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.
Honestly I just want to see the math applied and in action. I would love to see someone, (it’d be nice if it’s you Bahgwad) Be a waiter for a month and save all of their tips. DON’T SPEND ANY. At the end of the month you have your big pile of tips, and start crunching actual numbers. Not hypothetical ones. The actual amount of hours you worked in that time. Your actual take home pay from your employer. Then figure what that pay would have been if you made at least minimum wage. If that pile of tips from the end of the month is bigger than the difference between take home pay from employer and what that pay would be had you made minimum wage, Well then you Bahgwad will have completely proven your point. Of course if it turns out that the pile of tips is smaller than the difference between actual pay and minimum wage totals, sure the internet will get to say “I told you so!” but at least you’ll be able to tell everyone to fuck off cause you went and did it yourself.
Just saying it would be a fun experiment.
In reply to Ish the Stomach
WELL SAID.
So what your saying is that servers and bartenders make more money than you? I’ve been in the business for 12 years now. Worked every angle from bus boy to bartender. I’ve worked on cruise ships, snow resorts, hotels, banquets, beach bar after beach bar and after all these years it doesn’t bother me when someone doesn’t tip. I just go on about my day because in the end I am the happy one. The person that doesn’t tip usually has social issues and can’t afford to take care of themselves so they don’t have the extra money to tip. Maybe that family only gets to eat out once a month and leaving a large tip is hard for them. So I get it (Bhagwad) you have a low income teaching job where tipping is hard because you fear the server is doing better then you. Well in most cases we are. Most of us that work hard get more in return. That’s why serving is best left for those of us that can handle the risk and reward that goes with the service industry. Please don’t pass your opinions on to the children you teach, the last thing we need in this world is someone showing our youth how to be shallow and inconsederate to other Americans.
Just another idiot.. go debate about rape in India, no one cares about you. HAHAHA what a loser……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..no point in responding to what you wrote because you’re too dumb to understand.
Die of ass cancer Fhagwad.
Dude…I just don’t know what to say. You are a monstrous douche. What you apparently don’t realize is that without tips, waiters are unpaid workers. Almost literally every bit of the 2.13 an hour that I made when I was a server went to taxes; if my bi-weekly paychecks had 10 bucks or so on them I considered it lucky. Since you took a shot at slavery in this very article, I’m guessing you disagree with the concept of forcing people to work for you without paying. However, you then wrote an article about how you DO EXACTLY THAT. If you don’t tip, you are basically benefiting from slave labor. So yes, I will continue to hate assholes like you, especially the ones that find it necessary to spread their views to other people rather than staying at home quietly like the miserable assholes they are. If you don’t tip, you are taking advantage of the system and making one of the most difficult industries to work in into a slave market; if you don’t have the money for a tip, you DO NOT have the money to eat out, because it’s not optional, it is a part of the cost of your meal. In summation: sorry for using the word asshole so much, but you are a complete asshole.
In reply to Conor
It most certainly IS OPTIONAL, otherwise, it wouldn’t be up for customers to decide whether to tip or not. That’s the definition of optional idiot.
And so the $2.13 goes to your taxes. WHO CARES? We ALL PAY TAXES.
So what, now you demand to make $15.00 per hour in your industry AND want it to be tax-free!?
I hope you get stiffed ever day now. You deserve to be stuck in the service industry like a vast majority of the morons that work there with you. I use the term “work” liberally because most of you wouldn’t know a hard days work unless it “smoked a bowl” with you at the end of the day.
Carrying food isn’t work. Try roofing. Try working as a Plumber, Electrician, or Police Officer. THOSE are real jobs. Food service is for people with no skills to get a real job.
In reply to YoureWRONG
Servers aren’t opposed to paying taxes, we’re just saying that the small amount of wages we make hourly go directly to taxes so we don’t even see that. Therefore, if our customers don’t tip on we literally have no income to live off of. If you disagree with the tip system and try to prove a point to management and restaurant owners by not tipping, guess what they couldn’t care less either because they aren’t going to change the system and start paying their servers an hourly rate. They’re not going to be the only restaurant in America that does that when they can easily get away with paying us 2.13/hr. The only person getting screwed is the server who relies on tips as their actual wages, not “extra” on top. There would have to be actual paychecks coming to us for it to be “extra”. Tips=our ONLY source of income.
This is a satirical article written in response to your first blog post. Maybe you can read it and realize how much of a dickwad you are.
http://thoughtcatalog.com/nicole-mullen/2014/03/why-you-shouldnt-tip/
You have a twisted, fucked-up way of looking at the world. Karma will get you in the end, and good news for you: You won’t have to give it a tip.
the only thing stopping me from wanting to rip out this man’s jugular is the knowledge that he has eaten enough people’s spit to fill a river.
In reply to Steven
If you were clairvoyant enough to know WHO is going to stiff you BEFORE the bill comes you, you’d be working for the government, not stuck in the dead-end food service job you deserve.
In reply to whatever…..
Sadly you’re correct, servers don’t know that before hand. However as someone who has worked in numerous restaurants I can tell you that when a server does get stiffed they remember that person, so if you’ve ever stiffed a server and then gone back to that restaurant, I can almost guarantee you that the server you had last time went and told the server you have the next time that you’re a self – righteous non tipper and they will most definitely adjust their service accordingly.
