We wouldn’t have tipping if America wasn’t so racist. The whole tip thing came from paying black waiters less.
He’s actually full of shit. It wasn’t to pay black waiters less, it was to pay all waiters less when restaurant business plummeted during the prohibition.
Are you sure about that?
https://time.com/5404475/history-tipping-american-restaurants-civil-war/
After the Constitution was amended in the wake of the Civil War, slavery was ended as an institution but those who were freed from bondage were still limited in their choices. Many who did not end up sharecropping worked in menial positions, such as servants, waiters, barbers and railroad porters. These were pretty much the only occupations available to them. For restaurant workers and railroad porters, there was a catch: many employers would not actually pay these workers, under the condition that guests would offer a small tip instead.
“These industries demanded the right to basically continue slavery with a $0 wage and tip,” Jayaraman says.
I almost never tip. It’s the employer’s responsibility to pay the employees, not the customer’s.
Cool. So you get to look like a dick and actively make someone’s life more difficult. You not tipping doesn’t change the employers mind. It just makes someone else’s life worse. Congrats.
What are you taking about? Minimum wage is like $23 per hour. Why would they need tips on top of that?
What are you talking about? Servers rarely if ever get minimum wage, which federally is still 7.25, which is not enough to live off of. If they were making $23 in many places they’d be doing a lot better. But that’s not the reality of the situation.
Tipping won’t go anywhere because service staff earn too much money. Ask any waiter you know if they’d prefer tips or a better minimum wage.
Not a server, but I do live on tips and I can definitively tell you I’d rather not. Who are these rich, rich waiters you know? A lot of them have to have multiple jobs just to pay the bills, but yeah, they make sOoOoOo much money!
I’ve heard a lot of restaurants having trouble keeping wait staff after removing tips. But I hope you’re right and it catches on.
(again anecdotally) nearly every restaurant in New York that’s tried it reverts after a few months. High-end dining servers can clear 6 figures easily after tips, and they’re loath to give that up.
Here’s the real tip
If you don’t like the tip I give you, get a better job.
Because it’s obviously the worker’s fault for not being paid a living wage…
The vast majority of jobs are not tipped positions, including food service jobs.
So of you aren’t gonna do your job well enough that people tip decently, maybe look elsewhere. Given performance is not a one to one, some people are shitty tippers no matter the service, but if you half ass a tip based job your gonna have a bad time, and yes blame falls on the worker too at that point.
“failed 3rd world country of Murica”
…Really? America has some serious problems no doubt, but I think the hyperbole just turns people away from any real chance you have at convincing them of your position.
Given that many actual 3rd world countries have health crises that are far more severe than anything in the United States, I really don’t find the comparison very tasteful. The financial element is absurd and no one will argue that the American healthcare system is optimal by any means, but you really need to travel more if you think that it’s categorically the worst in the world.
I agree that privilege plays a big role in shaping one’s perspective on this, and to that end, again, you should travel more if you can.
I will be angry at the workers if they’re angry at customers due to the employment model they chose to be in.
What a ridiculously privileged point of view. Not everyone gets to choose what job they need to take in order to get by. Most people aren’t choosing to be in a shitty employment model, they’re choosing to not be hungry and houseless.
Admittedly, their anger would be wrongly directed if it’s at customers. It should be directed at the government that allows tipped workers to have a power wage that’s made up by tips and the companies that lobby to keep that system in place. Small businesses included. Pay your workers a good wage and tipping is no longer an issue.
But having the tipping system is a great way to shift costs, keep workers compliant, and foster anger towards anyone other than the business owners.
