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I truly mean no disrespect..I'm honestly interested in the opinions of those who would rather pay more for their meal than to tip the waiter.
In my eyes, its really just the same. It's just how it's written on the bill. Semantics really.
Maybe it's just because this is a custom that I grew up with and it's all I know but when you budget for a meal out you automatically add 20% more than advertised. It's perfectly normal.(And FYI...only in high tourist areas or with tables with more than 8 people are the tips automatically added to your bill.)
It seems in other countries it's an insult TO tip and here in the USA its an insult NOT to tip. I don't see one being wrong or the other being right. This is why if and when I ever get to visit another country, I look up this particular custom just so I don't insult the locals.
I truly mean no disrespect..I'm honestly interested in the opinions of those who would rather pay more for their meal than to tip the waiter.
In my eyes, its really just the same. It's just how it's written on the bill. Semantics really.
Maybe it's just because this is a custom that I grew up with and it's all I know but when you budget for a meal out you automatically add 20% more than advertised. It's perfectly normal.(And FYI...only in high tourist areas or with tables with more than 8 people are the tips automatically added to your bill.)
It seems in other countries it's an insult TO tip and here in the USA its an insult NOT to tip. I don't see one being wrong or the other being right. This is why if and when I ever get to visit another country, I look up this particular custom just so I don't insult the locals.
I understand where you're coming from Sue. But, the idea of an employer being able to pay such a ridiculously low rate of pay makes my blood boil. Especially when I learned that the poor server is taxed on the assumption of their tips.
As for bar staff getting tips - WHY? The poor serving staff in a restaurant are working really hard. Serving a drink is easy. I remember years ago, I was in a bar in my home town. An American and his wife came in to ask directions, but stayed for a drink. As they left, he put a tip on the bar. The barmaid shouted to him "hey, don't forget your change!!"
I've never been to a restaurant where I've needed to leave a tip or felt obliged to do so. I've never left a tip in my life.
If you live in the US, you should have been tipping all this time. The servers are dependent on tips, because server jobs pay below minimum wage. In some establishments, the servers' tips are shared with the kitchen staff as well. Baggage handlers at airports need to be tipped for the same reason--they're paid below minimum wage.
I understand where you're coming from Sue. But, the idea of an employer being able to pay such a ridiculously low rate of pay makes my blood boil. Especially when I learned that the poor server is taxed on the assumption of their tips.
As for bar staff getting tips - WHY? The poor serving staff in a restaurant are working really hard. Serving a drink is easy. I remember years ago, I was in a bar in my home town. An American and his wife came in to ask directions, but stayed for a drink. As they left, he put a tip on the bar. The barmaid shouted to him "hey, don't forget your change!!"
I see....and I can see your point if it's a very slow day and not many patrons.
But say they make $2.35/hour wage and within the same hour they then have three tables where the tabs are $100. They get 20% of that which comes to $60.00 plus the $2.35. $62.35 an hour isn't bad money. Even after they tip out the others it still can be $40.00 an hour. And yes, I know I'm talking in the extremes but in a high tourist area or an area of high end restaurants this is very doable.
As to the taxing, I'm afraid this was added a few years back because of the few ( I want to stress that it was a few not most) that just had to stick it to the "man". The assumption is they were tipped 15%-18% is what the establishment has to report as earned income. If the server doesn't report that he/she did indeed receive 20% tip in cash just to save on paying taxes on it then the establishment has to make up the difference...thus losing money thus having to raise it's prices.
I'm not excusing the system, but I'm had some roommates in the past that had very hefty bank accounts.
And from an accountants point of view...your way of doing it is way easier!
I've heard that tipping has its origins in services that were originally performed by slaves. Whether this is true or not, I don't know.
The idea (or part of it) behind tipping in the U.S. is that it gives customers a say in the matter by allowing them to contribute whatever they want, usually based on the quality of the service rendered. It also allows restaurants to evade part of the responsibility for paying their servers a living wage or even minimum wage (which is federally set at $7.15 per hour for most jobs but often in the range of $2 for waitstaff) and transfer part of the savings to the client in lower menu prices. Waiters and waitresses, especially at busy restaurants, often do very well, especially for a job that requires no education. Usually what you'd spend at a restaurant in the U.S., even with generous tipping, comes out to be lower than in many or most comparable countries as well.
Mexico has similar tipping practices to the U.S., especially in the resort cities, while if you tip like an American in Spain, you'll be the most popular customer in the room.
I realize the original intent behind tipping culture -- to reward good service. But I'm also curious about how, in our North American culture, but not most other cultures, it morphed into an (almost, by virtue of social norms) requirement, regardless of service (thus ironically defeating the purpose of using it as a barometer of satisfaction with service!).
How did "tip more if you like the service, and tip less if you don't like the service", morph into "everyone tip a fixed amount by default".
If the original intent of a tip is to reflect what you think of the service, why would it become nearly mandatory in many cases. And I'm also curious about the excuse of paying tipped servers less. Did it come before or after the tipping culture became mandatory or near-mandatory (as in, did the customers think first, "well, since they're paid so little to begin with, let's make tipping regular and consistent in our culture, out of appreciation for service" or did the businesses think "well, now that customers are tipping them regularly and consistently, we can pay them less")? Anyone know about this?
I find tipping culture in Canada to be essentially the same as in the U.S. It certainly seems to be every bit as mandatory in Canada as it is in the States.
Well, for fancy restaurants it's pretty much mandatory in expectation but I was also thinking about less fancy or formal dining places, verging on fast-food-ish (such as a take-out like place where there are also tables and chairs in a small cafe) where it's not so clear cut how mandatory/expected it is socially-- maybe it's just me but I have a feeling that the tipping culture is spreading a bit into fast food-ish places (and in the US, there is more tipping culture in those situations), but it could be me imagining things as I haven't eaten anywhere fancy in quite a while!
I tip the standard 15% in most cases anyways, 20% or even more if good or great, but maybe more like 10%-ish if it's not totally good or just okay, and rarely even less (or nothing) unless the service is really, really bad.
In Israel, tipping is not expected at restaurants (service is included) but is expected at cafes and bars but only if the service is good. In this case, a 10% tip is customary.
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