Ready to explode: Tipping in America

I like how Mr. Pole is essentially saying that if we remove tipping then our restaurant experience will still cost the same, but the breakdown will be different and that's bad because, [404 argument not found].

OF COURSE you would only tip 15%. How old are you? 15% is lame. You need to stay home if you only tip 15% and then cry about it.

Not sure to what you are referring, but to clarify (because I acknowledge I am not always crystal clear; I mean I am VERY close to perfect and yet NOT perfect):

1) Servers get paid less than minimum wage. This is regulated by the government. They get this lower wage because they get tips. Why do they get tips? It's a tradition in our country like hotdogs and apple pie.

2) IF we were to change the laws so that servers weren't to be tipped, then they would have to make at least minimum wage. In order for the restaurants to pay that higher wage, they would have to raise the price of the meals...that rise in price would also make you pay more in taxes since the tax is based on the price of the meal. So, it COULD be a wash here, though that depends on how much the restaurant raises the cost of the meals, what the tax implications are (states vary there), and how much or little you typically tipped before.

3) As someone else said, MOST servers would not like this, especially in restaurants that are busy and/or have wealthy clientele. Servers typically get paid 20% minimum these days on average (33% minimum from me unless the service is absolutely horrible though). They have to record 8% of their receipts as tips for tax purposes, so they like this situation.

People who complain about tipping don't have enough money to go someplace that requires tipping.

There’s no problem with that alternative that I’d say is better for the waiters. A lot of the world operates that way where tips are what they were meant to be, truly optional, and typically just involve rounding up the amount or leaving a dollar or two more at best.

I’ve always considered myself a pretty generous tipper. Great service gets 25%, and regular is 20%. I also usually pay the tip portion in cash.

I tip my massage therapist 30% in cash. I tipped the person that wall mounted my TVs $50. If a delivery driver also does assembly, I’ll tip them as well.

However, I agree the tipping culture is out of hand. Someone who waits on me for an hour dinner deserves more than a barista that pours my coffee.

Last weekend I had to get my car towed to the dealer. 15 mile tow for $245 and when I paid there were tip options in the screen (15%, 20%, 25%). I suppose of they went out of their way for my nice car and were extremely careful, I’d consider a tip, but this took less than 5 minutes to load up my 6 year old beater car.

Doesn't matter what the rest of the world does. We have to deal with what laws and social norms are here in this country. If we're going to do the "other countries" thing, other countries have super strict gun laws, universal health care, more time off annually, guaranteed income in retirement that puts the US to shame.

I earn more than you, idiot. But I am not in the market of giving away free money.

We don't do this on the West coast. It's about $14-18/hr plus tips

Nothing you said there describes tipping that is out of hand. A barista who pours your coffee isn't going to make the same as a person who waited on you for an hour unless you ONLY got coffee at the place where you were waited on for an hour, as you should be tipping as a percentage of the bill.

No one is making you tip in industries that typically don't require or expect tipping. Mostly those POS (Point of Sales, not Piece of Sh!t like Donald Trump) systems just have that as an option. I likely would not tip a tow truck driver unless it was something that was very much above and beyond the call of duty.

Tipping for me is no big deal. Whether I tip 33% or 50% or even 100% of the bill, that is nothing to me, but it IS something for most people who work as servers, and I'm glad to pay a big tip when I go out. We SHOULD do our best to help those less fortunate than ourselves when we can.

Anyone who is pissed about tipping need not go out to eat at a table service restaurant. Those people obviously don't make enough to do so.

And what would be wrong with all of that?

Tipping is about control. The rich control the poor. That's what it's really about.

You definitely do since I am retired and not taking any income at all yet from my retirement accounts, so I am currently earning nothing. Guaranteed though that I have more money than you have and more than you will ever have...100% for sure.

You don't have enough money to go out to eat. Mac and Cheese for you, and not Kraft either...store brand for you.

I didn't say there would be anything wrong with any of that, but when in Rome...

There are things we do as Americans...we drive on the right side of the road. We have an ingrained tipping culture, we have Universities with huge sports programs...these are things that make us uniquely Americans.

If I were to move to a European country (I won't), I would follow their laws and social norms. Tipping isn't a thing in a lot of countries, so I would not do it in those countries.

While I disagree that tipping is about control, that isn't the reason that most people don't want to tip. They don't want to tip because they are cheap.

You are probably wrong about this.

But if you factor in the tip into the cost of the meal then it would be the same.

What tipping allows is businesses to offload the cost of running their business onto their lowest paid staff. Doubt any marketing executives are getting 'paid per meal' but it's fine for waiter and waitresses?

The rates recommended keep getting higher and higher. When is this all going to end? There was a time when 15% was the norm. Then 18%. Now everyone is criticizing people who don’t tip 20-25%! I spoke to some that think 30% is average. Americans have gone crazy on this topic

Nope. I am correct about this.

It doesn't do that at all.

For businesses, it is a GOOD thing because they can advertise their meals at X amount which is lower than Y amount. Even though we all know tipping is going to happen (way less for some of you cheap bast@rds), people like seeing that lower number...along the lines of why some people like $9.99 instead of $10. More people come in. Servers get more receipts and therefore more tips...and again, most servers prefer tipping. They aren't being taken advantage of.

It's just you cheap bast@rds who don't like tipping.

My preference is to tip for good service, not because I know someone is underpaid.

A waiter/waitress spends 30 seconds taking my order. They bring the food out. They may check in once during the meal. They bring the bill. Total time spent is 2-3 minutes. Rarely are these interactions good or bad -- they are simply done in business-like manner to accomplish the goal of selling me a meal. Unless there was some problem here, there is no imperative to tip for this level of service. I do still tip, but only because I assume they are underpaid.

God hates poor and low income people. Shame tipping them is doing God's work.

Communist Europe doesn't tip and foolishly enforces freedom loving businesses to pay their workers reasonable salaries. God hates communist Europe.