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.
Bhagvad Prickwad.
In reply to Ted Debiase
I complete agree with you. This guy is full of himself. I believe if you can afford to eat out then you can also leave a tip. Though there is no formal education required to be a waiter it requires you to be on focus both mentally and physically. You need to memorize the menu inside out. Know the ingredients and the sauces and be wary of allergies. I was a server long ago and took great pride in it just as much as I do with my current occupation(Chemistry Teacher in Oman). Not everyone is cut to be a server, please keep that in mind Bhagwad. Not to take personal shots against you but after reading a few of your other articles it does not surprise me you are a FREELANCE WRITER. Think about your own job before criticizing someone else s.
In reply to jeffray morretti
Freelance writer? Talk about unskilled jobs! That is anybody with access to the internet and high school English level education.
In reply to Jim
Perhaps. But notice how I don’t ask people to pay me anything above what was agreed to beforehand. I don’t ask for tips after the work is done.
In reply to bhagwad
I don’t know if you know this, but servers don’t ask for tips either, at least not servers who do their job properly. As a server, we all know we aren’t ‘entitled’ to another’s money. A server who actually askes their customer for a tip is a distasteful server.
Please stop posting on this blogger website he’s trolling you and your comments are fueling his motive. Best way to deal with people like this is make their service experience as a living hell as much as possible and maybe just maybe they will understand how the people in the service industry feel. But it’s a unlikely probability anyway that they will understand their ignorance clouded their judgment. Give them hell guys, but make sure play by the rules!
“Some people are too stupid to realized their stupidity.” It’s a scientific fact.
Please stop posting on this blogger website he’s trolling you and your comments are fueling his motive. Best way to deal with people like this is make their service experience as a living hell as much as possible and maybe just maybe they will understand how the people in the service industry feel. But it’s a unlikely probability anyway that they will understand their ignorance clouded their judgment. Give them hell guys, but make sure play by the rules!
“Some people are too stupid to realized their stupidity.” It’s a scientific fact.
I feel like people don’t know how capitalism works. Supply and demand. Almost anyone can take orders, bring food to a table, and then clear the dishes away (the bus boy might even do that part). As such there is a high supply of waiters compared to the demand and they don’t get paid a lot.
I fail to see why I should pay someones wages. I am there to eat. A waiters job is to bring me food. I do not need to give them money for them to do their job. In every other profession you do your job or get fired.
Tips make no sense. Waiters should make minimum wage and be fired if they are not good at their job.
I can afford to tip but I don’t. I don’t tip because I am not the waitresses employer. I think bringing me my food from the kitchen to the table is not deserving of any extra money. It is a very simple unskilled brainless job. It is not my problem she makes two dollars an hour.
I went to college, had to attend continuing education classes, and work hard so I can afford to go out to eat. The waitress carried my food from the kitchen to the table so what. If I order an expensive bottle of wine, paying a 20% tip on that seems ridiculous. No more work if I ordered a soda.
Bottom line serving is a simple mindless job for people that are very stupid and lazy.
I am not a kind person so don’t expect me to support you. I don’t care if you don’t have enough money to pay your bills, get a better job.
In reply to Sally
Many college students are servers because it is a job that can have decent pay (if there are kind customers) and that can be easily fitted around classes. Not everyone can afford to go to college without working. It is unfair and rude to assume that everyone who takes a serving job is “very stupid and lazy”. Didn’t your parents/guardians teach you to behave better than that, or do you need to go back to kindergarten to learn not to call people bad names? I’m guessing that you have never had to take a serving job because if you had, you would not call it a “mindless” job.
I have been a server throughout my three years in college. (That’s right I’m graduating college in three years, Summa Cum Laude, because I am “very stupid”) I was paid $2.13 an hour as a server and the job was so much more difficult than working at Panera for minimum wage in high school. I had to learn the menu, carry hot and heavy trays full of food, smile at the customer, refill drinks (and remember drink orders because G-d forbid I accidentally put unsweet tea instead of sweet tea in your glass), refill chips and salsa, get straws, get extra silverware or napkins because people can’t seem to hold on to anything, and clean up after children that make huge messes. This terrible job, I endured for a total of three years so that I would not have to do it for the rest of my life. Now, at the end of my college career, I have had the experience of being a server and getting $0.27 in tips for a seven hour shift and then having to pay the restaurant $25 because that was the 10% of my sales that goes towards tip-share with the hosts, the bussers, and the bartender. That means I made -$24.73 because people like you “don’t care if I have enough money to pay my bills”.
So, instead of calling people you don’t even know “brainless”, you should probably try to walk a mile in their shoes (i.e. become a server) to educate yourself about the job. THEN, I will listen to you say you will not tip because “you are not (my) employer”.
