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.
I don’t even know where to start! I am SO tired of dealing with ignorant, obnoxious people just like you! Maybe do a little research before writing such unbelievable bull shit! I’m gonna start with number one and go from there so sit back and get ready to be schooled you entitled prick! #1 we don’t wanna be your best friend! We don’t wanna argue about the temperature of you “warm” water or how spicy you want something or how there isn’t enough gravy! And we sure dont wanna listen to your horribly behaved children scream and jump up and down on chairs! To be honest we would be happy if you just didn’t come in at all! But you are in a restaurant if you want silence stay home! #2 as servers and bartenders in America we live off of our tips and it has been that way for a very long time! We are actually taxed on our sales which means if you don’t tip us we pay to wait on you! Not to mention we have to tip out other employees! My last check was $15 for 40hrs! So instead of blaming the employer or the server how about you just be decent and tip like you are suppose to or again just stay home! We promise we won’t mind haha! #3 I’m not even gonna address cause its so ridiculous BUT I can imagine with this attitude you have ingested a lot of spit lol! Again stay home! No one will mind! Now #4 this is my favorite! If you want food just food not the experience of going to a restaurant and having someone wait on you, educate you on the food and wine, satisfy your every want or need through out the meal then go to McDonalds! Again we really wouldn’t mind! And if you have had a great server compared to a horrible one you will surely know the difference in service that is worth paying for! AND lets talk about no skill being involved…at any given time a server or bartender has a list of things to do in there head! They have to manage a million things at once, memorize orders, recipes, modifications! They are on there feet for HOURS at a time dealing with people just like you! They are multi taskers, hard workers and stay smiling regardless! So next time you are in a restaurant and see a bartender with 9 tables, 10 people standing in front of them and 15 drinks to make feel free to step in and show us how its done! I will gladly sit back and watch you go down in flames!! Oh and #5…yes sir money does not grow on trees and if you don’t have enough of it to tip when you go out to eat then again STAY Home we won’t mind! You are so misinformed and honestly ignorant when it comes to this topic! So get a serving job and then maybe you will be qualified to comment on the topic! And until then do us all a favor order take out!
In reply to Christy
Wow, you’re ignorant.
First – if you don’t like your job, quit. Simple as that.
Second, Just because something has been done a certain way for a long time doesn’t make it right. Slavery was a thing for a very long time, maybe they should continue that and simply not pay you, and beat you if you don’t work? You’re a minimum wage worker – you’re no better than the guy who gives me my burger at McDonald’s. You are not, in any way, entitled to tips. You’re entitled to the minimum wage your employer is legally obligated to pay you, and nothing else. You want more? Get a real job. You’re taxed on your INCOME, just like every other worker in America. Nobody’s going to feel sorry for you, your tips are part of your income and should be counted as such. If the company you work for decides that it’s “easiest” to just tell the IRS you make 10% or more of every sale, that’s on them, still not the customer’s fault, nor responsibility.
Third, if you really don’t mind if nobody come in, you really don’t mind not being tipped, anyway, nor having a job. Or did you forget that your job doesn’t exist if nobody plays patron at your place of employment?
Fourth, quit comparing yourself to a bartender. Bartenders have to get a license. Bartenders have to know how to mix drinks, or they won’t last very long. Servers have to know how to write down an order (there’s no requirement to memorize it, and if less servers tried to, maybe the orders wouldn’t constantly get screwed up), and how to carry plates. They don’t have to memorize recipes. What world do you live in? That’s the job of the cooks, and even THEY don’t have to memorize them.
Your entire rant is you trying to make you sound like your job is more difficult than it is. You clearly know nothing about tax laws, and you’re either getting screwed over by your boss for your ignorance, or live in some delusion, if you actually think anything you said is true.
In reply to That’s a lie
You’re wrong. You’re low class. You’re ignorant. Just shut up now.
In reply to Syrich
No I’m not, and a simple Google search can tell you the same thing.
I’m certainly not low class, nor ignorant. I graduated highest honors, in fact.
Maybe research (seriously – Google!) what people say before you try to call them ignorant.
In reply to That’s a lie
Sorry it was for Syrich, not for you.
In reply to That’s a lie
I used to be a waiter. I don’t care if people tipped me low or high because I was holding another office job for my long term career. The only thing I know is that if I give the customers attitude like you, they wouldn’t tip me a dime.
You work in a restaurant, I thought you should have known that we have to deal with complaints all the time. Why are you complaining about customers’ complaints? Remember, they come to the restaurant to transfer the hardship they’ve been through to us. All we have to do is take it.. If we can’t take it and blame it on customers, they won’t tip because we don’t do our jobs well enough.
Our job is not solely taking order and bringing food to their tables. It mostly lies on giving them a good time when they can have someone to serve them. They tip when they’re pleased. Ask yourself, when you’re angry, how can you be pleased and tip? So don’t make the customer angry and uncomfortable. Help them relaxed and they’ll tip you much more.
I see you care too much about being tipped rather than getting better at serving people. You don’t like your job so quit. Being a waiter is not a career, my friend. It’s a dead-end job. Making it sound important doesn’t change the fact that it doesn’t have career advancement.
I like going to restaurant. I don’t want to stay home. But I won’t go to your restaurant if I don’t like you. Competition, my friend. So be nice.
In reply to That’s a lie
You are the true idiot. People like you are half the problem. If you are as educated as you try to come off, act like it and back your statements with facts.
