How Do You Feel about Tipping?

[AthenaAwakened]

Tipping is not required and if you get bad service, you'd be a fool to tip for that.

HOWEVER,

We allow this thing called a "tip wage" of $2.13.

The wage is based on customers tipping (which they are not required to do) enough to make up an actual wage of no less than $7.25, the federal minimum wage.

So customers are expected to pay the restaurant's employees.

When you go to the doctor, you aren't expected to pay her nurses.
When you go to the bank, you aren't expected to pay the tellers.
When you call the plumber, you are expected to pay her helper.

So why are we paying Olive Garden's wait staff?

Now before you kill me, I tip. I tip because I know without tips, rents don't get paid.

But I should not HAVE to tip. HAVING to tip feels less like an expression of thanks and more like a jack.

So in addition to tipping, I lobby lawmakers for a thriving wage for all workers, and expanding unions in all workplaces.

That way, if I tip or how much I tip is not dependent on how guilty I feel but how truly grateful I feel.

And servers don't have to "jump Jim Crow" trying to cajole two bucks out of beastly customers acting like jackasses.

So what do you think? Should the tip wage continue? What does tipping say about how we feel about labor?

 

[ZiprHead]

I've always been a generous tipper. Having a wife that worked for ten years as a waitress made me so.

 

[Elixir]

The “tip wage“ is a ripoff.
Nobody should be required to rely on the largesse of strangers to be able to pay rent and buy food.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I'm against the concept of tipping, as workers should be paid fair wages, and then they should produce their services.

But this is America... and servers get to be underpaid. If I give a 15% tip, I'm usually unpleased, but recognize the fucking Government thinks that I pay them for a living, so I cough up the money. You fucked up royally if it is under 15%, which I've done maybe once or twice. 20 to 25% has historically been my happy with service tip, but with inflation and the bill rising, the tips are generally at 20% range.

 

[laughing dog]

I am against tipping cows.

It would be nice if the US adopted the US restauarants en masse adopted the European method of no tips. Until then, I tip.

 

[Ruth Harris]

Between major careers, I worked in food/bar service. This was back in the stone age so my hourly wage was NOT $2.13 an hour; I was paid $1.25 per hour. It was one of the hardest jobs I ever had but I did well enough to pay my bills while looking for a new career.

Due to that experience, I tip lavishly unless there is a really good reason not to tip (that doesn't mean that the food was not good either. Waitresses should not be penalized for an issue in the kitchen!). My minimum tip is 15% and my average tip is 20-25%. I tip as much as 100% in certain circumstances, such as a small bill for coffee only.

I tip my grocery delivery people. I tip my restaurant delivery people. I tip my hair stylist. I have tipped my HVAC service people for outstanding service, even though I know they make good money. Anyone that provides me a service is worthy of being tipped - especially if they depend on those tips to make a living.

I am torn about requiring higher wages for tip eligible jobs. Yes, it would provide a stable income not dependent on the people they serve - but it would also reduce what many of those people earn. I knew many food service people who made a lot more than people realize simply because they were so good at their job. I worked with some people in the early 80's who made about $400 - $500 a week which was big money back then in this part of the country. They would have made a lot less on a straight hourly wage.

Ruth

 

[TV and credit cards]

If you're too damn cheap to tip, stay home and eat. You'll probably live longer anyways if going out to eat is typically the poor quality food served at chain restaurants.
If restaurant employees want to strike for a proper wage, now's the time. But this is their decision not ours. Anyone not tipping on principle is just making an excuse to be a cheap sob. I don't care what you're telling yourself.

I'll tip anyone who provides a good service. I won't tip a small contractor/owner if he's also the installer because I know what the markup is on home fixtures. I will tip his workers who's only respite throughout the day is the windshield time they might get driving to and from the job. I even seen these guys have to check in on a tracking app upon arrival so the boss knows they're not lollygagging.
I've tipped a Toyota mechanic a Benjamin who replaced the frame on my truck under a class action lawsuit. I tip freight delivery guys. I should tip the poor Amazon guy or at least give him a fresh bottle.

 

[Ford]

Count me among the "I tip generously because I used to work for tips, but I shouldn't have to" crowd.

Now, it's been a long time since I relied on tips for a living, but a sane person would be forgiven for thinking that the "tipped wage" has at least gone up a little...right?

Nope.

The last time I brought the check out to a table was back when George H.W. Bush was President. Czechoslovakia was still a country. On the weekends I was working at a radio station that was playing Pearl Jam "Jeremy" and "Love Shack" by the B-52's...as currents.

The tipped wage? It hasn't budged since then.

 

[Elixir]

I am torn about requiring higher wages for tip eligible jobs. Yes, it would provide a stable income not dependent on the people they serve - but it would also reduce what many of those people earn.

Why would that be? I wouldn't advocate for doing away with tipping, but think it should be the difference between a subsistence income and an actual "living" income, not the difference between starvation and subsistence. I tip great service in ANY industry quite lavishly - I have even tipped a goddam surveyor who certainly didn't need my tips, for going above and beyond*. I would never penalize a restaurant server for the kitchen's mistake. But I don't want to pay a crappy server's rent. ALL of a restaurateur's employees should be able to pay their rent and buy sufficient food without my tips. Even the shitty ones.

