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I think waiters/waitresses have become to expectant of tips. In today's society, you are almost REQUIRED to tip to get good service. Why shouldn't a person get good service if they don't tip. I hear alot of people argue that "its how they make a living.' I feel like they chose that job, so everyone else shouldn't be required to contribute to their living. I provide a service to a number of people at my job, but I don't get tips. Most people don't give 15% of whats in their pocket to homeless people on the street with cups or hats. Even though, that is how they make their living. Lets be fair. Why is it that people tip someone, just because they didn't do their job bad?

2007-05-21 14:21:42 · 34 answers · asked by Big Easy 1 in Society & Culture Etiquette

34 answers

The United States is the only country that I know of where society dictates that tipping is mandatory. It is sickening. First of all, lawmakers and restaurants have decided that since society feels that tipping is mandatory they can pay waiters/waitresses half of the minimum wage? How can that possibly be legal? paying an employee half of the minimum wage. It blows my mind. In most countries, when someone does a service for you, and you are especially pleased with it, you give them a little something. It's not based on the price of the thing you ordered. Paying the serving person a percentage of the price of whatever it is you are buying is the most ridculous thing I've ever heard. I get a steak that costs $10.00. The waiter takes my order and brings me my steak. I tip 20% because I am a mindless person who always does what society tells me. So I give him $2.00. Then I go to a cafe and order a latte that costs $1.00. The waitress takes my order and brings me my latte. I tip 20% because I am a mindless person who always does what soceity tells me. So I give her $0.20. Why? because the waiter works at a more expensive restaurant? or maybe because men make more money than women. The final point is that American society needs to wake up and stop condoning the illegal activity of paying people half of the minimum wage. Just look at the compound word. MINIMUM WAGE. MINIMUM. WAGE. Shouldn't that mean the minimum amount that a person working in a job can be paid? So how is it possible that waiter/waitresses are paid below that? Is being a waiter a job? Wake up, america.

2007-05-21 15:05:39 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1 2

Most waiters and waitresses have very low hourly wage. Thus the expectation for tips. Often they are blamed for problems with food, have to deal with upset customers and picky eaters more so than any other employee in the restaurant. You should always tip a percentage, if your food costs more than someone elses you should pay more because the food (in theory) is more complicated and may have more requests. In addition waiters and waitresses talk so if you tip bad, others will know and if I have to pay a lil extra for my food not to be spit in then Im fine with that. Thats not to say that if the service is bad or the waiter is rude you have to leave a tip, depending on the circumstances I wouldn't.

As for people choosing to be a waiter, most people do so because it is the quickest way to make the most money because of the tips. Waiting tables can be a very difficult job and most places require their wait staff to give a certain amount of their tips to the hosts. If waiters were only given minimum wage, then there would be a staffing problem at most places.

2007-05-21 14:42:41 · answer #2 · answered by jmrada719 1 · 1 1

Ok....so we tip the waiters and waitresses for the services they render. But, how come we don't tip doctors(and their nurses/medical assistance), lawyers(and receptionists), cashiers, police officers(receptionists at the police stations), firefighters, supermarket cashiers that ring out your goods you buy and the janitors that clean up the stores, school, offices???? Tell me how the services provided by the professions above differ from the services provided by the waiter and waitresses.

if they don't, take it up with the employer! IT is the law! If there's a problem, find a different job

Yes, employer of a tipped employee is only required to pay $2.13 an hour in direct wages, but if that employee don't make up to the federal minimum wage(what ever it is now), the employer has to pay for the difference. Don't tell me that tipping is their livelihood even though they depend on it. But, they do have the option of looking for other jobs!.......Most if not all waiter/waitresses will make alot more than the minimum wage.

2007-05-21 15:05:53 · answer #3 · answered by cheapskate 2 · 1 1

You sound very arrogant. Waiting is not the same as begging on the streets. These people are working hard for a living. Beggers do nothing and want something. So don't ever use that analogy again.

I spent three years waiting. I worked harder and longer than most people that sit at a desk and got paid less that $2.50 an hour BECAUSE WE GET TIPS. So yes, you are expected to tip at a resertaunt. The other thing, you get your service before you pay/tip. So your arrogant comment about being required to tip to get service is out of wack. Waiters (should) give good service even though they risk being stiffed. I know every table I served got that and plenty of insulting people left no tip or a cheap tip.

The other thing you probably dont know, we pay for every table we get. Its because there is a thing called TIP OUT. 3% of our total sales goes to the company to pay the busers and other staff like hostesses. So when someone walks in a orders $30bucks worth of food and doesn't tip...I pay for them to have sit there 3% of $30.

WE contribute to the food you are ordering making it to your mouth...because yes, we chose the job. Maybe not even choose it, but some have to work there in order not to be a homeless person. Don't ever think less of a waiter because they are waiting. Its one of the hardest jobs. To provide good service and deal with ungrateful people like you. And sometimes it hurts our pride to shut our mouths and not chase lame people down to give them a piece of our minds.

It is EXPECTED that you tip at a sit down resteraunt. If you don't like that, go to Taco Bell. It is a given. And for you to walk up in any resteraunt that EXPECTS a tip and won't tip, then you are in the wrong. Karma hopefully will get your arrogant butt because you sure deserve it.

So let's indeed be fair. Don't come into these resteraunts...and you dont have to tip.