The other stuff is all opinion, but what bothered me the most is you cant even get your facts straight. Servers have to get a license to serve alcohol also, in most states servers and bartenders are required the same license. Also, serving and bartending are classified together not as a figurative comparison, but as a systematic classification: in most restaurants it goes hand in hand, servers usually work their way up to be bartenders. Very rarely will you see a bartender who has never served before. I have friends who went to bartending school and are not allowed to bartend at their restaurant because they arent very good servers. Its like in the kitchen when you start on dish and work up to the line. Same concept. It may not make sense but one is to prove themselves as a server before moving up to bar.
Tipping is an American tradition. It is un American to not tip. So if you dont like it, move to China. Or India. Or wherever else that doesnt require tipping. Also, if tipping wasnt in existence restaurants would add it anyways to the total cost of the food, they would raise the prices so they can pay their servers. If being a decent human being and tipping the man or woman who is running around sweating to accomadate your every need and showing them your appreciatiom doesnt motivate you to tip, well the restaurants will just pay servers 15 and hour and just add that to your bill automatically. But then you would complain about the prices. If you have a problem with the system, go vote on it. This is America, we vote in this country we dont change things just because a couple people disagree. But oh wait, not an American citizen? Well, there is your answer then. theres a lot of things entrepreneurs do that we dont agree with. Deal with it, dont tell someone else how to run their business. And tip your server because most servers are single parents or college students without mommy and daddys credit cards, not everyone grew up as spoiled as you
In reply to Anonymous
Why are you making things up?
While a restaurant that serves alcohol may require wait staff to serve alcohol, and thus be of legal age to do so, they don’t necessarily need to be certified in the way a bartender does, nor is there any LEGAL requirement that wait staff be able to serve alcohol. MANY restaurants have designated staff who are responsible for serving alcohol, if any is required. While bartending has a minimum age (varies by state), the only legal age requirement for wait staff is the legal working age of the state unless they are specifically serving alcohol. Even then, the certification only provides a discount on the OWNER’S serving insurance, so for the most part there isn’t even a legal requirement for certification. Many states have legal clauses that indicate that the server must only be of legal age to serve, and under the supervision of a person who is licensed. This means, if an owner hires bar staff who are licensed, the wait staff doesn’t need to be. Realistically speaking, everything you said is restaurant policy and in no way law or in any way a “requirement” of wait staff outside of individual restaurants.
Tipping isn’t an “American tradition.” Tipping is a European snobbery brought to America and exhibited as a way to show off wealth. Even if it were tradition, slavery was an “American tradition,” as was segregation, as was corporal punishment in school. Being a tradition doesn’t make it correct.
Abolishing tipping in no way would increase costs. Lots of restaurants exist where they pay workers the same minimum wage waiters are paid where the cost of the food is absolutely reasonable. It’s absurd to imagine it would be otherwise anywhere else. Fast food places are pretty common, and don’t act like servers do any more than the guy working the counter at BK just because they have to walk a few more feet. The difference between sitting down ordering takeout is the fact that somebody has to carry the food 20 more feet. Servers aren’t cooking the meal. Servers aren’t arranging it on the plate. Servers are only carrying it, and that isn’t worth more than minimum wage.
It’s your freaking JOB to “run around sweating.” That’s what you were hired to do. That’s what your employer pays you for. Nobody else gets a bonus just for doing what they were hired to do, and especially not from the customer. They get paid what they were offered for the job.
Servers don’t deserve 15 an hour. They deserve the federal minimum wage, like they are legally entitled to. Don’t like it? Get a better job. You think servers deserve more pay than a nurse’s assistant? They average around $13 an hour. Or an editorial assistant? They make around $14.90. Or a teacher’s aid (about $11). What about a police officer? They average $12.50 an hour. These are all jobs that require schooling and REAL work, yet make less than what you’re proposing for unskilled labor.
Serving jobs were not meant for people to live off of, the same as any other menial, minimum wage job. They were meant for people to earn a little extra money. If they paid a living wage, why the hell would anyone bother to do anything else? If a server thinks their job is difficult, they’ll never make it in the real world where things really are more challenging than “write down what they say they want” and “carry this tray to that table.”
In reply to That’s a lie
You could change this to 4 reasons.. You’re a c.u.n.t.
In reply to That’s a lie
Definitely don’t have to be licensed to be a bartender. Also, it’s required for servers to know recipes – what if someone is allergic to a food? It’s our job to steer clear of them picking something that could potentially kill them.
I get it, dude. The idea of tipping people came from the great depression – employers didn’t have the money to tip their servers (that know recipes) and bartenders (that don’t have to be licensed), so guests paid a little extra. Yes, it’s been done for a long time now – it’s a social thing. Get used to it.
By the way. Serving, tending bar, hosting – those are REAL jobs. It’s not a fake job where I get fake money to pay fake bills. Don’t be even more of an ass and try to degrade me. I work among people who have bachelor’s degrees and some with masters. I work with bright people, kind people, and motivational people. Because of my ‘fake job’, I have been able to travel – outside of America to open a ‘fake restaurant’ as they expand.
I greet you, I bring you extra lemons for your water so you can avoid paying for a lemonade, and I keep ’em coming, I make sure you don’t pick something that could kill you because of your allergies, I keep your table nice and tidy, I bring you A-1 for your well-done filet, and I do it with a kind attitude and a smile on my face. Not because I want to be your friend – trust me, that’s the last thing I want. I do it because I chose serving as my real job.. it IS my job.
