The problem with American tipping culture; the absolute entitlement that comes with it.

[YvanKarma]

The concept of paying someone extra for a service you've already paid for is disturbing. I used to think the American tipping culture was purely done out of the goodness of one's heart

I never understood this tipping thing. I mean, I understand if you want to show your appreciation to someone's service if you are thrilled by it. But it becomes a real problem when you are always expected as a rule to do that. And therein lies the problem with American tipping culture; the absolute entitlement that comes with it

Waitresses, taxi drivers, bartenders, pizza deliverers — or anything that isn't pizza — and many more, all expect to be tipped even sometimes when they do a terrible job. There's even an unspoken rule where one is expected to pay not less than 15% of the cost of their service. Wait, what? If I have already paid for my service, why the fuck do I have to pay more?

I was told that usually people who worked in services that required being tipped have low minimum wage. You know what? I sympathise with that. I really do. But still, it isn't the consumer's job to be supplementing a worker's pay simply because their employer who should know better isn't doing the right thing.

And while we're at it, why don't we start tipping doctors, and teachers, and scientists and… you get it. I come from a culture where tipping is not a thing. And it's a freaking poor country. For a country that claims to be number one, a ridiculous claim to be honest, the fact that a significant portion of its population have to depend on tips to survive is really sad. Like, how do you have time to invest in destabilizing other countries and yet gloss over the basic necessities of your own people?

As harmless as tipping sounds, it sheds light on a much larger issue in America. Do better.

[Anonymous]

You are missing the entire point of tipping. Tipping takes a portion of the amount you would have to pay anyway and gives YOU control over whether or not you want to pay it. And that's a GOOD thing for YOU, and everyone except the government.

For example, there are restaurants that do not do tipping anymore because of people like you who don't understand how it works. But they simply build the same amount into the cost of their meals anyway so they can make up the difference in compensation for their servers. The hourly rate restaurants pay their servers is very small because they make most of their income in tips. So without tips, the hourly pay from the restaurant has to increase, and that means an increase in the cost of your meal. So, you can either pay $20 for that steak and not leave a tip, or you can pay $16 for it and leave a $4 tip for the server.

Or... and here's the beauty of tipping... if you got bad service, you can choose to leave a $1 tip because you didn't have the experience you deserved for your money. Without tipping you would have had to pay the full $20 no matter how shitty the service was. So tipping motivates your server to do their best and gives you recourse when they don't which is something you would not otherwise have.

When you actually understand how tipping works, you realize its good for everyone except the government, because most servers do not declare all their tips and therefore pay less in taxes.

[Opinion Owner]

Thank you for MHO.

[EleanorRigby]

Lol you really think food places charge less for their food because they know waiters are getting tips?
Hilarious.

[Opinion Owner]

@EleanorRigby You have it backwards. Waiters in almost all restaurants in the US are tipped, and those tips represent the majority of their income. If that changed and servers were no longer tipped, all those restaurants would have to charge more than they do now because they would have to pay their servers more or they would all have to quit and find other jobs. That is a fact. If you don't believe it then you simply don't understand how it works. I do understand it because I was in the industry for years and made my living that way, both as a server and as a restaurant manager. How about you?

[canadiancoloursky]

Originally tipping was evolved and started in Europe. Usually waitresses/waiters would get paid not a lot per hour, so the food would be cheaper and thus these tipping rules started, and well they make sense like this.

In North America, the USA in particular the price of eating out is so high, and waitresses/ waiters get paid so little for anything, basically anyone is trying to get tips now because the distribution of 💰 within companies and businesses is extremely unbalanced for customer service/food industry

Real problem is the wage gap, and the rising price of living due to the fixed real estate market.
People need a living wage

[YvanKarma]

Thanks for that info

[Anonymous]

I’m a simple person. If I am planning to enjoy myself somehow and folks have to work to make that happen by providing service I would be happy to tip. Especially if they demonstrate professionalism and in many cases create unique ties with others. Give and take. Equality matters. After all, for them it is not fun admitting to the fact that most folks take more than they have gave them. Bottom line everyone goes through rough patches and the reality is we All need to consider empathy as a form of changing unethical behavior.

