A debate on tipping

[an anarchist]

When you go out and eat, are you obligated to tip your server?

I'm a dishwasher and work with servers all day. They get so mad when they don't get tipped. They act so entitled to a nice tip. "If you can't afford to eat out, then don't!" one said the other day.

I don't tip usually when I eat out. I'm too broke. But if I can afford a burger, dammit I want a burger. I'm not trying to pay your bills miss server. That is your boss's job, not mine LOL.

A classic scene from Tarantino's movie Reservoir Dogs where this topic is debated

 

[Spirit of Light]

When you go out and eat, are you obligated to tip your server?

I'm a dishwasher and work with servers all day. They get so mad when they don't get tipped. They act so entitled to a nice tip. "If you can't afford to eat out, then don't!" one said the other day.

I don't tip usually when I eat out. I'm too broke. But if I can afford a burger, dammit I want a burger. I'm not trying to pay your bills miss server. That is your boss's job, not mine LOL.

A classic scene from Tarantino's movie Reservoir Dogs where this topic is debated

I only eat out when i can afford it, and i tip 1/3 of what the meal costed originally.

 

[JustGeorge]

I generally tip. Wait staff doesn't get paid as much generally because its assumed they supplement their wages with tips.

Great staff get great tips. Average staff get average tips. Poor staff get poor tips. I have had a few wait staff that were so awful that I didn't tip, though. They were an exception.

 

[Vinayaka]

When you go out and eat, are you obligated to tip your server?

I'm a dishwasher and work with servers all day. They get so mad when they don't get tipped. They act so entitled to a nice tip. "If you can't afford to eat out, then don't!" one said the other day.

I don't tip usually when I eat out. I'm too broke. But if I can afford a burger, dammit I want a burger. I'm not trying to pay your bills miss server. That is your boss's job, not mine LOL.

A classic scene from Tarantino's movie Reservoir Dogs where this topic is debated

The debate depends largely on context. I believe one should do in Rome as the Romans do, so if tipping is the norm, do it, and if not, don't.

 

[AlexanderG]

Are you obligated to be a fair, considerate, moral person? No. Can you not tip, thus choosing not to pay for the work someone did for you, and ruining someone's day? You can in restaurants, yes. It causes gratuitous suffering, makes your community worse, and makes you look like a terrible person. But you can do it.

Can you imagine if other professions were like this, where anyone could just choose to walk away without paying? Our economy would collapse. I think tipping is left over from a time when the tiny base pay was actually something you could live off of, but since it wasn't stipulated to match with minimum wage, a server's wages de facto come from the tips.

 

[stvdv]

When you go out and eat, are you obligated to tip your server?

My Master says:
You cannot always oblige
But you can always speak obligingly

Giving tips was discouraged in the Ashram

That felt good for me. I think tipping is not a good thing. Just give all a fair income is best

 

[an anarchist]

Are you obligated to be a fair, considerate, moral person? No. Can you not tip, thus choosing not to pay for the work someone did for you, and ruining someone's day? You can in restaurants, yes. It causes gratuitous suffering, makes your community worse, and makes you look like a terrible person. But you can do it.

Oof. It sounds like you are saying it is immoral to not tip. Is that so?

 

[Stevicus]

When you go out and eat, are you obligated to tip your server?

I'm a dishwasher and work with servers all day. They get so mad when they don't get tipped. They act so entitled to a nice tip. "If you can't afford to eat out, then don't!" one said the other day.

I don't tip usually when I eat out. I'm too broke. But if I can afford a burger, dammit I want a burger. I'm not trying to pay your bills miss server. That is your boss's job, not mine LOL.

A classic scene from Tarantino's movie Reservoir Dogs where this topic is debated

That's a good movie. I remember back when IMDb still had discussion boards, the Reservoir Dogs board had a big discussion about that scene and the whole issue of tipping. I recall someone who was a bartender and complained about people who don't tip.

I tip if I'm in a place where tipping is expected.

I'm not sure if I can quite agree with Mr. Pink's position here. It's not that he's necessarily being cheap or can't afford to tip. He's just against the idea on principle. If everyone stopped tipping, then restaurants and other tipped service occupations may become more expensive to make up for the loss, so the idea is that either way, you'll end up paying extra.

On the other hand, Mr. Pink's view seems to be that he would vote for any kind of changes which would make it so these workers would get better wages and a better living.

On a side note about this scene, earlier they're having a discussion about what Madonna's "Like a Virgin" was really supposedly about, and in response, Madonna sent Quentin Tarantino an autographed copy of "Like a Virgin" with a short note refuting the theory espoused in the movie.

 

[ChristineM]

I'll tip if the service is worth tipping. It usually is. Occasionally it's not, i hope my lack of crossing the servers palm with silver demonstrates my displeasure with their service.

 

[an anarchist]

a server's wages de facto come from the tips.

Sounds like a personal problem to me

 

[Vee]

In France, and Europe in general, servers have a wage. Tips are an extra for good service and if the clients don't leave a tip, the waiter isn't downgraded to not knowing if he'll have enough to pay the bills. Obviously waiters don't make great salaries, but they have a living wage that can't be bellow the minimum stipulated by law. They also have two days off a week, 25 days of paid vacation a year and medical coverage since in France we have a decent, human, healthcare system.
One thing I've always hated in north America is the tipping system. It's horrible for costumers who end up with huge bills when you add taxes and tips, and it's abusive for the staff. In every profession people know how much they get paid. Good or bad, at least they can plan their lives around their means, but waiters never know what to expect. The same amount of hours of work and effort can produce completely different results depending on the type of clients they get. Not to mention the things waitresses hear from male costumers who try to touch them inappropriately and make them smile even if they don't want to under the threat of not leaving a tip. I find the tipping system inhumane.