What is it that YOU do. What if your job changed the ways they paid people and you relied on people TIPPING you. I suggest you be a server, just for a few days. If you are going to have such a strong opinion about something, I suggest you live in the life of a server to get a TRUE perspective.
In reply to Stella
“Definitely don’t have to be licensed to be a bartender. Also, it’s required for servers to know recipes – what if someone is allergic to a food? It’s our job to steer clear of them picking something that could potentially kill them.”
Whether an actual bartender requires certification or licencing varies by state, but the cost of the insurance the owner has to get would be obscene if their bartenders aren’t certified. Every server I’ve ever known who was asked if something was in a particular menu item has stated that they would check with the cook. Suggesting they need to memorize the recipes is an outright lie. I know several cooks nation wide who assure me that servers don’t know anything about what’s in the food unless it’s obvious.
“I get it, dude. The idea of tipping people came from the great depression – employers didn’t have the money to tip their servers (that know recipes) and bartenders (that don’t have to be licensed), so guests paid a little extra. Yes, it’s been done for a long time now – it’s a social thing. Get used to it.”
No, it didn’t come from the Great Depression, it came from Europeans showing off their wealth to the lesser classes. Slavery used to be a societal thing, as did segregation, should people have just gotten used to that?
“By the way. Serving, tending bar, hosting – those are REAL jobs. It’s not a fake job where I get fake money to pay fake bills. Don’t be even more of an ass and try to degrade me. I work among people who have bachelor’s degrees and some with masters. I work with bright people, kind people, and motivational people. Because of my ‘fake job’, I have been able to travel – outside of America to open a ‘fake restaurant’ as they expand.”
You’re a beggar. Like homeless people on the street, you expect other people in society to pay your way, except at the same time you’re pretending you have a difficult job that trained monkeys do.
“I greet you, I bring you extra lemons for your water so you can avoid paying for a lemonade, and I keep ’em coming, I make sure you don’t pick something that could kill you because of your allergies, I keep your table nice and tidy, I bring you A-1 for your well-done filet, and I do it with a kind attitude and a smile on my face. Not because I want to be your friend – trust me, that’s the last thing I want. I do it because I chose serving as my real job.. it IS my job.”
And your employer pays you to do that. The minimum wage the job is worth. The same job a friggin trained monkey can (and, in some places, does) do.
“What is it that YOU do. What if your job changed the ways they paid people and you relied on people TIPPING you. I suggest you be a server, just for a few days. If you are going to have such a strong opinion about something, I suggest you live in the life of a server to get a TRUE perspective.”
I’ve had my fair share of shitty jobs. I never once begged and whines for others to give me handouts. Even when I was homeless. You have a job that pays minimum wage as it should. You want more? Do the work to earn it. There is more to getting a better job than getting a degree. You have to do WELL. You have to have the intelligence to pick a major that actually has jobs available. You have to do the work it takes to get a job which requires not only the degree, but learning how to properly apply, how to properly interview, and how to impress them.
If being a server is so difficult, then all that should be a piece of cake.
In reply to Christy
Not only are you extremely stupid, you are a fucking liar. You got a $14 paycheck because the rest was Tips you never even reported as income to the IRS you tax cheat. If you expect a tip, you are a pretentious piece of shit. Get a real job if you want more money or you can suck my dick. You are an unskilled piece of shit. Even at minimum wage you are overpaid. You are a joke and your job is too. Unfortunately by law you have to make minimum wage. This is unfair to your employer to have to overpay you.
In reply to Syracuse
Wow you’re a vulgar piece of shit. Did your mom never teach you manners? Or do you need to constantly talk about your dick to make up for your lack of skill & size? She makes 14$ for a 40 hour work week bc not only are servers/bartenders taxed off the hours they work, they are taxed off tips. & all credit card tips are automatically in the system, as well as the cash you have to put into the computer to get back change. So there is no possible way to lie about the majority of tips that are made. Bc it’s a fucking computer & computers don’t make fucking mistakes. So before you start talking ignorant , why don’t do you do a little more research & show everyone that the generation you grew up in isn’t a complete waste of fucking space on this earth. Fucking idiot.
In reply to Christy
If you need to live off your tips, start sucking a lot of dick. I am only required to pay my bill, not a penny more. Your employer only has to pay federal min wage, if you don’t get enough tips for sucking dick. You are not entitled to any tips, screw you bitch. Get a real job. Oh wait you can’t, you are not smart enough to do anything else.
In reply to Christy
What a cunt. Take your ass to burger king then, bitch. Put your real name on this article of your so proud to be a piece of shit. You won’t because you know if word got out who you are you’d never get good service again in your life. You expect that though don’t you? How about you quit being stuck a pussy and tell your server ahead off service your reasons for not tipping, see how well that goes for you. Announce it to the whole restaurant since your so adamant. Yeah, you’d never do that. Fuck you, I hope you, and everyone that believes in your stupid post dies in a fire.
In reply to Nick
Why should they need to? The waiter/waitress should not expect a tip. Tips are /never/ required. The people at burger king get paid the same minimum wage as a waitress/waiter and they certainly don’t thrust their hand out like some beggar on the street.
In reply to What a joke
Servers/Bartenders/Hosts – 2.13 in N.C.
You’re welcome.
In reply to Stella
“If an employee’s tips combined with the employer’s direct wages of at least $2.13 an hour do not equal the Federal minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference.”
