Tipping Culture

[HT_Black]

Hang on, let me get on my cynicism goggles...Ah, there we go.

Because American culture is materialistic to a nearly unlawful degree, it is considered a status symbol if you have money to flaut about. In a practical sense, tipping the waiter/waitress is simply a more subtle way of saying, on no uncertain terms:

Mine is bigger than yours, you poor sap.

How far up your bum did you have to reach to pull out that little nugget of wisdom?

How did you come up with that? That's not even cynicism. That entire statement is just blatantly stupid. I've never met a person who uses the amount they tip as a measure of self-worth.

I suppose people who donate to charities are also trying to flaunt about? That guy who gave those toys to Goodwill? Total prick! Just wanted to show off his wealth. Chick who donated the dollar to Saint Jude's? She's so self-absorbed!

My word, it seems like every otehr person on here is out for a fight.

Before you, Complete and Total Stranger, dismiss my remark, please not my explicit application of my 'Cynacism Goggles'. If that discalimer didn't fill you in on the fact that the next words out of my mouth were going to be flippant, facetious, and born out of bitterness towards capitalism than anything else, you really have no business responding.

Secondly, I live in the American deep South, where the entirety of one's self-worth is wholly dependent on the size of your paycheck, bladder, and reproductive organs. If they do things differently up North, please pardon my ignorance. (By the way: I'm dead serious.)

 

[Captain Blackout]

Hang on, let me get on my cynicism goggles...Ah, there we go.

Because American culture is materialistic to a nearly unlawful degree, it is considered a status symbol if you have money to flaut about. In a practical sense, tipping the waiter/waitress is simply a more subtle way of saying, on no uncertain terms:

Mine is bigger than yours, you poor sap.

Did you read the thread before you posted? Rainman2203, RebellionXXI, Angelo Credo, Nekoali, 1012 Wont Happen, Mookie_Magnus, GreyWolf257, Worgen, Thoisk, Kawaiiamethist, Captain Blackout, and even Khitten, while seeming very begrudging about it, have all acknowledged the fact that in America, waitors/waitresses have far lower wages than they should.
I don't think I'm flaunting money around when I'm paying people what they would get if they had a more respectable minimum wage. If you don't like that, instead of being a jerk about it to the servers, you can just cook yourself. Even without tips, its generally cheaper, anyhow.

Typically, I try to eat out less and give a bit more of a tip than needbe, but when I'm at the local coffee shop, my times in which I tip are a bit more arbitrary, but is usually the change they make me- I try to tip every time I'm there.
I mean, I know these people. Seen their kids, been there at least monthly (except for the summers) for the past four years. Well, that, and the fact that it has a really awesome atmosphere.

Me, begrudging about anything? NEVER!
[small]don't read any of my posts, don't look over there, I never begrudge anything, really[/small]
I love the end of the scene with Mr. Pink bitching about tipping, where the guy paying for the meal walks in and says "I paid, you better fucking tip!"
Thanks for tearing the cynicism goggles off HT_Black, someone needed to...

EDIT @ HT_Black: Yes, yes, it was all flippancy, I get it. You play the clown, we play the mime muggers, or something like that...

On that note, ever tip a mime?

 

[jasoncyrus]

I never tip ever. If they want better pay work at walmart. Better pay and better treatment.

If anyone expects me to tip they can go jump off a bridge. Even if it came with a special free happy ending I aint gonna tip them. When I want a service I expect a compentant Standard-good job. If they give excellent service, hey thats great, but they're tryin too hard. Unless their boss is watchin then the only person they're tryin to impress is me which aint gonna get them squat.

 

[Erja_Perttu]

I'll tip if I'm served by one person who is friendly and attentive. If they give me regular service, they don't get extra money, because I provide a basic service that isnt in the catering industry and dammit, I don't get tips.

 

[-BloodRush-]

i dont let myself feel obligated to tip. i tip only when i feel like it, and considering the waiter/waitress has a job and i dont, i rarely feel like it.

 

[Private Custard]

Someone has to do well to earn a tip from me.

It all stems back to when I was 16 and had my first weekend job at Pizza Hut. I worked in the kitchen, and all of us worked our arses off. It was hot, noisy and massively stressful. A close could take us through to 4am by the time all the cleaning was done and prep work for the next shift completed.

