Tipping?

[j_k_k]

Tip inflation has become serious in my lifetime in the US. When I was a teen, 10% was normal, and sales taxes weren't that high. (Servers are taxed on tips based on the check without the sales tax, and most states have sales tax.) I think the deal is that the IRS assumes they'll get 8%, so if they get less than that, they still have to pay income tax as though they did. In 30 years, the old 10% has grown into the following unofficial 'rules' if one doesn't want the waitstaff to think one a cheapskate:

Tip on the full check including tax. Nice little bonus there, especially in states like mine where tax inflates the check by 8-9%.

Tip at least 20% or it's a slap in the face. 15%? "What did we do wrong?"

Tip at least $2 no matter the check.

Always round up to the next dollar.

As you can see, all roads lead to 'give me more money'. It's the primary reason I go out to eat less and less as I get older. While I realize how service economics work for the staff, and I definitely want hardworking people to earn good livings, we have gotten to the point where our average tip amounts to a 25% price increase. My views on this have hardened as I have seen and heard waitstaff talk candidly about their work, making it quite clear that many keep track of every trip to the table and have a mental tally of what they expect to receive. It's become this enormous guilt trip/fear factor, because any sane person would be afraid to return to a restaurant where he or she thought the waitstaff hated him or her. I can't change the system; the only thing I can do is opt out of it by eating at places without table service, or just eating at home. It's not that I can't afford the extra cost; it's that I don't like the implied coercion, and most times just decide to circumvent it. I don't think I'm alone, either.

The worst part about 'automatic expected tipping' is that even the laziest and stupidest servers expect it. In fact, they expect it more, because the best and smartest servers have an ethic of earning it and don't need to demand--their work earns it for them. All waitstaff put up with a great deal of crap from the public, but some of them deserve all of it, and some deserve none of it. I feel for the latter. Tipping here has quietly become this great racket of rewarding mediocrity on an equal level with quality, sort of like giving everyone in Little League a trophy even if their team goes 0-12 and dies of bacon flu. You can be the only table in the place, and they'll lollygag and fool around as if the joint were empty, and they still expect a premium tip. Faaaaa to all of it.

[2360039]

In Belgium: you can tip:
- the hotelboy helping you with suitcases (max € 5)
- the taxi driver after driving you (1 or 2 euro)

And you can leave some coins in a restaurant too if you like....

But for the rest: don't tip anywhere.

[Charles22]

Some waiters barely earn their tip: Tipping your waiter for good service.