Federal Law (The Fair Labor Standards Act).
Try again.
In reply to What a joke
No they don’t, dick. The minimum wage for servers is not the same minimum wage that servers get. In most states the serving minimum wage is 2.75. And by the way, even though it’s obvious who my post was towards, it said in reply to Christy, who I think it’s the server. Just wanted to say that the post was obviously in your defense, not against you. It was toward the author of the article and honestly to anyone who feels the same way as that douche.
In reply to Nick
I meant the regular min wage isn’t the same as what servers get, before any one gets confused.
In reply to Nick
The law states that if servers receive less than minimun wage including tips, the employer must make up at least the difference. So yeah – they get minimum wage either way.
So, to you Mr Graduated with honors, I say. Stop and think for 1 second as to the effect of a non-tipping society would eventually have to your bottom line. First off, what do you think garbage men make per hour? Where I come from in North America its upwards of $20/hour. Now how much do you think would be fair to have to have to pay to service a piece of trash like you? Point being, if you were to remove the tipping structure in North america how long do you think people would stick around making min wage to deal with the likes of you? They wouldn’t, and employers would be forced to start paying there servers significantly more.See where I’m going with this? With the price of labor sky rocketing the only way for the industry to stay alive would be to drastically increase the cost of food and beverage. So if you’re ok with paying upward of $15 a beer and $35 for an average entree then yes, I’m sure servers around the globe would be making a fair wage, and they would much rather that than having to rely on the non existent common courtesy that you seem to lack .But until that point, I urge to please stay cheap and stay home.
In reply to Greg Norway
Nothing would change, because people that wait tables are so stupid they are not capable of doing anything else. They are paid minimum-wage for minimum wage skills. The Mexican woman that scrubs my toilets, is far more skilled than any waitress will ever be.
In reply to Syracuse
Have you sit down and talk with your Mexican lady?
Ask her to take your order and cook Mexican food for you.then ask her scratch your back while you eat, she will do it with toilet brush that you are so pround of.
And if you don’t tip her,I am sure that she will shove that brush in your mouth.
In reply to Narrow perspective
???
In reply to Greg Norway
Garbage men do more than waiters, they’re more needed than waiters, and their job is actually dangerous on a regular basis.
People do work in the service industry for minimum wage. All sorts of people work at McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, and so on. I have no idea where you got the impression that people actually don’t. And no, servers don’t do anything more than those workers at a fast food place except walk a bit further. And it’s not even like it’s a needed service. That’s kind of the point – why the hell should I pay you for carrying my food an extra 15 feet? Why should I pay you at all, when you’re not MY employee?
You’re delusional if you think anyone would or should pay you more for what you do. There’s a reason you’re paid what you’re paid in the first place. I think, perhaps, that’s where the issue seems to be – people like you seem to be under the impression that what you do is somehow worth more than it actually is. You’re like those homeless guys who run up to cars at stop lights and start “washing” their windshields without anyone asking, and then holding out your hand for the “service” you’ve provided.
In reply to That’s a lie
Waitresses are bums that fetch food like dogs from the kitchen to your table. This job is so simple a high school dropout can do it It is hilarious how complicated these people make their simple jobs out to be.
Waiting tables requires no skills or training of any kind. The skill level of this job is far below that of minimum-wage pay. It is unfair for the employer to be forced to pay them minimum wage under the law.
Not only is this job not needed, it should be eliminated. This would greatly improve the dining experience, and save the restaurant owner money. Not having to listen to the waitress or waiter babble the evening specials, I could easily read myself would be refreshing and more efficient.
In reply to Syracuse
Yes, I agreed with you but that is not restauranr,
it’s called home.
You’ve been inside your home for too long with or without your family.I can see you read yourself a menu, place order for yourself and go cook yourself some food.After meal you can go to sleep peacefully.
It’s called boredom……..that later on turns into depression.Anyway let just say tipping good is for good server.Lets tip yourself customarry like a decent people.Unless you think you don’t deserve it.
So far you prabably keep dinning out in shity restaurants all the time because you don’t have any knowledge about any good place to fullfill your need.I can see that you’re always walk in a good places but you just don’t regonize it.This is not your world.You don’t deserve to be in any good restaurant anyway, you got that?Why?
This is not your world that’s why.
In your world good reputation is called cheap and shity to this world.In your world being smart is
actually being idiot to this world.You are still new to this world.I am not saying that you are wrong.
People just don’t deserve to meet you in general.
Because mind is dark and bitter to others, that’s all.
You are just narrow- mined.
And I am just narrow perspective.
In reply to Narrow perspective
Nothing you said makes any sense. No tip for you table slave.
In reply to Keith
Of course not , because its not for dumb ass.
In reply to Syracuse
Ever heard of cafeteria? That’s right , go eat there , someday you will find where they make good food suit to your taste.
Of course not , because its not for dumb ass.
We are not afraid to kick you out of the restaurant, not to talk about making your life suffer.I don’t fucking care how your mind set is.Don’t fuckin step in any restaurant acting like this is your home.We don’t fuckin care, you make good restaurants
look like shit hole once you step in,so don’t come out!
Ever herd of picnic, mofo? The whole restaurant systems weren’t meant to build for filthy animals to walk in .When it come to the point that I have to tell you to tip , we meant not tip .it meant WTF? What in the world? Or Why are these people exist here but not where they belong?Oh, my God, are they everywhere now?? or this will happen once in a while??