2007-05-21 14:45:59 · answer #4 · answered by ladie_eclipse 2 · 2 1

Ok, in most restaurants, the server is required report tips to the government. Basically, they get taxed wether you tip or not. That is why servers work for tips. They get paid minimum wage and with their tips on average it comes out to about $15 an hour, depends on the restaurant. I used to be a server so I give a good tip when it is erned. If it was terrible service I leave a poor tip or no tip. I expect from my server what my costumers expected from me(which I didn't always deliver). So if it was a good experience I would leave a good tip. When it comes to places with tip jars, I say 'no way jose'. Uncle sam doesn't charge them for geving me service so why should I tip? Examples of this would be Sizzler(although most people tip, they don't get taxed on their tips, or so I've been told), another one is starbucks, hometown buffet or any buffet, donut shops, etc. etc. So you see, thats why your tip comes out higher, the higher the check, the higher the tax. Therse other things to consider for a tip. Ask yourself the ussual questions and then consider this, how long where you taking up the servers table to were he could get more costumers because you wrere sitting there. This is only if you were there for like 2 hours just talking to your friend. There's a possibility that the server could have made more money if you had left on time. My brother once waited on Snoop Dog and the parents of his football team members. Long story short, he and his party took up his whole station, the restaurant had to bring in an extra server to help because it was a big party, and they stayed for about 4 hours. Although they didn't have a big check they did waste his station and time. The tip was $20 that had to be split for 2. this was on a sunday mind you so he lost apprx. $60.Well I hope this was helpfull.

2007-05-21 15:29:15 · answer #5 · answered by The_Family_Guy 1 · 1 1

Let's follow this to its logical conclusions. Say you and everyone else don't tip. Waiters will then conclude that since they are now only being paid minimum wage (or sometimes far less), they will go get other jobs. Restaurant owners will then not be able to find people to work for them for so little pay (especially since you have to be 21 to serve alcohol), so they will be forced to raise their prices to afford higher wages for waiters since they can no longer rely on tips. Plus, the higher wages also require higher taxes for the employer, since payroll taxes are a percentage of wages. So now the item which was once on the menu for $10 + tax + tip is now $12.50 + tax, being carelessly served to you by waiters who no longer have to care what you think of them. The crappy waiters make as much as the good ones, so the good ones stop trying as hard since there's little or no reward for it. Overall service quality goes down while the out-of-pocket cost of going out to eat is higher than when everyone tipped 15-18%.

You're right that waiters chose that job. You're wrong, though, to assume that they'd do it for minimum wage even if nobody tipped. It's a tough gig - why would they bother if it paid the same as the hundreds of menial jobs available?

2007-05-21 15:23:26 · answer #6 · answered by North tennis guy 2 · 1 1

Waiters and waitresses are paid less than minimum wage because they get tips. This is the way the restaurant industry works. The restaurant owner has to tell the Federal Income Tax people how much money was spent on food in the restaurant, and the Tax Collecter (the Internal Revenue Service) expects the waiters and waitresses to report at least 8% of that amount as tips on their tax returns.
Homeless people on the street do not provide a service to you. There is a difference between beggars and those working people who expect tips, and an urbane person wil know how to distinguish between them.
It is important for people to know who to tip and who not to tip. That is a distinguishing characteristic of people with good manners and a knowledge of how our society works. We tip waiters and waitresses and others who do us a personal service (such as porters and hotel maids) because they are performing a personal service for us.
If you don't get tips in your job it is probably because you are not providing "personal services" in your job, but are providing professional services.
If you do not tip people who perform personal services for you, you might be considered to be ignorant or selfish.

2007-05-21 14:58:31 · answer #7 · answered by Lu 5 · 1 1

There are certain professions that require tips. Currently, the US government is not subsidizing, nor plans on doing this, albeit the current system. Even in Great Britain, a meager tip is given, unless at a pub.

What I have found in people who are not educated in the arena of tipping, is that they do not understand the dynamics of this type of life, work, humanity and economics. The assumption that a tip to the homeless person is synonymous with someone providing a service is a bit far fetched. Most homeless people are not providing a service to you, but are in desperate need of help on one or more levels, and should not be shunned for their current situation.

I have included some web links below to help those who do not understand. These are just but a few. Please feel free to further the education by running a search on your own, but I do hope this helps in your new found understanding.

2007-05-21 14:34:05 · answer #8 · answered by 123_together 1 · 2 1

I'm sure you get paid more than just over $3 an hour at your job. Yes, servers choose their job, but if no one tipped, no one would choose this job and there would be no more restaurants. In Europe, the tip is included in the bill, so you don't even have a choice but to pay it. In America we give people the right to decide how much tip they feel is appropriate for the service they are given. Tipping is based on a percentage because people with higher tabs also require more service. You don't tip homeless people because they are not giving you a service.

2007-05-21 14:31:44 · answer #9 · answered by Lin 1 · 2 2

I tip 15% to 20%, and my usual is 20% if the server is young and I feel needs the money for school or whatever. I agree with you the concept is wrong. I truly believe it is better to have the price of the meal be what it is, and the restaurant should pay the waitress/waiter, not the customer. I would pay more for what I order, if that were the case. It should be inherent in their job to give good service, regardless of tip, or they shouldn't work at that restaurant. The same with barbershops and hair salons, cost of the service, flat rate, and the shop should pay their employees, not the customer.

2007-05-21 14:27:24 · answer #10 · answered by cookie 3 · 3 1

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