* An interesting story on its own... I had a setback issue in a section of a placer claim that had been divided up into a dozen or so properties. The deeded plats were not congruent - there were triangles and weird shaped areas not deeded to any of the landowners. The surveyor took it upon himself map those ares out, track down the other 11 land owners, and get them to sign quit claim deeds to the un-deeded areas, which solved my setback problem. Biggest "tip" I ever gave anyone! He acted surprised. Holy cow!

 

[jonatha]

The wage is based on customers tipping (which they are not required to do) enough to make up an actual wage of no less than $7.25, the federal minimum wage.

Keep in mind that if the customers don't do that the restaurant is supposed to.

I don't think this particular provision of the law is all that well enforced though.

 

[Terrell]

People should be paid enough that they can afford the basics in life at a minimum. Tips shouldn't be necessary for waiters to survive, but since they are, I do tip.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

The wage is based on customers tipping (which they are not required to do) enough to make up an actual wage of no less than $7.25, the federal minimum wage.

Keep in mind that if the customers don't do that the restaurant is supposed to.

I don't think this particular provision of the law is all that well enforced though.

It isn't. It's also why places make servers share tips. That way your good tips can make out my bad tips and the restaurant can keep on paying $2.13.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

People should be paid enough that they can afford the basics in life at a minimum. Tips shouldn't be necessary for waiters to survive, but since they are, I do tip.

My logic as well. I've never not tipped. As others have said it isn't only servers. When someone does their job well they deserve to be recognized. Someone picked up the tab for our table the other night and I'm sure they left a good tip for the server. But I generously thanked her as well with a tip of my own.

 

[Shadowy Man]

A tip is also sometimes called a "gratuity". Once it becomes compulsory it is no longer a tip, but part of the cost of the service. Given that, I, personally, would rather just have a restaurant raise the costs of its products and pay the staff the proper wage and not expect any tips above that price.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Sidenote, I tip 5 to 10% for pickup orders. The larger the order, the higher the tip. I used to not do that, but it is a habit now, especially post pandemic.

 

[abaddon]

A tip is also sometimes called a "gratuity". Once it becomes compulsory it is no longer a tip, but part of the cost of the service. Given that, I, personally, would rather just have a restaurant raise the costs of its products and pay the staff the proper wage and not expect any tips above that price.

I agree with this point^^^

Lately even the machines at self-checkout stations are asking for tips!

The notion of tipping as the generous and thoughtful thing to do is getting dated, as it becomes more and more a cash-grab by companies taking advantage of American's Will-To-Be-Compliant.

"If they do a good job, they deserve extra" is bullshit. If they do a good job they deserve to keep their job. If they don't, then they don't. It shouldn't be an issue of "if you do extra then you deserve the money". They deserve a living wage paid by the employer in trade for doing a competent job. Tip them if you're impressed but it shouldn't be an expected part of the arrangement.

I left a takeout restaurant recently, wondering how they justify asking for tips via their little Squareup device when all I did was ask for a hamburger at the counter and got a hamburger there at the counter... no waiters serving with a smile. So I looked for convos about it on the Net, to see the various POVs. I read that, in Australia, if the hamburger is $10 on the menu, then a ten dollar bill in the customer's pocket will fully pay for the burger, the service, and the taxes. IMO that's the right way to do it.

 

[James Brown]

Why do we tip some people but not others? I'm expected to tip my waiter, but not the busboy, nor the checkout clerk at the grocery store, nor the mail carrier. I tip the man who cuts my hair, but not the man who cuts my lawn. I tip the person who brings me food to my house, but not the person who brings me boxes to my house. It's so confusing.

As for wait staff, years ago, my wife and I worked in the same restaurant--she as a waiter, me as a cook. I was paid minimum wage--$3.35 an hour. She was paid $2.05 an hour, but if her tips didn't bring her up to at least minimum wage, then she would be supplemented until she achieved the same minimum wage that I did. Naturally, she was tipped rather well, so she brought home around $7.00 an hour.

But I couldn't understand why the most I could earn was $3.35 an hour, and the least she could earn was $3.35 an hour.

 

[bilby]

I read that, in Australia, if the hamburger is $10 on the menu, then a ten dollar bill in the customer's pocket will fully pay for the burger, the service, and the taxes.

Yup. The price on the menu is the price you pay.

In top end restaurants, if the service is genuinely exceptional, Australians might leave a tip. But nobody expects it, and everyone (including the waiters, and the United Workers Union who represent waiters and hospitality staff) expects that the restaurant owner will pay a decent wage. In top end restaurants here, the staff will typically be paid above minimum wage anyway.

This idea of putting a price tag on anything that doesn't include all of the fees, taxes, and other charges that a customer would pay, seems crazy to me. It would also be a breach of Section 52 of the Trades Practices Act 1974, which prohibits "Misleading conduct".

 

[James Brown]

Oh that? That's common. Look at what an airline charges for a seat, then compare what you actually pay after all the "taxes and fees" are tacked on. That seems to be standard in transportation and hospitality industries. The same happens with my phone bill. Rather annoying, and makes it harder to comparison shop.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Lets not forget that tipping is also for the tipper. We do it because it makes us feel better, maybe generous, maybe that we can afford to be able to tip. I will often give money to those folks standing on street corners with cardboard signs upon which is scribbled their misfortunes. There is empathy involved.