Honestly, if it were up to me, I would rather work for minimum wage as a server and not have to rely on people to tip. Just please remember, the system is not set up by the servers, so don’t shoot the messenger.
Cheap arse Indian
Despite having eight years of retail customer service experience, I am underpaid for my current retail position. Is anyone going to tip me? No. I have to be just as cheerful and perky as a waiter, and do my tasks just as promptly, WITHOUT the chance of being given extra money.
In reply to Lavender
Sounds like you’re in the wrong profession buddy.
In reply to jessica
Being an adult fetching food from the kitchen to a table is not a profession. Begging for tips to support yourself sounds like a bum to me. Have some pride get a real job. You won’t get a handout (tip) from me.
In reply to Emily
Sweetie I get paid more than minimum wage, and receive tips, i dont ask or beg for shit. I dont give a rats ass if the people tip me as long as they’re respectful to me i’ll be polite back. If someone was polite and didnt tip me in the past and they come in I serve them all the same. Also not to mention my boss decided to train me; a “begging server” to become a manager, so i got my shit together just fine darling. But i’m sure you’re an adult with her shit together, assuming anyone cares if you leaves them money or not, right?
In reply to jessica
Also being an adult in retail, not better one bit sweetie, if i were a grown ass woman selling clothes, I’d shoot myself. Also, for 8 years? I’ve served for about six months and I’m already bored of it and moving up in the industry.
In reply to jessica
Are we supposed to be impressed you’re being trained for the position of manager? Of course if you went to college you would’ve been your bosses boss when you got out.
Parents must be proud that you’re being trained to be the assistant to the assistant manager of an Applebee’s.
I like it when you get on your knees to ask me how everything is. I’m sure it’s a position you’re very familiar with.
In reply to Jasmine
Hi jasmine. I’ve never been to college. But I did learn how to develop android games. I now make six solid and reliable figures a year. Why? Because people with money excitingly giving their money to me for an intangible service. In some cases I’m making ad income. I still deliver pizza on the side at 30hrs a week for health insurance purposes and because it’s fun. I make about 50k delivering. Both jobs do not require a college degree. Both are fun and lucrative for me. The delivery job is more challenging, however, both mentally and physically.
My point? Am I unsuccessful and lower than you because I don’t have a degree? Or does that all depend on the income amount and it’s consistency?
In reply to Jake
You are so full of shit people around you need hip boots. I’m not sure which story is more funny, the fact that you make so much imaginary money delivering pizza or your imaginary android game development.
I went to college and earn a solid six-figure income. I do not deliver pizzas. I have a real job making real money so I can make real waiters wait on me hand and foot.
The fun part for me is seeing the tears in the waitresses eyes when she does not receive a tip on my large bill. I am there to eat not to financially support her.
In reply to Don
Imaginary, huh? Just like the maker of flappy bird for android wasn’t making millions before he got overwhelmed.
In reply to Jake
This is for everyone who thinks you need to go to college to land a decent job. We just made our daughter go to college she graduated with a minor and a major on her degree. She still does not have a job in her area because she doesn’t have experience in her field of study. She does have a large loan to payback though. If we knew then this was the outcome we would have not sent her there or just sent her to a trade school. In the meantime she is a server and makes more money than some of my friends who went to college. Also she has made many contacts in her field of study and is making great strides in her future. So being a server is sometimes a rewarding job. You have to have the personality and of course the patience for the unruly guest that may come and sit in your section one day. She has been serving since before college and has met not so nice people and also has met famous people. In fact she met a baseball player from her favorite team last year, she was very professional and waited til he was done eating then spilled her guts. In the end he autographed a menu, of course personalized to her. I know I’ve rambled on but I’ve made myn point I think. You don’t need a college degree, you can be a server and work your way up and being a server is fun as long as idiots like this guy eat at home!!!!
In reply to Jasmine
Jasmine, sounds like you know a thing or two about getting on your knees actually. you sound like a classy lady with all that whorish talk. I don’t kneel down to anyone, my customers see me fine looking up towards me, I’m not concerned with if they like that i stand up straight or not, its all about morals lady, if I seat someone they’re sitting I know how to stand like the women I was raised to be. Im not that lazy sweetie. Also i dont recall saying anything of applebees, they’re too cheap to pay me actual hourly wage knowing I receive tips. Being 20, i doubt my parents care where I work as long as I do have a job. Also Donald duck, I dont think voiceovers on a cartoon counts as a paying job nor do you need a college degree or get much money anymore for it. I don’t know what type of emotional ass restaurants you go to, but I assure you I’m not worried about someone leaving nothing on expensive bills. Mostly because I make pleanty before tips.And you could believe jake or not, there are children making Millions on android games alone, imagine what the grown men can accomplish, much like the children wothout the formal degree.
