The author has some fair points. Better service doesn't actually beget better tips is pretty right on. When I started serving at Red Lobster - 16 years ago - I would make okay tips. Actually, I started out as a line cook. Throwing beer-battered shrimp into the fryer by the armful. Split and cleaning lobsters. That was on the daily for me. I was even an Alley Coordinator for a while. You know the little dishes of ketchup and tartar sauce that come on your plate at some places? Yeah. Getting them on there was my job. And I was an excellent server too. I deconstructed the process and turned it into a game. I was a ninja on the dining room floor. I'll never forget the time I served the fattest dude 15 cokes without letting him miss a sip. The service he told me was jaw-dropping. And BAM - 15 percent for that. 1 percent for each coke. Ultimately, I understood that the difficulty in breaking the 18% tip ceiling was simply a matter of perceived value. At that point, after two years of serving garlic-butter scampi, I realized my tips were so consistently tied to the bill amount that I thought it better to work in a place with pricier food and a decent wine list. Enter fine dining. Which I did for the better part of a decade. Paid my way through undergrad lickety-split. Thing is, the boss only chipped in $2.65 an hour for my effort. The rest I had to smile for. (and god I hate smiling). But $200 tabs were the regular at my new place and after all was said and done I walked out the door averaging $18 per hour. In cash and after tax. When I started bartending it went up to $28 per hour. Not too bad I thought for being 22 - where I would wake up at 11 to get to work at 4 - where I would eat and drink for free. I often made rent in one good weekend. Even got hit-on occasionally! No doubt I've benefited from the current tipping culture. My income and work allowed me an insanely flexible schedule. I made quick gobs of money, took weeks off at a time, traveled all over, and partied along the way. I'm intrigued by the idea of outlawing tipping and am incidentally in complete support of it. Folding tipping into the general price of the menu is definitely the way to go as I see it. The only thing that would happen if the U.S. did it is the general level of service would decrease dramatically (and if you think you've had bad service, try living in Canada). By outlawing tipping, servers will stop working for people and start working for companies. And companies cut corners. Bottom line. It's the food or the service. Personally, I think it's not a bad trade off because I feel that the tipping culture in America has an odd kind of systemic oppression to it - not the typical - meat and potatoes - sexist or racist kind of oppression as the author wrongly indicated, but more a delineation of class that we all could use a good heaping less of. In fact, in the States these days, it seems like a little equality should be the main course.
I travelled to the US some time ago and I made a mistake with tipping. I neglected to tip the cleaning lady who cleaned the hotel room each day, I simply didn't realise it was required. On the final day of my stay there was a knock on the door. "Hello sir, is everything ok" she asked, "Yep just fine thanks" came my reply, "Ok well I hope you enjoyed your stay and let me know if you need anything". Gee I thought, what a nice lady, making sure I had everything I needed, how friendly! I packed my bags and headed for the elevator a few minutes later. She was cleaning a room quite a distance up the hall and must have been listening for me. I pressed the button for the elevator when she started walking towards me, she smiled as she passed and kept going, and then went into the room I had just left. A few seconds later she came back out, walk passed me and gave me a look that would skin the hair off a brass monkeys balls. It hit me then, "Oh shit", I said, "I'm so sorry, I didn't realise I was meant to tip you!". I pulled out some cash and pushed it into her hand (I didn't even count it but it was at least $60, I still have no idea if that was enough). She took the money and smiled but said nothing, I'm sure she thought I was trying to skip out without paying her. Damn elevator took ages and I had to stand there like an asshole for several minutes. Frankly, I don't like tipping. I just want to know the price of something, pay it and move on. "You mean I gotta pay you some arbitrary amount based on your ability to do your job and smile at the same time?" It makes the whole interaction revolve around money. I'm paying you for that smile, I'm paying you to act pleasant, It's a façade, an act. How about instead you get paid a fair wage by your employer and then we can have a real interaction. You get to do your job without acting like a trained monkey dancing for coins and I get to enjoy my drink without being asked "Is there anything I can get you sir", "Is everything ok sir" every 30 seconds.
