the 80s. Now they start around 25 an hour. So applying that bit of reasoning servers should make around 25 an hour too? For completely different jobs? And thinking in terms of capitalism, it has been tossed around that the resturant should pay the service staff accordingly so that customers don’t have to tip. Now a 14 ounce soft drink with minimum ice costs the resturant about 20 cents out the door abs they charge about 2.50 a glass on average. How much reality to we have to suspend to think that a change in how the service staff is paid would not result in an increase in overall price and reduced quality?
In reply to Jim DeVinney
Nurses perform a more skilled job hands down, in addition to the job servers perform. Prices would increase, not doubt about it. But the assumption the quality would decrease is brought out from nowhere and us an entirely basesless claim. If you take away the extra you pay as a tup the customer wallet is no lighter afterwards. It just takes away the uncertainty.
In reply to Nat3ski
From the economic perspective let us agree that 15% is standard. And thst your responce can be summed up as the money would move from the customer to the resturant. Are you still confident that the resturant owner wouldn’t move the percentage to 20-25% then pay the employee 10%? although I would bet that it is closer to 5%. It would do two things, and both are unspeakable to free market ssupporters. First the customer would be priced out of the market and those that did remain would suffer from a lower quality worker. My support for my second part is based on the fact that we are pleasenty suprised when we get above average service from a Mcdonalds worker or other service industry employee paid a minimal wage. The free market is an allusion when humans get involved.
In reply to Jim DeVinney
What does it allude to?
In reply to Mr. Grammar
Conrad for one. I would also go with Marie Antoinette as another example of what my poit alludes to.
In reply to Jim DeVinney
Reduce quality? Do you not have professional pride? A complaint to the boss would send you hitting the streets. Honestly…….
In reply to ghpham
Yes reduced quality. You do not get the type of professionalism from a fast food worker that you get from professional wait staff.
In reply to Jim DeVinney
everyone have professional pride, even the janitor that clean my office. Pretty state of affair that you think only waitstaff have pride. Get off your high horse.
In reply to Lou
What does it matter?? The point is your cheap ass boss not paying you correctly, and instead of cursing at him, you are cursing at us.
In reply to Nat3ski
You know why I don’t tip my mother for making me a meal? Because she wants to. Im her kid she wants to feed me and when she’s unable to do so it will then be my obligation to take care of her. Know who should tip the server? Your mom. Because instead of preparing a meal, getting up to refill drinks, and cleaning up she sat peacefully and enjoyed her food for a change. your family decided to skip the normal hassle and routine of eating at home and employ someone else’s service to do it for you. You didnt drive through a window. You didnt get a to go order. You chose to sit in a restaurant order whatever food you wanted and have a server deal with any needs associated with the experience. Have you actually thought of why we as a culture tip? It is for services nay luxuries that we are lucky enough to afford and want done properly. Wanna new hairdo? Go get one. Massage? Mmk sounds nice. Oh, but everyone providing these services gets paid the same so they could care less about the quality. So how do we distinguish between those who did a great job and those who did not? Oh, I know!! We pay them extra. More money to show the person satisfactorily met your needs. If they did not then no extra. They dont deserve it right?
Is this system effective? Yes. Is it flawed? Yes. But it is there for a reason!!!! How else do you propose a person renders good service if they are making the same amount as lazy joe right beside them? People want things done a certain way and the way our system works is you pay to make sure that happens.
Yes in a perfect world everybody would give their all everyday and make sure every action is perfectly executed. But unfortunately this is not a perfect world SO we use systems like this to get the desired result.
Servers may be over paid but it is the consumers over the top demands that make it that way. You want 2 ice cubes for your beer? Need speedier service to make a meeting? Fine but be willing to pay for it. No one would be willing to deal with the stress of playing servent to a different master every thirty minutes if they weren’t being paid well.