Beware of your selfish full of shit attitude , when its time to payback we all will make sure that you won’t come out again.
In reply to Jackle
I am very wealthy, and can afford to eat at any restaurant of my choice. Tipping is optional whether you like it or not.
If you disrespect me, I will call the corporate office and have you fired.
They will send me a gift certificate for at least $100 and you will be unemployed. Waiters are easily replaced. Wealthy customers or not
In reply to Keith
When I disrespect you that means I will go all the way, dumb ass.Which mean I don’t fuckin care if I have to go to jail.Any of you shold beware of that.If you are wealthy , don’t fuckin bother come in here making a stupid selfish comment.Your fuckin selfish ass mind set has come close to distroying yourself.Beware of it.Who said being wealthy will be safe, uh?
In reply to Jackle
Who is selfish? Somebody who wants money they haven’t earned is selfish. Somebody who feels that they are entitled to somebody else’s hard-earned money is selfish.
Refusing to pay you when it is your employer’s duty is not selfish. Suggesting that a person should earn their money instead of expecting a handout is not selfish.
In reply to That’s a lie
Easy for you to say when you are not in that position. Hey, order take out!
In reply to Jackle
Hey, I went from homeless to making a considerable salary. I earned my money without ever expecting others to hand me theirs.
Let’s think about that logic, shall we? If everyone ordered takeout, servers wouldn’t even have a job. Not that servers are necessary, either way. The fact that they do work does not entitle them to extra compensation. Nobody else gets paid a bonus just for doing their job, and they sure shouldn’t expect it.
In reply to Jackle
My concealed carry pistol permit says I will be safe. You don’t need to worry about going to jail. If you assault me it will never happen again Threatening violence to a person that doesn’t tip is very dangerous for you. If you choose not to obey the law it will cost you a lot more than jail. You will give up your ability to breathe.
In reply to Keith
Right , what you will do can’t compare to mine.
a pistol? What a fuck you think I am? Just some waitress, you fool.I prepared beyond your doubt.
A pistol of a fool..I hope you shoot yourself.
In reply to Jackle
Learn to speak English China man. Nobody can understand a word out of you Go run to the kitchen and bring me my food. I want tip you Fool
In reply to Fred
Go grab that pistol and put it up your ass
and join his Keith Gay Kingdom.
In reply to Jackle
I feel like you’re confused. The entire restaurant system was built for people who could afford it to be served.
Tipping was first brought to America in the 1860s. The act was a sort of bribe to ensure good, quick service, and like the suntan, was largely done just to show off how “worldly” somebody was. Basically, the purpose was to show the servers how much better you were than them. It wasn’t because the servers “deserved” it.
In the early 1900s many people were against tipping. In fact, several state laws were passed to ban it. They were repealed during the 20s, generally, and really unenforced. It wasn’t ever really normal in most of the world, and a lot of people see it for what it originally was – just people showing off how wealthy they are.
Somehow, in America, this has become a sense of entitlement. No, it is not your right to be tipped. Tipping should not exist. A job like waiting should not end up with more pay than that job is worth. It doesn’t matter how nice you think the restaurant is, it isn’t the service staff making it that way. A server in a restaurant where a menu item is $100 doesn’t do any more than one where the most expensive thing is $10. The atmosphere has nothing to do with the wait staff.
My family had a really nice holiday meal. The bill was around $500. The tears rolling down the waitresses cheek when she saw zero tip made my day.
How dare that pretentious bitch think anything she did was worthy of a tip. A different waitress asked me if something was wrong. I told her yes something is definitely wrong. The hired help only speaks to me when spoken to.
I complained to the manager and he took $75 off the bill. Waitresses are a dime a dozen important customers are not. That waitress needs to learn her place, I hope she was fired.
In reply to Syracuse
Well in that case, that waitress is a pretenious bitchy attitude.
maybe she doesn’t deserve a penny! Is that how you see it.
I find that little low but acceptable.Maybe some waitress has a lousy way of performing her service industry job.
In reply to Syracuse
Syracuse,
You are an asshole of the highest order. What you did was not only unfair; it was downright abusive. Whether you like it or not, tipping your server is customary in America. There is an unspoken contract, if you will, between customers and servers that dictates if service was good then, you, the customer, will leave a tip commensurate with the level of service that you received. The fact that you couldn’t be bothered to tip a dime on a $500 bill and that you apparently took pleasure in the server’s reaction is very telling of your poor character and lack of manners. And in most restaurants and bars that I frequent, management would actually 86 **you** for that kind of crap.
In reply to Scott
You’re insane. Just because something is customary doesn’t make it necessary. There are a LOT of things that are customary that aren’t right to do. Even if it were customary, it certainly isn’t a requirement, nor should it ever be expected. There is no contract, unspoken or not – and that’s the problem.
Why should the customer pay a server to do the job they’re already getting paid to do? That’s absurd. Do you tip the cashier at the grocery store? How about the greeter at Walmart? Do you slip them a couple of bucks for welcoming you?
In reply to Wow
“Why should the customer pay a server to do the job they’re already getting paid to do? That’s absurd. Do you tip the cashier at the grocery store? How about the greeter at Walmart? Do you slip them a couple of bucks for welcoming you?”