You might help me out here, How does universal healthcare figure into it? In overly simplistic terms wouldn't the price of a beer still be roughly the same if it included the service charge in the price? So to the consumer there is little change, the server gets the same wages, the employer still makes the same as he always did, he just has to pay an hourly rate to his workers. I know its not that simple to change but it's not rocket science either.
Right, but as is, most restaurant employees (except cooks) get absolutely nothing except tips. There's not even the possibility of healthcare for those workers and as they are usually paid "under the table", none of their earnings go toward anything like FICA. What I'm saying is, there's no stability for the workers and by and large, the consumers are aware of that. Many consumers might even be sympathetic to service workers because many consumers once held similar jobs. If there were some stability, some way to be employed and not have to worry about being cut off completely, then people might feel better about demanding change. For example, right now it's difficult to get a job in a restaurant or more difficult than it used to be. Servers come and go quickly because there's usually someone waiting in the wings to take their place. When you're living hand to mouth and there's people lining up for your job, why would you go out of your way to endanger that, especially if you likely don't have money saved up for medical emergencies? As for the same wages thing . . . well, even in the current system, there are a lot of workers who do just barely enough to make money. Then there are others who do the work of five people and get paid accordingly. I don't know that a standardized wage would be better overall, though I do think that the minimum wage for service work is necessary. I understand that Europeans especially, find the American standards of service to be intrusive, what with all the questions. However, the first time I went to a European country, I thought the service was pretty lackluster, to the point that I couldn't find anyone when I wanted to pay my bill. So, I guessed how much it was, put down the money (sans tip of course) and left.
Yep, you can find bad service anywhere, but to add to that, I didn't find the service in the US any better than the usual service we get here. Which made it hard to justify it as a separate thing I have to pay for :) That and the fact they made me work out 15% after a few beers. Actually Im heading over there in a few weeks. I might tell the barman "Just stick X% on each beer I buy to make it easy for me, and just charge me that each time OK?". What kind of good service expects you to perform math calculations while drinking alcohol... :)I understand that Europeans especially, find the American standards of service to be intrusive, what with all the questions. However, the first time I went to a European country, I thought the service was pretty lackluster, to the point that I couldn't find anyone when I wanted to pay my bill. So, I guessed how much it was, put down the money (sans tip of course) and left.
Tipping is different here in New Zealand (I think). I know it's not as prevalent, that's for sure, and we certainly don't have the tipping-to-make-minimum-wage law, so tips are more of a bonus, and often - at least in my flatmate's cafe, pooled together for a night out for the staff (like to go towards a bar tab or movie tickets or something). But, then again, he's manager and not making a living wage, so. Incidentally, I'm curious as to why this was posted under "food for men". I just noticed their "about Eat Like a Man" paragraph, but it's still curious.
I don't think I can stop myself from tipping in America. I used to make more than waitstaff when I worked at Arby's, let alone now when I make ten times that. It's been ingrained into me since childhood: "If you can't afford to tip, you can't afford to dine out." Waitstaff make $2.13/hr without tips -- that won't even pay for an appetizer. I don't want to anger waitstaff. They can poison my food. They can stop me at the door. If I'm not tipping, they have nothing to lose by beating me up or trashing my car. Is mandatory tipping a good system? No. However I won't suddenly stop paying at least 20% for service until I know that server is getting at least double minimum wage. That's a hard job and I'm a softie. If you really want to end tipping, you'll have to come up with something better than "let's not tip". Perhaps starting a chain of restaurants where the waitstaff earn proper wages and only eating there for a while...
Well, I don't feel obligated to tip. Examples, in the town I go to school, there are a lot of little restaurants that don't have you order before you sit and then somebody comes a gives you your food after you sit, and that's it. In those cases I don't tip. I also don't tip in every service situation. When I do tip, usually at restaurants, I tip according to my level of service. Having said that, anytime I go to Europe or South America, I appreciate the effect that tipping can have on the quality of service at restaurants. And, it's not even like a 'spoiled american' who confuses service with subservience. I'm talking about just outright negligent, incompetent, unprofessional, and rude service seems to be the norm. Well, at least in the countries I have visited.