[NickiB]

I get what you're saying but a lot of them can only pay their bills because of tips made since the restuarant don't pay them jack crap.

So i understand why they are counting on that tip.

[YvanKarma]

Well then, instead of them being entitled and toxic attacking those that don't tip, why not PROTEST their managers/restaurant to pay them more? but yeah, i get what you are saying as well

[NickiB]

Definitely no reason for them to be toxic to someone that doesn't tip.

Because they don't know the reason that person didn't tip. Maybe they didn't have money to tip.

And you're right maybe they should do something about their work situation.

[YvanKarma]

Cos i don't live in the US. Tipping is not a thing here in my country, so believe it or not, if i hadn't know about this tipping thing, i would walk into a restaurant without knowing i MUST tip because it's a MUST thing to do apparently lol

[NickiB]

It's not a must. But it definitely is looked down upon and some restaurants actually automatically include it.

What country are you from?

I actually always assumed you were from America.

[YvanKarma]

From America? me? lol then i'd be some celebrity by now. I live in South America sweetypie

[NickiB]

If you say so.😂😂😂

[Lliam]

I agree, Yvan.

I don't even know where the tradition originated.

Until the early 20th century, Americans viewed tipping as inconsistent with the values of an egalitarian, democratic society.

I assume it became more common in the U. S. at a time when the only people who hired cabs and dined out were high rollers. Picture fancy clubs in the 1920s through the 1950s in which men and women in "dinner attire" went out to drink and dine while live entertainment kept them amused.

Picture them giving a few dollars to the maitre d' or handing a quarter to the doorman. Doing so would gain them recognition and guarantee excellent future service. A waitress or cigarette girl might ignore a pinch on the ass if the man was a generous tipper.

Some have argued that "The original workers that were not paid anything by their employers were newly freed slaves" and that "This whole concept of not paying them anything and letting them live on tips carried over from slavery."

Workers receive different levels of gratuity based on factors such as age, sex, race, hair color and even breast size, and the size of the gratuity is found to be only very weakly related to the quality of service.

Unfair laws continue to perpetuate dependence on tips. Federal minimum wage for tipped employees in the United States is $2.13 per hour, as long as the combination of tips and $2.13 hourly wage exceed the standard minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

Tips are considered income. The entire tip amount is treated as earned wages with the exception of months in which tip income was under $20. Unlike wages where payroll tax (Social Security and Medicare tax) are split between employee and employer, the employee pays 100% of payroll tax on tip income and tips are excluded from worker's compensation premiums in most states. This discourages no-tip policies because employers would pay 7.65% additional payroll taxes and up to 9% worker's compensation premiums on higher wages in lieu of tips.

Tipping has become more like an extra tax. Paying an additional 15%, 20% or more is a virtual obligation. Some restaurants and hotels even include it automatically in the bill or call it a service fee. The entire tip doesn't even go the the person who provided the service. Tips are pooled and split among the entire service staff. Again, management tallies tips, considers them as employee income and reports it to the IRS. It would be difficult to know if management illegally skimmed from the pool.

I tip even though I am opposed to the idea. It's a scam that has been perpetuated by government and certain industries. It also puts servers in the position of being charity cases. I think service workers should be paid a fair salary and benefits just like other workers as they are in many countries.

A tip should be something freely given as an extra bonus for excellent service or going above and beyond what is expected. For example, a hair stylist who charges a normal price to all customers is often given a tip when the customer is extremely satisfied. Or a taxi drive who not only unloads the luggage from the trunk but carries it up the steps even though he is not obligated to do so. And such bonuses (gifts) should absolutely not be considered income or subject to tax any more than should birthday or Christmas presents.