Most grocery store cashiers belong to a Union and are paid a living wage ($15-$20 an hour plus health care in California). The greeter at Walmart is also making more than your average waiter or waitress. Food service employees are not required to be paid minimum wage in all but a few states, which means that they live on their tips. Tips comprise the bulk of their income. Restaurants will also figure that servers are tipped X% on their sales and withhold the appropriate amount of taxes from their already meager hourly wage. So if you do not tip, the server is essentially paying the house to wait on you.
Whether you agree with this system or not, “it is what it is”, and you should not dine out if you cannot afford to tip or do not believe in tipping. Would you expect anyone else to provide you a service for free??
In reply to Scott
Everything you said is an outright lie. Even if some of it applies in California, the vast majority of check-out clerks do not belong to any union. The fact that you even imagine that to be true is hilarious. Greeters generally make minimum wage, although Walmart recently began hiring new employees a whopping $9 an hour. It is not retroactive.
Federal law requires servers be paid federal minimum wage.
“The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires payment of at least the Federal minimum wage to covered, nonexempt employees. An employer of a tipped employee is only required to pay $2.13 an hour in direct wages if that amount plus the tips received equals at least the Federal minimum wage, the employee retains all tips and the employee customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips. If an employee’s tips combined with the employer’s direct wages of at least $2.13 an hour do not equal the Federal minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference.”
The restaurant’s policy on tax reporting isn’t my concern. There are a lot of “customs” in the history of the US that certainly weren’t right, and saying it to s what it is so you should just do it is BS. I not their employer. It is not my duty to pay them. Most modern restaurants have computers where you enter any tips you make because ALL yips must be reported to the IRS anyway.
If nobody tips, the server legally is paid the minimum wage that the job is worth, and their reported taxes would be their income, same as always.
In reply to That’s a lie
“Even if some of it applies in California, the vast majority of check-out clerks do not belong to any union.”
I know several people who work for Safeway, Walgreen’s, CVS, etc. All of them belong to a Union.
“Federal law requires servers be paid federal minimum wage.”
Funny how you tell an OUTRIGHT LIE here and then contradict it in the paragraph that you copy and pasted below. Servers are NOT required to be paid minimum wage if they receive tips. How do you propose that one live on $2.13 an hour? Don’t forget that most restaurants and bars withhold income tax on tips from that $2.13 an hour. Many restaurant employees receive a pay stub that shows $0.00 paid to them after taxes are deducted. Before you claim this is a lie (a lie is not always something you find inconvenient), I know several restaurant workers and they have shown me their stubs. THEY LIVE ON TIPS.
“I not their employer. It is not my duty to pay them.”
If you do not tip your waiter or waitress, you are costing them money, plain and simple. They are paying for the “privilege” of serving you. And, I would argue that it is your moral duty to pay anyone who provides you with a service.
In reply to Scott
“I know several people who work for Safeway, Walgreen’s, CVS, etc. All of them belong to a Union.”
And I know several who work ate dozens of different stores throughout the US who don’t have a union. It’s pretty common work for high schoolers and college students.
“Funny how you tell an OUTRIGHT LIE here and then contradict it in the paragraph that you copy and pasted below.”
Now we need to ask you whether the problem is that you are unable to read, or that you are unable to comprehend what you read. The paragraph clearly states that the employer is responsible for making up the difference between the $2.13 an hour and the Federal minimum wage if it is not made in tips. This means that if a server gets 0 tips their employer has to pay them $7.25 an hour. By law.
They are not supposed to make a living working as a server. Just like people aren’t supposed to make a living working at McD’s. It’s a job for students to make a little extra money.
You obviously don’t understand how taxes work. Tips are considered added income, so of course they pay taxes on them. Everyone else pays income tax, too. It does not matter if the taxes are on the tips or on the hourly wage, it’s a hr same taxes everyone else pays. It only looks to you like it is bad because you aren’t remembering that they are being taxed for those tips when you look at the stub. If they got NO TIPS it would look like any other minimum wage stub.
I am not “costing” them money. It isn’t the customer’s responsibility to pay them. Ever. If they don’t like it they can look for another job. It is their job to wait on me, it is what their employer pays them for. They most definitely do not deserve to be paid by the customer for a job they are already getting paid to do.
In reply to That’s a lie
“Now we need to ask you whether the problem is that you are unable to read, or that you are unable to comprehend what you read. The paragraph clearly states that the employer is responsible for making up the difference between the $2.13 an hour and the Federal minimum wage if it is not made in tips. This means that if a server gets 0 tips their employer has to pay them $7.25 an hour. By law.”
And how often does this happen in real life? Almost never. What actually happens is that they make, say, $2000 a month in tips (or whatever). Because they made more than $30 in tips, their employer is not obligated to pay them more than $2.13 per hour. But the employer is obligated to withhold income tax on all tips earned by the employee. The tax is withheld from their wages, so their paycheck is $0.00 or very close to it. They live off their tips, whether you like that fact or not.
Now, I know you are going to say that if you tip nothing the employer is obligated to pay them $7.25 instead of $2.13. But we both know that a waiter who cannot earn tips is probably so bad at their job that they will be fired. So, in essence, your argument is a straw man.
“They are not supposed to make a living working as a server. Just like people aren’t supposed to make a living working at McD’s. It’s a job for students to make a little extra money.”
You are probably too young to remember this, but 30-40 years ago, a cashier at a grocery store could afford buy a house and have a middle class lifestyle.
“Everyone else pays income tax, too. It does not matter if the taxes are on the tips or on the hourly wage, it’s a hr same taxes everyone else pays.”