In reply to Jess
Without*
If you don’t want to tip the simplest solution is to not tip.. Your ideologies do not deserve to be spread around, like a virus, infecting others who would otherwise be generous and grateful to waiters.. Being a good waiter does take skill.. It’s not only about carrying food and drinks around a busy restaurant.. It’s about; multitasking, attention to detail, a strong and clear memory, stamina, tolerance of stress and rude customers, and emotional strength (from getting tipped badly or not at all).
If waiters took your advice and got better jobs then how would your dining experience be without that medium… I guess it’s straight to the drive through every time… No need for tables if no one is going to “bring you your food”..
Lastly, the significance of the tipping system, as opposed to just paying servers 8 to 10 dollars an hour, is so restaurants can offer specials and discounts. You like your 2 for 1 margaritas? Do you like your 2 meals for 20 dollars? That’s why restaurants can do that!! Are you upset paying 40 dollars for your meal and tipping 8? How about you pay 60 dollars for that same meal and tip nothing? That will show those waiters and waitresses the value of earning a wage! Lazy, unintelligent servers!!
Seriously.. People.. Just show gratitude and appreciation.. It’s better and it makes everyone feel better! It makes us feel appreciated and it lets you feel kind.. It’s not a bad thing at all..
In reply to Server/waiter
Pressuring people to tip is a virus we need to eliminate. We go to a restaurant to eat not to supplement the pathetic income of a person that didn’t go to college.
The people that wait tables do not belong to the top-tier of society anyways.
Paying waitresses minimum wage without relying on tips to pad their income will not increase the price of food at the restaurant. This is a myth perpetuated by the serving industry that has no proof to substantiate it.
However, I do believe two dollars an hour is a fair wage for a waitress. Considering the extremely simple tasks they perform, it amazes me that the serving wenches are paid that much.
In reply to Steinburges
Where do you think restaurants get their money if not from sales? You are the same type of idiot that sees eggs on a menu for $7 and wonders why they are so expensive when you can get a whole dozen eggs for $2 at the store. Well… There are the salaried employees (managers) and hourly employees (cooks, dishwashers, hosts, etc.) that their money needs to come from somewhere. Then of course there is the price of keeping an establishment open with upkeep, rent, utilities, etc. and of course the price of inventory such as napkins, silverware, dishes, and of course the food to feed your stupid ass that wonders why it costs more to eat out than it does to cook. If the servers (and bussers and food runners who usually get paid via tip out) were paid minimum wage as well, where do you suppose that extra money to pay them would come from? Oh right, sales. Your college education is clearly being put to good use if you can’t even figure that out.
In reply to DM
Wow, Steinburg. I’m going to college and I have to live on my own and I am a waitress and make $3 an hour. I make $100 every two weeks on my paycheck. How am I supposed to afford college, rent, and bills on $200 a month? The restaurant industry chooses to use the tip system because it allows people like yourself to go out and eat and not pay $40 for one entree in order to pay me minimum wage.
In reply to J
The fact that the argument still exists and lives on that servers are the supposed bottom feeders to society and are totally uneducated, baffles me. I do go to college, full time. And pay out of pocket. Also, I work with several others who have graduated with honors…it’s sometimes hard to find work, or sometimes it’s extra cash in their pocket. Working as a sever makes me no less of a human being. Is it my fault most of this nation doesn’t offer an actual minimum wage to waitsaff? It’s unavoidable. But don’t take it out on that server. If I had it my way I’d make minimum wage so I could afford to cover my ass when jerks like you come in. And don’t argue that it isn’t a real job because it doesn’t require a college degree. Tell me the last time you made 200 dollars in 3 hours. This is how some of us make a living. Pay our bills. Pay for college. I work hard for that. Do all of us a favor and stay home, because that whole first paragraph is just pure ignorance.
In reply to Kaylyn
Kaylyn… this dude is a douche, BUT… you need to make up your mind, whether you are a poor overworked underpaid person who would prefer to make minimum wage, or a pimp who makes 200 dollars in 3 hours… one of those hurts your narrative. Badly. If you truly make that much, seems you can afford to take a hit once in a while from someone who maybe got tired of his own cooking and yet cant afford to throw money away. I was a server when i was younger, (back in the stone age when we were still called waitresses) I worked at Pizza Hut, and RARELY made more than 35 bucks a night, and i worked HARD. Many times the worst tipper were the big families who had me running all evening then left either no tip at all, or a dollar on a 50 dollar order with 25 refill requests, three separate courses, and a mess left behind. Single men were the best tippers, and the least mess, aside from single women, who didnt tip as well, but also didnt make as many demands or leave much of a mess at all. (many times i would come to the table of a single woman and find she had swept up any crumbs into her plate and left that, napkins piled neatly on top, in the center of the table with a modest tip, it was appreciated) I would never have even CONSIDERED violating a patrons food, or ignoring their requests, that is not only rude but unprofessional as hell, and in the first place, illegal to boot.
