Tipping in the US

Discussion in 'General Philosophy' started by Unillogical, Jul 12, 2011.

  1. Unillogical Ex-Admin

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    Now for those of you wondering why I am putting this in the philosophy coffee house. Think of this as philosophy of gratuities.

    I often here waiters and waitresses in the USA whining that British holiday makers do not tip enough. In England the upper end of a tip is about 10% and it is usual for the tip to be somewhere between 5-10%. In the USA however it seems to range between 15-20% as the customary tip. They argue that they don't get paid enough and that we somehow don't appreciate the American custom, and that you should follow the customs of a country you are in. Here is my reply:

    Number one, a tip is a gratuity, you don't have to give one. It is an optional addition you give for good service. When I went to America last we went to one restaurant where we left no tip because the waitress must have had the shits or something because she spent more time in the loo and than she did serving us. The point is, that there is another thing that exists called a service charge which is a set cost you add on for service that exist which performs the function you seem to want.

    Secondly, you've bought tickets to America, and you've bought a hotel. You've probably spent thousands of pounds on your holiday already, you've gone to a hotel, but you don't cook. Breakfast is probably provided free but the hotel which leaves 2 meals a day you're paying for. The 20% tip is based on someone who probably has a meal, perhaps 3 times in a week period for someone who eats out more than most. If two people go on holiday, we're a family of 5 so if you imagine we spent $150 - 200 dollars a day on meals, 20% extra money is a lot.

    Thirdly it's not my fucking problem if you don't get paid enough and rely on tips. For the most part all you have to do to earn your 20% is your job to an acceptable level, I work in telesales, and the money is in commission, not my hourly wage and I have to work fucking hard to earn any. I can't just turn up and earn my commission, it takes effort. It's a numbers game as well where I could get tons of leads or none on any given day whereas a waiter is garunteed tips of some degree from almost all customers. The point is if you're not getting paid enough then clearly the problem lies in your countries minimum wage, not in the fact that some British Tourists only gave you $10 dollars instead of $15. As I said, surprisingly I can't afford to give away an extra 20% on top of the meal when I am buying 28 of the things within a 2 week period. The customer could be just as strapped for cash as the waiter themselves.
  2. MayorEmanuel Do not weep, for salvation is coming.

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    Most black people just don't tip at all, was a waiter for a few months and would hate serving black people because more often than not I wouldnt get a tip.
  3. slydessertfox Total War Branch Head

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    RACIST jk
  4. MayorEmanuel Do not weep, for salvation is coming.

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    I could understand a low tip if they didn't like my service but no tip at all is just rude. And I hate French waiters yesterday I waited an hour after I finished my meal to get the bill
  5. joske Well-Known Member

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    I remeber an antropologist once traced back the custom of tipping to the need of the male to show his affluence in prehistoric society to impress the ladies. But indeed mandatory tipping is a bit retarded, you give a tip because the service was good. If they dont get enough money they should complain to their bosses.

    Edited by fucking faggot - Removed offensive image. Do not do it again, this sort of material is not tolerated.
  6. RonaldRaygun Futuristic Weapon Wielder/Commie Hunter

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    I'm glad I live in a country where we have a decent minimum wage and no tipping tradition.
  7. Karakoran Well-Known Member

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    The reason the tip is so high is because waiters/waitresses get paid nothing. In fact in some restaurants you pay the company to wait tables and then make that back up in tips.

    Also, the whole when in Rome thing.

    And the bosses wouldn't care because the waiters aren't even nessisary. You can just fire them and hire some others that wont make those demands.
  8. RonaldRaygun Futuristic Weapon Wielder/Commie Hunter

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    When in Rome, screw that shit and be yourself. Multiculturalism bitches!
  9. MayorEmanuel Do not weep, for salvation is coming.

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    @uni waiting tables isn't like sales you can't wait more tables your stuck with a set amount of tables, I take it you haven't been in the food service industry.
  10. Unillogical Ex-Admin

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    Then clearly it is the country & not the British Tourists that need fixing. But the concept of having to tip doesn't even make logical sense, so it's not just that it's when in rome.

    Your right, sales is not like the food service industry, sales is much harder. But I still can't call more people than I am able to call, I cannot control who picks up the phone, who doesn't hang up. How long I spend listening to the ringer. Even the number of people I call is determined by how quickly I punch in the numbers.
  11. joske Well-Known Member

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    Hence the usefullness of of trade unions, although its kinda hard to imagine someone building an entire career in waiting tables except in like real high class restaurants, instead of just as a summer job or something.
  12. Karakoran Well-Known Member

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    It's more of cutting out most of the labor costs and then giving the power to the customer on whether or not they get paid, based on their service. It's a good concept in practice, but that means that unless the tip is high the waiter/waitress usually doesn't get paid.

    Basiclly, you can pay 15%-20% more for your food or give an optional 15%-20% tip, which you can take away if they're a terrible waiter.

    Yes, it's mostly the Summer Job problem. Not to mention Union Dues and such. It's just not worth it.

    Not to mention it is probably possible at this point to just fire the entire Staff and rehire them for less. Not to mention keeping scabs.
  13. Unillogical Ex-Admin

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    But the point is, you shouldn't be able to pay staff for less than their minimum wage. Secondly, over here waiters get paid over minimum wage and there isn't exactly a shortage of people looking for jobs who would be willing to work for £2 an hour less.
  14. Artismoke Well-Known Member

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    People tip in England? I thought it was just an American thing.
  15. RonaldRaygun Futuristic Weapon Wielder/Commie Hunter

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    In Spain people only tip if they go to a restaurant or something and spend a decent amount of money. Nobody tips for every little beer they drink.
  16. joske Well-Known Member

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    Well even then it wouldnt be too hard to accomplish to set up some kind of summer job rights group, certainly when you can make it work through the summer job agency (dont know the name in english). Also the existence of strikebreakers simply shows how the union doesnt do its job right.
  17. Unillogical Ex-Admin

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    Yeah, not enough apparently
  18. JosefVStalin El Presidente

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    I never tip ever. You don’t need extra money for doing a relatively cushy job. I have worked some terrible jobs in my life time and would have killed for a tip, but instead broke my back 8 hours a day for minimum wage. Tipping is a joke and should be abolished.
  19. CheFlegel New Member

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    You could say the same for jews.
  20. Kalalification Guest

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    I tip 20% for nice waitresses, 10-15% for waiters. It's something I'm not really going to defend because I have the money and in the system we live it's pretty necessary in order for them to make a decent wage. Mostly it's because my father always tips and has instilled that in my brothers and I quite heavily. Not sure about my sister.

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