How would you like it if your employer paid you below minimum wage and then withheld taxes from your pay for other income that you earned? That is essentially how servers are treated. What I tip my bartender or waiter is not income paid to them by their employer.
In reply to Scott
I’m not sure if I should tell you to stop because it’s getting sad, or tell you to keep going because it’s funny watching you dig that idiot hole deeper and deeper.
“And how often does this happen in real life? Almost never. What actually happens is that they make, say, $2000 a month in tips (or whatever). Because they made more than $30 in tips, their employer is not obligated to pay them more than $2.13 per hour. But the employer is obligated to withhold income tax on all tips earned by the employee. The tax is withheld from their wages, so their paycheck is $0.00 or very close to it. They live off their tips, whether you like that fact or not. ”
Missing the point entirely. They should not be getting tips. They don’t deserve tips. They deserve the minimum wage they are entitled to, and what the job is worth. The taxes they get on tips are because tips are income. If the employee makes no tips, the employer is obligated to pay them minimum wage. They can only be taxed on tips they make, so I have no idea what you’re trying to argue there. They’re just being taxed on income either way.
“Now, I know you are going to say that if you tip nothing the employer is obligated to pay them $7.25 instead of $2.13. But we both know that a waiter who cannot earn tips is probably so bad at their job that they will be fired. So, in essence, your argument is a straw man.”
I’ll explain to you what a straw man argument is, since you seem to believe it means something other than what it does. A straw man argument is where somebody says, “Topic X is supported by fact Y,” and somebody else says, “Except fact Y doesn’t apply to topic Z so fact Y doesn’t matter in the case of topic X.”
Now that that’s out of the way, I’ll point out the problem with your statement. If people stop paying tips, the employer can’t fire everyone or they’d have no staff, and any new staff wouldn’t get tips, either, so your argument doesn’t make sense.
“You are probably too young to remember this, but 30-40 years ago, a cashier at a grocery store could afford buy a house and have a middle class lifestyle.”
Most cashiers start around minimum wage, and the same was true 30-40 years ago. In ’75, 40 years ago, minimum wage was $2.10 an hour, and in ’85 it had climbed to $3.35 an hour. In the ’70s and ’80s, mortage interest rates often got over 20%, and usually had 1 year, 3 year, or 5 year terms. Even with the considerably lower cost of housing, I seriously doubt cashiers were buying homes At least, not on their own.
“How would you like it if your employer paid you below minimum wage and then withheld taxes from your pay for other income that you earned? That is essentially how servers are treated. What I tip my bartender or waiter is not income paid to them by their employer.”
You’re joking, right? Or do you seriously not understand what tax is? Tips are INCOME and since they are received at the job it is a REQUIREMENT for the taxes to be reported by the employer. The same as ANY OTHER SOURCE OF INCOME. And just like ANY OTHER INCOME, the tax comes out of the paycheck. When you look at the stub of a server, you have to remember that their gross pay is MORE than what their employer is paying. And that’s the entire point here, and the entire problem – their income should ONLY be the minimum wage their employer is required to pay.
Just like everyone else, I too pay taxes out of my paycheck. It’s just more obvious where it’s coming from because my stub actually shows all of my income.
In reply to Scott
Also, additional note –
“How would you like it if…”
You, uhhh, do realize nobody is making them work there, right? Like, they’re not legally obligated to work for that employer, or even in that field? As in, it’s entirely their choice to accept those conditions of employment?
In reply to Scott
I am really glad he did not tip the waitress. The employer is responsible for the wages nobody else. Also nobody gets taxed on money they never earned you’re so full of shit.
The waitress will make federal minimum-wage with or without tips. She does not deserve a penny more for being a dog and fetching my food from the kitchen.
Tipping is not a tradition in the United States like you think. In the early 1900s change was tossed on the ground for waiters so they knew they are beneath the wealthy. It was a way of people showing they were better than the working class.
In reply to $Bill
You are very disgusting as wel. You think you’re awesome and “wealthy”? You probably work like a dog for $50k a year and think you’re something. Karma will come for you, mark my words.
In reply to Syracuse
You are a despicable human being. Karma is going to come bite you in the ass and you will be very, very sorry. I hope something truly awful happens to you (and it will) because you are really just an awful person. You will be humbled someday, and I hope that day is very soon.
In reply to Fuck you
Karma does not exist retard. I will always rule over low life servers. No tip for you peasant.
Finally a person who will say what most of us think. I will not be bullied by your idea of morality. I work in an office – people don’t give me tips. I find that a tip should indicate that someone has given me a service above what was expected and I value it. If you give me more than what I want and I don’t value that – you won’t get anything for it either. Once I was in a bar with my dog – the dog was thirsty so I asked the waitress if something can be done, she went out of her way to arrange something for my dog to drink for – she got a good tip – this is additional service for which she does not get paid and I value – so I am happy to pay something on top for it.
Have you people never stayed at a nice hotel or dined at a top restaurant?? What was your experience? Did you feel special? Did you feel your interests/kids/allergies/gluten stuff was of real concern?? If you answered yes to any of this it’s because some uneducated idiot, in your opinion, made YOU their top priority and did everything they could for you. Do you think those nice hotels and restaurants are run by a bunch of part time college kids or drop outs who don’t care?? Those kids get fired and replaced by the people who provide you with real hospitality. It’s a real job and a real commitment. Also restaurant margins are extremely tight! They have to pay for rent, water, electricity, maintenance(every chair that has a crack, paint, leaky toilet), plates and glassware that break frequently, linens, to go boxes, toilet paper, soap, dish detergent…. The list goes on and on. And that’s just one day. If you think prices for food wouldn’t go up if servers are paid differently you have no idea what this business entails.