 

[QuestioningMind]

When you go out and eat, are you obligated to tip your server?

I'm a dishwasher and work with servers all day. They get so mad when they don't get tipped. They act so entitled to a nice tip. "If you can't afford to eat out, then don't!" one said the other day.

I don't tip usually when I eat out. I'm too broke. But if I can afford a burger, dammit I want a burger. I'm not trying to pay your bills miss server. That is your boss's job, not mine LOL.

A classic scene from Tarantino's movie Reservoir Dogs where this topic is debated

Then don't be surprised when there's no longer anyone willing to serve you a burger, because neither you nor the owners want to pay the server enough to live on. Personally I think the responsibility should fall on the owners, but until the laws get changed it seems cruel to punish the server who's simply trying to make a living.

 

[John53]

Tips are only for exceptional, above and beyond service.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I generally tip. Wait staff doesn't get paid as much generally because its assumed they supplement their wages with tips.

Great staff get great tips. Average staff get average tips. Poor staff get poor tips. I have had a few wait staff that were so awful that I didn't tip, though. They were an exception.

It would have to be a pretty extreme situation for me to leave a poor tip.

I know that there are a ton of factors outside the server's control that affect the quality of service. I don't feel right adjusting the pay of the server based on something that they didn't do.

Also, I'm conscious of the fact that as a knowledge worker in an office, most of the time, if I'm having a bad 5 minutes, I can just step away and come back to what I'm doing when I've calmed down. Servers don't have that luxury, so I'll generally give them a fair bit of slack.

 

[It Aint Necessarily So]

When you go out and eat, are you obligated to tip your server?

I'm not sure what you mean by obligated. I can get up and walk away from the table without tipping, but it's not an option to me unless the waiter spoils the meal. For example, one brought me my food cold twice, even after I asked him to heat it more. This is a waiter that lets your food sit for ten or more minutes before bringing it to you, and this one did it twice. After that, I told them to box it to go, I would heat it myself at home, paid for the meal, and left no tip. Another was when a waiter brought my wife's dinner out to her as the rest of us were finishing and ready to leave. Same answer: box it up, no tip. One could say that that was not the waiter's fault, but he was not our advocate, and that was his fault. He never explained that we would have to wait, why we were waiting, or why we had to wait so long (over 90 minutes).

But short of disasters like that caused by neglect or indifference, I'm a good tipper. I like waiters and waitresses.

 

[ADigitalArtist]

I would like to live in a country where tipping was unnecessary because service industry people were paid a livable wage. Kind of like I'd like to be in a country where charity was unnecessary because the base needs of society are already cared for through base social benefits. But since I don't live in that country, I obligate myself to participate in tipping and charity.

 

[Father Heathen]

If I'm not mistaken the tipping culture within the U.S. is fairly unique to here. It's arbitrary and inconsistent, and in some positions the wages are so low that tips are depended upon. People should be paid fair, livable wages and tips should only be a bonus for exceptional service.

 

[The Hammer]

Tipping in the US is an asinine way to ensure that those working wait staff aren't paid a fair wage.

 

[Debater Slayer]

If I'm not mistaken the tipping culture within the U.S. is fairly unique to here. It's arbitrary and inconsistent, and in some positions the wages are so low that tips are depended upon. People should be paid fair, livable wages and tips should only be a bonus for exceptional service.

It's definitely not unique. It exists in Egypt too.

 

[JustGeorge]

It would have to be a pretty extreme situation for me to leave a poor tip.

I know that there are a ton of factors outside the server's control that affect the quality of service. I don't feel right adjusting the pay of the server based on something that they didn't do.

Also, I'm conscious of the fact that as a knowledge worker in an office, most of the time, if I'm having a bad 5 minutes, I can just step away and come back to what I'm doing when I've calmed down. Servers don't have that luxury, so I'll generally give them a fair bit of slack.

Yes, there have been some pretty extreme situations which led me not to tip. I'm in the same boat with @It Aint Necessarily So here:

I'm not sure what you mean by obligated. I can get up and walk away from the table without tipping, but it's not an option to me unless the waiter spoils the meal. For example, one brought me my food cold twice, even after I asked him to heat it more. This is a waiter that lets your food sit for ten or more minutes before bringing it to you, and this one did it twice. After that, I told them to box it to go, I would heat it myself at home, paid for the meal, and left no tip. Another was when a waiter brought my wife's dinner out to her as the rest of us were finishing and ready to leave. Same answer: box it up, no tip. One could say that that was not the waiter's fault, but he was not our advocate, and that was his fault. He never explained that we would have to wait, why we were waiting, or why we had to wait so long (over 90 minutes).

But short of disasters like that caused by neglect or indifference, I'm a good tipper. I like waiters and waitresses.

If the waitstaff, due to their own negligence, has ruined my meal, no, I'm not tipping.

Most are diligent, some are not. My husband works in a restaurant, and can tell you there's all kinds of waitstaff; exceptional, average, and less than average. Sometimes one has to be let go due to repetitive problems(though that's pretty rare).