Its called the service industry!!!!! Get over it. Know what country doesnt have this “problem”? Uganda. Please move there immediately and see how the conditions compare. Then come back, go to your favorite restaurant order a big meal and lleave your SERVER a big fat tip because you didn’t have to do anything but sit there and stuff your face. The owners already bought the food, paid someone to make it, and provided the place to eat. They didnt pay the person taking your order. You know that!!!! That’s up to you to do depending on how well they did. Say the system sucks. Fine, whatever. But dont just ignore the system because by doing that your making someone work for free and i think we all know how well that turns out. Get a fucking to go order like any other decent tightwad and go home.
In reply to bre2291
The way I reward good service is by using it again the next time. There’s no need for a tip. Repeat business is enough motivation to do a good job. As far as waiter’s go, it’s in a restaurant’s best interests to ensure that the waitstaff are prompt and carry out their duties to the best of their ability.
In reply to Jenna
Then if that is the system allow the system to set the rate. If someone leaves a $1 accept it. If someone leaves $2 accept it. If someone leaves nothing accept it. That’s free enterprise and the American way. Talk to your employer if you want more. Seen plenty of Americans in Australia who leave little if nothing for damn good service. Been in America and given s..t service and been expected to pay.
You’ll have a nice day now. (Said with sincerity)
In reply to Nat3ski
I actually believe in giving tips but for the sake of argument, let’s say an employer paid their staff a regular min wage. I think tips are a really good way to show wait staff immediately how well they paid attention to the customer’s needs. If it was not encouraged and wait staff just got min wage, it would be nice to have some way for the customers to at last show their boss which ones deserve a raise. I’ve seen many ppl in customer service who deserved recognition and didn’t get it while others got promoted who didn’t really deserve it. Some restaurants do add gratuity to orders and I don’t always think it’s rt b/c some of the wait staff at these places get slack and don’t take care of their tables or disrespect customers.
In reply to Jess
I do tip but 20% on a meals ticket is extortion.
In reply to Nat3ski
Tips, To Insure Promt Service. That is what a tip means. No the cost of the food does not inculde that you will get your food quickly. Or have you never been to an understaffed restaurant during a rush? The tip is the cost the server asks for making sure your food is to your liking and out in a timely fashion. Orders get lost on the screan and back of house can make mistakes but the server fixes it. If you don’t want to pay for that then don’t go where it is offered. Order in. Or better yet cook it for yourself. Do not judge a job you have not held.
In reply to Lora
Wow what a lousy attitude. If I don’t get my food promptly, I would NEVER come back to the restaurant. And if enough people don’t come back, the restaurant would be closed. Whoever came up with that acronym is an idiot.
In reply to Nat3ski
While I do agree that the tipping laws are very obscued here in America, not tipping the ones who are directly affected by that just because you don’t like it will not change that. Here in Louisiana, the state I’m from, the amount set by law for hourly pay for servers is $2.13. Which mostly goes to taxes. I have a whopping $60 pay stub from the last two weeks, that was what was left over from my $2.13 an hour after taxes. I think it’s very rude to assume that serving is “not a real job” or is “unskillful” If I can come to your table, greet you with a smile, run around like a chicken with my head cut off getting you your iced tea with exactly 7.5 ice cubes, a basket of bread that I will have to run to get more of a minimum of 3 more times during your meal, your food when it comes out, more iced tea, sauce for your screaming kids, do the same thing for the other 5 tables I have in my section, deal with one of the pervy old men in my section commenting about how good my ass looks in my black slacks with a smile on my face like I actually don’t mind that he’s staring at me like a piece of meat rather than an actual human being, all while keeping up with my running side work to ensure that there is fresh bread to give you before your meal or ice to put in your tea, while keeping a cheerful attitude and hiding the fact that I am extremely overwhelmed so you can get the dining experience you came for, I deserve a job well done. And that doesn’t come from $2.13 an hour. Call me ungrateful, call me entitled, I really don’t care. All I want is what I’m worth. If I give you horrible service with a horrible attitude, by all means, stiff me. But if I am attentive and timily, then give me what I deserve. Because this country says that my employer doesn’t have to, and you’re the ultimate decider of my wages. It’s something I have no control over. Further more if everyone in this country though about tipping the same way you did, then we would all get stiffed by every single table. And all servers would have only $60 take home every two weeks, and guess what? You wouldn’t find a single person that would be okay with getting that little bit of money for the large amount of work that we do. And you would have no one to serve you your food, and you would only be able to go out to eat at fast food restrurants.