We did all this for (at the time) £3.75 per hour. The waitresses out front were on £3.50 per hour, the reasoning being that they could make up the extra in tips.

In reality, a waitress working the same shifts as me was earning anything up to £350 per week extra in tips (150 seat restaurant with queues around the corner from 5pm til midnight, very busy). There were usually up to 12 people working out front..........and three of us in the kitchen holding it all down!

And to cap it all, even though we in the kitchen were an integral part in the customers dining experience, and the waitresses were ordered to drop some of their tips in a cup behind the bar to then be shared out in the kitchen, the most we ever saw in that cup was 20p!

Selfish, money hungry, thoughtless idiots that have no idea what sweating for a wage is.

So now, they have to fucking earn my tip. And it's rude if they merely expect it just because they did their job adequately.

EDIT: I have been known in the past, to ask for half my tip to be sent through to the kitchen. Hell, if only one person a night does that, at least they can wind down with a free pint.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

It's not expected here in NZ and I wouldn't do it anyway. I pay for my meal, now what? Should I be paying more just because you did your job?

No one tips me for what I do, why should I do it back. If they want the staff to get more money, just increase the prices of the food then.

Could someone explain to me, why in America that you have a minimum wage but it doesn't seem to apply for waitstaff?

 

[Kuliani]

I tip 20% every time at a restaurant. My wife used to work in a restaurant and the wait staff tend to remember the people that don't tip. It makes sense, since the wait staff makes less than minimum wage due to the tipping culture, you are not paying them for the work they do... thus they remember you and dislike you.

You may want to reconsider ever going to that restaurant again, because if that waiter or waitress is working there, you REALLY run the risk of them doing something to your food (even if you aren't being served by them, they work together).

 

[SturmDolch]

I tip 15% or less. Less if it wasn't worthwhile or if the service sucked. Like, my friend and I were at a pub, at the table. We tipped the waitress of course. But before we left, we each took a shot. The bartender sure as hell didn't get 15% for thirty seconds of work.

In Switzerland, tips are included in the price already, so there's none of this BS. No one gets undertipped or looks bad if they don't tip.

 

[Liberaliter]

After working in the kitchens of a restaurant I now see the need for customers to tip, basically everyone behind the scenes gets a share, not just the waiters, so its always a plus for me. Luckily I worked in a posh place where wealthy sailors came in and tipped excessively.

 

[Private Custard]

After working in the kitchens of a restaurant I now see the need for customers to tip, basically everyone behind the scenes gets a share, not just the waiters, so its always a plus for me. Luckily I worked in a posh place where wealthy sailors came in and tipped excessively.

You're one of the lucky ones. Unless there's now proper guidelines on tip-sharing, front house staff tend to take all the credit and run (see my post above).

 

[TheScarecrow]

I like Mr. Pink.

Anyway. Tipping culture, interesting topic. I do leave tips sometimes. It could just be that I want to, or I like the place or the staff were nice. When I do, it would usually be in a sid-down meal place, like a cafe or somesuch. Even so, I wouldn't leave an awful lot. Sometimes if I'm in a place with a tips jar I'll throw in some money, usually change.

 

[Spoony_Nin]

Generally I tip, because I've been on the otherside and tips are a nice thing to get. However, for the past year I've been living in Japan and they never tip. Even though the service is way better than the UK, no tips. It's considered an insult I think, but either way I was always tempted, because they were just so good.

 

[cheese_wizington]

Do you do it? What are your views on the issue?

In Australia it isn't standard practice, and very rarely expected when you have services rendered. The only time my friends and I have done it are at restaurants where our waiter has been especially attentative, but even then I find myself objecting to the practice.

My negative view on tipping is simple: you pay for a service, which is supplied by a person who is employed to conduct that service. They are there because they are getting paid, so why must the customer add to their pay cheque?

It's my understanding that tipping is a big deal in the US, so I'm hoping some Americans can enlighten me on the tipping culture. Television and cinema has led me to believe that it's socially unacceptable not to tip, so I am also wondering what the consequences are for people who choose not to.