I am astonished at the vitriolic attacks on this man’s opinions. I have to say he is right. Why should a customer bear the brunt of a broken system? If the restaurant owner doesn’t pay enough wages, don’t work there. If nobody takes on the job of waiter there, then he/she will have to provide decent wages. Waiters are doing their job. Waiting on tables and everything that goes with it is their job. Why do they expect extra money from the customer? For doing their job? Remember that when you go into a restaurant you make a contract with the restaurant, not with the waiter, for the prices on the menu. He has his own contract with his employer. When I was a nurse I didn’t get tips for cleaning up a bed full of poop. That was my job. I have been a waitress too and we didn’t get tips. There was a bowl by the till but people just put in their change if they wanted to but often not more than 20 pence. Nobody spat or swore or hated the customers, or ran after them. I didn’t feel I couldn’t survive on my wages and I had three teenagers to support.
In the UK now many restaurants automatically include a discretionary service charge of 12.5%. I always ask the waiter to remove it. It is bulllying. I should decide whether I want to tip and how much. One waitress said she didn’t mind because she never saw that money anyway. I now work as a campsite manager and do a lot of cleaning and trouble shooting for customers. I get a wage and I don’t get tipped and I don’t expect one either. I am doing my job to the best of my ability without demanding extra.
In reply to Pamela
Pamela, are u referring to restaurants you worked at in the UK? We are discussing the industry in the US where servers are payed $2.13 an hour by the employer and the custom is for customers to tip 15%-20% to make up for the servers lack of wages. Now if you believe that people deserve to work for free as our $2.13/hr goes directly to our taxes and we do not get paid otherwise without tips, then you should probably stay in the UK where you will not offend any Americans with your stingy attitude. However as you mentioned you were a nurse, one of the most difficult and thankless professions there is, I’m assuming you have compassion for other humans and don’t believe that anyone should work for free, and are therefore mistaken and believed that servers were making a livable hourly wage by their employers. Am I correct in that assumption?
In reply to Gabby
Indeed, I am in the UK where we get decent wages, even if it is minimum wage. We have a good tax system where you get taxed a percentage of your wages. Why does your government tax you your whole wage?
Does it mean that restaurant owners are rolling in money because they rake in all the profit and the staff don’t get paid? I cannot believe that a supposed advanced country like America only has the equivalent of £1.28 for minimum wage. Ours is £6.13.
I don’t mind you call me unpleasant names because you don’t know me. But I would like you to know I make a monthly donation to Voluntary Services Overseas and Compassion in World Farming. Because they are the charities I have chosen.
I have no intention of going to America to spend my money which I have earned in the service industry (without tips). America does not appeal to me at all and when I read the swearing and viciousness on American websites it only confirms my attitude.
In reply to Pamela
Exactly! I wish I could move to another country. Problem is, no one wants Americans. Even one that is as traveled as I am. This entitlement, narrow-minded, backwood hypocrites have ruined American’s reputation and this isn’t the country we once were. It’s a shame.
In reply to Gabby
Boo fuckin hoo. This myth about your 2.13 per hour wage going all towards taxes just show how stupid servers are. You are in the lowest fucking tax bracket in the USA. at most you have about 14 cents per hour that goes towards the welfare tax (welfare being something you probably get to supplement your pathetic income). Additionally, you whiners about your tiny wage are also probably getting back tax refunds larger than what you actually paid into the system.
If you want more money, get a job that pays you more money. There are plenty of entry level jobs paying the federal minimum wage.
I don’t tip you to make up the difference from your “lack of wages”. If I tip you it’s because you personally made my life easier or better; you went above and beyond what I expect. When I eat out I expect to receive prompt courteous service. I expect to receive the correct order – hot and in a timely manner sans spit or other nasties. If I run out of water, I expect either a pitcher on my table to refill it myself or a server to come by from time to time with a refill – this is what’s included in the price of my meal. You want a tip – then do something beyond what is expected.
In reply to BoofuckinHoo
Well said.
In reply to BoofuckinHoo
Boofuckinhoo, you ignorant fuck, the $2.13 an hour is not a “myth” but the actual wage we make whether you want to accept that or not. I haven’t even bothered to pick up a paycheck from my manager I’m 3 years because every check has “void: this is not a valid check” written across the top because literally every penny of that $2.13goes to taxes, AND then some that we owe separately (just like every one else).
Dang, you posted another “anti-tip” article? Wasn’t the hatred from the first one enough? You’re simply digging your own grave here, sir. You’re pissing people off, and if you keep it up, you’re going to piss off the wrong person. Opinions are like assholes; Everyone’s got one. Still, your tone of text in these articles are condescending. If you weren’t such a dickwad, maybe people would take your reasoning into consideration.
1.) If you don’t want to tip, take your food to go….that simple.
2.) Let me de-bunk, the de-bunking of the cost of food going up.
Consider a larger chain restaurant, which are quite common. A couple thousand servers around the country, requiring them to nearly triple their current pay.
$2.83/hr —> $8/hr
Along with that, companies are required to match 6.xx% of each employees wage in Social Security tax, as well as Medicare, so there’s another expense.
But now most servers will be taking a pay cut, demanding more hours because they’re making a flat $8/hr. Now the company must incur the cost of paying these employees a higher wage, for more hours, and paying more taxes. Companies large enough to be listed on an index don’t exactly operate with enough cash to just up and give everyone a raise.
And if you can’t cut costs, you have to increase revenue, and we’re speaking in terms of millions of dollars.
3.) It’s not just custom in the US, it’s the law! That’s right! US Labor Law states:
“A tipped employee engages in an occupation in which he or she customarily and regularly receives more than $30 per month in tips. An employer of a tipped employee is only required to pay $2.13 per hour in direct wages if that amount combined with the tips received at least equals the federal minimum wage. If the employee’s tips combined with the employer’s direct wages of at least $2.13 per hour do not equal the federal minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference. Many states, however, require higher direct wage amounts for tipped employees.”
Why would the government enact laws allowing employers pay such a low wage unless they EXPECT you to be compensated in tips. Otherwise, they’re allowing borderline slavery….