Anyway, as a result of that experience, even though we are often broke, being a single family household of six, and only go out on very special occasions, i always tip at LEAST 20 percent, and have trained my husband to do the same. You are welcome, and thank you.
Funny…because I find quite a few careers that require college education easier than folding my clothing. This is why I never went to college. Why will I waste my hard earned money for something that teaches me nothing that I haven’t already learned. In fact most schools are worthless. I never learned a thing that I haven’t already learned myself from them.
Teachers and colleges are overpaid. IMHO, they should be making less than 10k a year. They might as well become servers.
In reply to Jake
It is very easy to see how uneducated you truly are, and I feel very sad for you. Years ago education was called the great equalizer because it allowed poor kids a education to better their lives. Without an education they were doomed to stay in poverty. I’m trying not to use large words so I don’t confuse you.
Knowledge is power. I would explain that to you Bubba but I would just confuse you because I would have to use larger words.
In reply to Everett
First of all, I’m autistic. I probably know more big words and their uses than you do. I’m probably more technologically intelligent than you are, due to my condition. I sacrifice any kind of natural social skills, due to my condition.
I could care less about years ago. The unfortunate reason why is because we live in the now. College only serves as a means to “prove” that you know things. I know things and I make good money knowing the things that I know. It’s also cool that I can do the things that I know how to do without having a paper saying that I know them. Nor do I have a paper that says I owe some idiots for a piece of paper to show that I know things.
Is that easy for you to understand, “bubba”?
In reply to Jake
It’s also important to know that the last part in the entry you originally responded to was sarcasm.
I probably should have clarified. I don’t think teachers should be paid 10k a year. They should be paid enough to be able to stand the insurmountable quantity of idiots they have to deal with on a daily basis.
In reply to Jake
That would explain how you can shit such retarded comments. Do us a favor and kill yourself, we don’t want your retarded genes infecting makind’s gene pool thank you. I’m serious, go kill youself.
I am completely offended by this for several reasons. I am a single mom working through college trying to make money to pay off student loans. Just because I serve doesn’t make me a poor, uneducated idiot. The fact that you’re saying I don’t deserve my money is pathetic! I greet you (kindly), take your order, get your drink, bring you dinner, listen to you complain, box your food and grab you extra of this and that (etc.) If you don’t want to tip make your own food at home and go to the grocery store (which costs significantly less than going out to eat). You are twisted thinking people should be at your service without being tipped. Get over your sense of “superiority” and pride.
In reply to Carrie
Are we supposed to give you sympathy because you’re single mother working as a waitress? Should’ve got married and not spread your legs like a whore.
In reply to Connie
I suppose we should be sympathetic towards you, because you’ve been living under a rock all your life clearly. If you weren’t you would know there’s this thing called “divorce”; you simplistic, repressed Christian woman.
In reply to Jess
No, shes really not. A Christian woman that is… she may think she is, or claim to be so, but she is not, because if she was a CHRISTIAN woman, she would know that “let he who is WITHOUT SIN (which NONE of us are, thats the point) throw the first stone” Shame on you connie. Leave the westboro baptist cult and join a REAL Christian Church…try the Catholics.
In reply to Connie
How dare you Connie
In reply to Carrie
It’s funny how you can be mad at strangers for not wanting to pay extra to support your family. It’s funny how you say that we think “you don’t deserve your money” when it always seems to be the exact opposite. People who don’t tip think YOU DESERVE TO BE PAID A REASONABLE WAGE BY YOUR EMPLOYER. YOUR EMPLOYER is the reason you rely on tips and sometimes fall short of making minimum wage. YOUR EMPLOYER is obligated to negotiate compensation for your services with you before you perform any work, and if you agree to work for 2/hour then thats on you. Not me.
Servers need to stop listing tasks that they do, expecting to change someones mind about whether or not they should rely on tips from strangers instead of fair compensation from their employer.
I DO NOT BELIEVE IN TIPPING
but
I DO BELIEVE SERVERS SHOULD BE PAID MORE.
“If you don’t want to tip make your own food at home and go to the grocery store (which costs significantly less than going out to eat)”
Do you know why it costs more to go to a restaurant than to go to the grocery store? For the experience. I am paying inflated prices to pay your wage, thats why. Don’t complain about not making 20% extra on top of the already inflated prices to cover your wages. That’s making the consumer responsible twice for your wage now. I have to pay out the ass so you can make a lousy paycheque, then you complain about that lousy paycheque and blame the consumer for not dropping an additional 20%… How come the employer pulling up in a mercedes isn’t the one to blame, but I am?