Perhaps I'm a cold person, but the argument 'people in the services industry are underpaid' doesn't hold well with me. That's a matter between employee and employer (and government), it shouldn't be in the hands of the customer to suppliment a lousy employment agreement as if they were a charity case.

To take it from Reservoir Dogs

"Waitressing is the number one job in the country that High School graduates can make a living on"

 

[XT inc]

I avoid placing myself in a situation where I have to tip. I mean it's the companies job to pay someone to serve me. Sure it's customary but in all honesty I just don't like paying money for people doing their job. Since I find restaurants increasingly jacking their prices money I would have added on a 10$ meal gets eaten when I have to pay 14 for a main.

 

[BonsaiK]

Do you do it? What are your views on the issue?

In Australia it isn't standard practice, and very rarely expected when you have services rendered. The only time my friends and I have done it are at restaurants where our waiter has been especially attentative, but even then I find myself objecting to the practice.

My negative view on tipping is simple: you pay for a service, which is supplied by a person who is employed to conduct that service. They are there because they are getting paid, so why must the customer add to their pay cheque?

It's my understanding that tipping is a big deal in the US, so I'm hoping some Americans can enlighten me on the tipping culture. Television and cinema has led me to believe that it's socially unacceptable not to tip, so I am also wondering what the consequences are for people who choose not to.

Perhaps I'm a cold person, but the argument 'people in the services industry are underpaid' doesn't hold well with me. That's a matter between employee and employer (and government), it shouldn't be in the hands of the customer to suppliment a lousy employment agreement as if they were a charity case.

In the US people in hospitality industries get beans for pay so that's why the tipping culture exists. Not sure why, maybe it's because the people in charge are greedy scumbags, or maybe it's some weird cultural reason that restaurant and hotel owners shaft their staff. Who knows. But if you go there you must tip or they'll do weird things to your food or make your life miserable. Yes, I know, it's lame, but it's the way it is and people in the US don't seem interested in changing it for whatever weird reason, probably because they've been brainwashed into believing that "fighting for better pay and conditions" = "communism".

In other countries where people don't have such weird hangups and therefore have fairer pay and conditions where they work, such as Australia, nobody cares about tips really. Sure, they like it if you leave them but it's not something they'll get all hung up about.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

Here in the UK the 'minimum' in 'minimum wage' actually means something, every employed individual gets at least that amount for an hour of work, by law. Apparently it's not the case in the US, which going by the responses in this thread would explain why tipping is considered part of the bill over there whereas here it's not. I only tip when I feel I've had good service, because I'm content that they are receiving a (some would say) fair amount for their labour.

If I ever go the US I honestly don't know whether I'd tip or not, not for malicious reasons or anything I just don't know whether I would embrace the UK or US culture in that regard.

 

[RyQ_TMC]

I remember being really suprised by the tipping culture when I moved to the US. Where I come from, tipping is optional - and back before the habit came to us through people who visited the US, it was only restricted to posh places. Nevertheless, back home I usually tipped a bit, although I don't think I ever hit 15%. Then I came to the glorious Eagleland, and suddenly I was expected to tip. I actually entertained the thought of not tipping anyone out of spite, but then thought better about it and went with the flow. There were, however, two instances when I did not give a tip. First one was when our waitress was extremely bad, arrogant and generally showing us that customers were the worst thing that happened to her in the day. But when I refused to tip her when it came to paying, my American friends looked at me like I've just denied Holocaust on public TV. She still didn't get a tip, but this gave me an idea of how deeply tipping penetrates American culture.

The second time was when a waiter decided it was okay to touch me, grab my shoulders and stuff like this. Now I understand that it might be fine in the US, and I could see he was going for the "flamboyant homosexual" image (which seems to involve being as obnoxious as possible for some reason), but where I come from, bodily contact with a stranger is a MASSIVE no-no and a sign of utter disrespect, so there was just no way I could give him a tip. Maybe he was angry at me for that. But he just didn't deserve it.

One thing I find weird is how often people say "I don't want them to spit in my food" as justification for tipping. Because that seriously sounds like blackmail.

 

[TheGreatCoolEnergy]

You tip at resturants, and similar services, if the service was good. If the service sucks, I don't tip.

Answer me this: how many people here stop every time they see a homeless person and give them 15% of what's in their wallet?

How many homeless people have provided stellar service?