In reply to G
The wait staff has nothing to do with that. The restaurant owner and management are responsible for it. In fact, as you point out, servers who fail to do those things are fired. All you’re doing is supporting the no-tip side by pointing out that it is their JOB to do it, which means they should not be tipped for it. That’s what they were hired to do, and that’s what their EMPLOYER is paying them for.
If you think food prices WOULD go up, you don’t understand economics at all, let alone business. There are fast food restaurants where everything is made when you order it and they bring it to your table. You do not tip at these places – and even if you did the staff couldn’t accept it. The price of food at a fast food joint is nothing obscene. As others here have repeatedly pointed out, some very basic math can show you how even desperate restaurant owners wouldn’t need to raise prices noticeably to make up any difference.
You don’t have to tip I guess. Just be upfront about it or stick to Togo only. Your only after the food that you are unable to obtain elsewhere. You never mentioned your desire for the service end of the dining out experience. it can easily be avoided. Definitely tell your server ahead of time that you do not compensate services. You have no business reaping benefits of a service you have pursued, have a distaste for, and will not be compensating. Other tables however do. And that is where the servers attention needs to be paid. Despite who’s problem it may or may not be that a server makes little to no hourly wages after tax you are planting yourself smack dab in the middle of their bread and butter and it is not fair to them that you occupy their services. I can guarantee whatever it is your profession is doesn’t warrant the number amount on your paycheck. And your job could probably easily be taught. It’s a blessing to not be at the mercy at the 100 reasons why people feel you should or should not be paid the way or amount that you are. Have more respect for those who are at that mercy.
In reply to Aj
You’re missing the point entirely. A server’s job is to serve. They are paid to do so by their employer. They don’t deserve, nor should they expect, a tip for that work. At any point. Because it’s their job. The same as any other job that anyone is paid to do.
If you think everyone else’s profession is “easily taught,” why not suggest that servers do that, instead? Servers have no excuse, then. And I am positive that my job is worth my paycheck. I did a lot of work to get to where I am. I studied. I put in the hours. If it’s so easy, everyone could do it, but they can’t. Everyone can certainly do the work of a server, though. They have actual monkey waiters in Japan, for instance. A monkey couldn’t do my job.
In reply to What a joke
Yet I am sure in your existence, you act like a monkey. But even they have empathy unlike you, so they are in fact in this example better than you and your pitiful ego centered existence.
In reply to Jack
Oh, I have empathy. It’s just there is nothing to empathize with for servers. They aren’t homeless, they accepted their job, it is a minimum wage job, and the work they do is worth minimum wage. They aren’t down on their luck. I’ve been homeless, never begged for handouts even then, yet these people who do one of the easiest jobs in the world (again, they have trained monkeys to do it) and expect a handout? And let’s be honest – that is what a tip is. A handout. Because their wage is what is earned.
Idk about where you live, but panhandling is illegal where I live.
In reply to Jack
You are just foolish to think tipping a waitress is necessary. They are unskilled bottom feeders. Monkeys are more useful then people that wait tables
In reply to Aj
When I am at an upscale restaurant, it is the job of the server to cater to my needs. I will not tip you because you are already making min wage. You are unskilled and not even worthy of min wage.
Some very strange, entitled people on this thread. You go to fancy restaurants and get served by people you think are “low lives?” Why are wasting your time? I’d be ashamed to go out to dinner with someone who I knew wasn’t going to tip. I’d insist on take out or a home cooked meal. What’s really scary though are the people who actually stated how they go out of their way to make their servers cry or write on the receipt “find a real job.” You find joy in that? That’s some fucked up behavior right there. I’ve never worked in the food industry, but I’ve always had the common sense to tip. It’s part of the experience whether you choose to believe that or not. And any people that I’ve hung around who have genuine money, including my family, always very casually and calmly include a 15% tip as an absolute baseline, unless the service is terrible. Usually more.
In reply to A
Seriously? People who actually earn their money and don’t expect to get paid by the customers just for doing the job they were hired to do are the “entitled” people? Are you serious? Sorry, it’s the other way around – the servers are the ones acting entitled, as if they deserve to be paid extra money just for doing their job.
Minimum wage for a waitress is $5/hr. Why? BECAUSE TIPS. Yes, they could raise minimum wage and not get tips, but see how much your bill is when they do that. Or what they’ll do is include the tip in the bill. So you don’t wanna pay the tip? Whatever, see how it comes back to bite you in the butt.
In reply to Courtney
That’s not true. Federal law requires their employer make up any difference between tipping wage and federal minimum wage not gained in tips.
Fast food places – even ones that bring your food to the table – pay workers the same wage (generally minimum) and still have reasonable prices.
There is no valid reason to tip serving staff. They don’t earn it (their work is no more difficult than those fast food workers – even trained monkeys do their job in some places), the customer is not their employer, their actual employer must ensure they are compensated the Federal minimum wage, and they chose their job.
In reply to Courtney
You are stupid and full of shit. As a restaurant owner I can attest to the fact that all waitresses are as dumb as a box of rocks, and as worthless as tits on a bull.
http://www.dol.gov/whd/state/tipped.htm
You don’t even deserve federal minimum-wage you’re worthless.