Comment by 9rx
2 days ago
Making the tip required isn't a movement against tipping, it reenforces the idea.
Try increasing the posted food prices by 18%, or add a "18% owner boat fund", instead and see what happens. You won't last the week before you are bankrupt. The amount is exactly the same, so from a financial point of view there is absolutely no difference, but the experience of "helping out the little guy" is lost, and that will chase clientele away. For all the huffing and puffing we hear, actions speak louder than words. The reality is that customers like tipping!
Personally, I hate the whole concept of tipping as promoted in the USA.
I see it as a way that owners can avoid paying the relevant taxes for employing their staff and instead offload part of that payment onto the customers. The arbitrariness of it also annoys me - why just waiting staff?
I'm in the UK, so we mainly have service charges added to the bill to take the place of tips which is a much better system. I also like the Japanese culture of non-tipping and that they may get offended by customers leaving tips.
> I hate the whole concept of tipping as promoted in the USA.
Of all the ways people choose to spend their money, tipping is a strange one to hate. It is not like Taylor Swift pointlessly flying around the world to the detriment of the environment, and thus everyone. It seems pretty foolish, I get that, but fools and their money are to be easily parted. What is the harm in their foolish fun?
> I see it as a way that owners can avoid paying the relevant taxes for employing their staff
Assuming staff will be paid more. That is unlikely in a lot of cases.
Granted, if you are in one of the states that allows tip credits that would be more true given that they would be legally required to move up to minimum wage irrespective of tips, but many states require that staff be paid at least the full minimum wage already and tipping is still just as common in those places.
It is not like McDonalds is paying their staff more without tips (above excepted). Like the death of manufacturing saw an end to high paying manufacturing jobs, the end of tipping would see an end to the $50/hr. waitress. It wouldn't be supplanted.
> why just waiting staff?
You can tip whomever you want — or not tip at all. But in most cases only the business is liable, so it is the only entity you need to please. When alcohol is involved, however, the server becomes liable, so it is in your interest to grease those wheels else get cut off. It is not like anyone tips the waiting staff at McDonald's. It traditionally has only been a custom where alcohol is found for that reason.
But it wasn't long before people realized that they enjoy it! It gives them the thrill of "sticking it to the man", or "helping out the little guy", or in some cases "Look at me. I can pay you more than your own boss can! Aren't I great?". In fact, they liked it so much they have started tipping in other places.
> I'm in the UK, so we mainly have service charges added to the bill to take the place of tips which is a much better system.
That sounds like a tip by another name. How is that a better system? It seems exactly the same (except the customer can't easily opt out of it). Many places in the US do that too (oft known as an auto-gratuity), especially for large parties in restaurants, for what it is worth.
> I also like the Japanese culture of non-tipping and that they may get offended by customers leaving tips.
Whereas on the other side of the pond the opposite is true. I picked up some shifts as a server a while back for what is a long story, but suffice to say money wasn't my motivation. I was collecting a developer's paycheck at the same time, meaning, as I am sure you can math, I was making way more than 99% of the people I was serving, so I felt pretty strange and pathetic taking their "pity money", so I tried rejecting them.
That didn't end well. Customers started getting quite upset with me. In one case I bypassed the tip screen on the credit card machine and the customer not fully paying attention didn't notice and walked out without tipping. Five minutes later he comes stomping back in and gave me an earful about not taking his tip while shoving cash in my face.
I used to think like you, but once I actually experienced it, it became abundantly clear that the customers are there to tip in the kind of establishment that is built on that type of business. It is part of the experience.
Those sitting at home staring at a screen might not understand the appeal, but they aren't the customer.
I don't mind casual tipping, but it seems to be "expected" in the USA and I've seen various criticisms of customers that don't leave tips (e.g. "the waiting staff need that money to survive"). It does seem wrong to me that some states can pay their staff less than minimum wage and I guess that tipping culture is so ingrained that even when staff are on minimum wage that they still get tips (seems fair to me as minimum wage shouldn't be the target, but merely a minimum).
I don't like the idea that a restaurant's service depends on tipping - I'd rather the restaurant ensures that their staff do their job well and not leave it up to me to determine whether the waiting staff should be paid more or less than the average amount (assuming I even know what the average amount should be).
> You can tip whomever you want — or not tip at all
In theory yes, but society has certain expectations (c.f. Mr Pink in Reservoir Dogs). I don't want to be considered rude or mean just because I'm used to tipping a certain amount and it's below what other people tip - I'm going out for a meal, not playing some ridiculous game. Also, it's not expected for people to tip other staff such as the dish-washer, the farm-hand who raised some of the produce, the accountant, the painter who redecorated a couple of years ago etc. You're being ridiculous if you think that kind of behaviour is common.
Service charges are very much like tips by another name except that there's no guessing about the amount (it's there on the menu before you order and on the bill at the end) and it doesn't bypass tax laws so the restaurant can't really game the system. The customer can't easily opt out which is why it's printed on the menus and if you think it's too much, then you go elsewhere (e.g. get a takeaway instead).
Your difficulty with not accepting tips was due to the strange U.S. tipping culture - I've seen some places just have a charity jar/box for unwanted tips.
(I have experienced U.S. tipping culture on a few holidays and it just seems bizarre and a bit backwards).
Reservoir Dogs tip scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4sTSIYzDIk