[NearlyNapping]

I kind of agree, and kind of don't. I agree it becomes entitled, even if the service is bad. There are times when the service and/or food sucked, and I really didn't want to leave a tip. But I felt obligated and left one anyway.

On the other hand, it really is part of their pay. As I understand it, the minimum wage for tipping jobs is the same as anyone else. BUT, the employer only pays half of that, and the rest is paid in tips. If the employee does not make enough in tips, then the employer has to make up the difference.

Having said that, many tipping jobs pay very well if someone is good at the job. While someone who is bad at the job will likely still get tips, they won't get nearly as much as someone who is good.

Places with "pooled" tips are also common. My friend owns a coffee shop and all tips are combined and split evenly between the employees. They make about $20 / hour in addition to their regular pay. That's pretty good for the type of job they are working.

[Fiiggy]

I think you're reaching here trying to tie American culture and tipping'. It's basically a scam employers use to pay their employees less and i assure you business owners in your country would do the same if they could get away with it. Yvan' you do make some good points and i personally think tipping is total BS.

The argument that tipping is somehow an incentive for better service seems flawed. Isn't that what your paycheck is for? If you're a poor employee then you'll likely loose your job.

[Rangers]

Here's the problem, if you remove tipping culture, that'll benefit the shitty employees while hurting the good ones who did well and were tipped good, the good people will leave, leaving only the shitty employees which means shitty service for all. Also, did you know that pizza delivery is the third most dangerous job in the United states and drivers spend thousands of dollars a year in repairs, and they don't even make the pizza and have little control if things get backed up? They're not the almighty god, there are things those employees don't have control over, so don't blame everything that goes wrong on them by not tipping them.

[skeetskeetskeet]

Whats wrong with tipping... i used to park cars and made a fucking shit ton of money doing it all because of tips... for a shift on paper wed get paid like $43 for 6 hrs but like a summer day shift wed each walk with 500-600 a day and maybe half that for week days... How it works is i dont care if your driving a ferarri or some beat up ass truck... best believe the guy who rolls in a breaks off a 20 is getting his car before anyone else and all that... and were gonna for sure make it obvious in front of your date just how generous you are... if your driving that amg mercedes and dont feel you need to tip thats cool to... your cars down that way here's your key

[ChiTown33]

Nobody said like was equal in America. And when it comes down to wealrh America is #1. But it most concentrated in the top 1%. And continues to swing rhat way at an ever increasing rate.
But you're right on the whole tipping thing. If you watch college humor's Adam ruins everything. He proves that tipping actually hirts everybody including the tipee in the long run.

[bulletbob555]

If you can't afford to tip stay home cook food for yourself. Its just what we do here. I worked as waiter not everyone feels an entitlement and gives good service to earn the tip.
I am not going to go into the social anylization of your statement. I go 10% bad 15% for good service.

[EleanorRigby]

You should give good service because that's what your employer hired you to do. Not because you expect tips.

[bulletbob555]

Well we have heard about people can't live on minimum wage well how can they survive on $2.01 an hour? Like I said I gave good service to everyone. I didn't like the entitled people either but all and all I made more than them. Your attitude shows and your tips reflect it.

[Meatunnel69]

Im American and i dont eat out so avoid the tipping trap but you are right it’s the shitty employers who dont pay and expect us to instead. “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 federalminimum wage.”

[YvanKarma]

I mean, restaurant workers always trynna complain and fight people who don' t tip. I mean, instead of fighting the ones that don;'t tip, why not PROTEST so you can get better payed and such lol

[Anonymous]

My sister is a waitress, and is paid below minimum wage because the rest is to be made up in tips. While tipping is up to you, not tipping makes you look cheap. I always tip unless the waitress sucked.

[dwiller943]

Right!! I already paid full price anyways.

[KaraAyna]

Good mytake

[BForBarbie]

Smh I don't know