In reply to Bethany
Please, your reasoning is a fallacy. If you are the face of the restaurant, you are making money for it. Demand compensation from the owner, not the customer. Do you know that this industry is the only upside down, and backward In compensating its employee? And it continue to be so because you guys have been brainwashed and conditioned such that you are too blind to stand up for your right.
In reply to Nat3ski
I hope you arent thirsty, or have a problem with your food. Because I sure as hell wont take care of it. So what if your food doesnt come for 30 mins? Not my problem.
In reply to Bill Wassinger
A complaint to the owner will send you packing. Lousy unprofessional attitude.
In reply to Nat3ski
They dont have to accommodate your standards of fairness. Its a privately owned businesses and if you dont like it you dont have to eat there. We are not just talking costumer service this is the restaurant industry here in America and alot of people are making good money off of it. Sorry your job doesn’t pay you well sounds like a very personal prproblem. But the thing is not being forced. Its not imposing an unfair tax you must pay. Just setting different guidelines for those who CHOOSE to pay for that certain exsperience.
In reply to l
If people are getting rich then why are they bitching and complaining?!
This article is awesome! Tipping totally sucks! If you you think you deserve more get if from your boss, otherwise you should have studied harder.
I believe minimum wage has dropped for servers because they were making so much money; most make up to and over 20 an hour now, above the $2.13 an hour.
I would also like to add, that if a server does not make full minimum wage, adding tips, the employer must make up the difference.
Hear, hear! Well said.
Their not thier. So there!!!!
Quite frankly, if you’re choosing to eat in a restaurant it doesn’t matter whether you agree with tipping culture or not. The fact of the matter is, most waiters/waitresses make somewhere around $3 an hour and tips makes up the rest.
All you’re doing by choosing to not tip or leave a shitty tip is punishing the server who is just there trying to make money to put themselves through school or feed their family or make some extra money. ALL you’re doing is being a massive asshole, and based on the tone of your (poorly written) articles, getting off on that fact. Congrats, your a twat waffle. Pat yourself on the back there.
If you don’t think the tipping culture is right, that’s fine. It’s your opinion. So fucking vote with your money and stop eating at restaurants that pay their servers below minimum wage. That way, you’re punishing the owners, not the servers.
Oh, that means you don’t get to eat out anymore? Too fucking bad. Dick.
In reply to Kelsey
Please you don’t know the law?? The employer is supposed to make up he difference.
I don’t count my tips until my shift is over, so Im not bothered by such ignorance… it averages out, your misery in parting with your additional 10, 15 or 20% is felt by the decent, generous patrons around you, please come sit in my section, and be vocal about your stance on tipping. Im guaranteed a profitable shift. I would never spit in your food or pretend that we’re friends.
One question though… do you tip the stripper or just lear over another mans shoulder? It’s the same level of creepy depravity.
There’s a simple solution for this – don’t want to leave a tip? Then eat at restaurants where tips are not accepted (fast food) or, as you already noted, buffets. Because here’s the thing – part of the deal about eating at restaurants with actual waiters is that you leave a tip. And while it’s true that you don’t need a degree to be a wait person we’ve all had experience with good and bad waiters. When a waiter is good you tip them well. When they’re bad you leave little or no tip. In Europe they’ve solved the problem of dealing with tightwads like yourself – the tip is automatically included so you have to pay it. Here’s the reality – you’re cheap. You can’t stand the idea of parting with anything you have in your wallet. Whatever. You are welcome to try and justify your unwillingness to part with your money all you want, but it all boils down to the fact that you’re a tightwad. A Scrooge. Relax a little. You might actually learn to enjoy life instead of worrying all the time about who is trying to screw you out of your money.
So you personally don’t believe in tipping, and you’re saying it’s not your problem, and you hate the custom. So you refuse to tip. It sounds like you just have a god complex and like having control over someone else’s life.