RSS Feed MenuFor the past three weeks, my Italian friend, L, has been visiting. It has been an experience, to say the least – especially given that, until now, he had never been to the United States.
L is well traveled, but he has “never seen anything like this”: the fleet of sunrise joggers that nearly stampede him every morning, the over-priced (but air conditioned!) D.C. Metrorail, the enormous portion sizes and the free refills … Virtually everything is an exciting novelty and he couldn’t be more starry-eyed or visibly thrilled to be here – well, except for when the bill comes at the restaurant.
Albeit, no one is ever excited about dolling out 15 bucks for a burger, but with L, it is a bona fide ordeal.
“Why does the total not include the tax? We have to pay the tax anyhow, so why say total in the first place? It’s like some mean trick, ‘Hah! You thought your burger was only $15… gotcha!”
His indignant reaction to the “fake total” is only the tip of the iceberg … so to speak…
Most of the meals we’ve eaten out have involved me having to explain at length the concept of a tip, usually resulting in a lengthy explanation of waiters working primarily for tips due to their being paid minimum wage, thereby necessitating a brief overview of the roots of capitalism and consumerism, incentivizing workers to do their best, etc., to which he replies: “They chose to be waiters. They chose to work for minimum wage. If they want more money, get a higher paying job – don’t expect me to tip you because you were nice and speedy. That’s your job.”
The first time L countered my ‘it’s the capitalist tradition to tip’ argument with the above rebuttal, I was floored. Despite growing up in Italy – a country whose political culture is much more left-leaning with an enduring communist presence – he was clearly advocating a very capitalist, open job market in which unsatisfied workers are free to seek alternative employment. “No one is forcing them to wait tables. Go work at Starbucks or something,” he said.
My argument for leaving a 15-20% tip (depending on how nice and speedy the service was) has henceforth been reduced to a stern, simple, “Look, it’s just the way we do things here. You have to tack on an extra $3.25 to that $15 total. Sorry.” L always relents, but not without muttering about it being “so much better in Italy,” where tax and tip are included and there’s never an awkward lull at the end of a meal while trying to figure out how much is dutifully owed.
weiwentg // Aug 29, 2010 at 10:18 am
The way we do tipping a) reduces price transparency and b) gives waitstaff too much variable compensation. a) shouldn’t need explanation. As to b), if you’re a CEO, it’s probably fine to have the majority of your compensation be variable. Most people making near minimum wage would probably rather have more security. Tipping reform – an avenue for cooperation between the left and the right?
GlobalGirl // Mar 22, 2011 at 8:12 pm
It’s not a capitalist thing to tip. I live in a state where servers are paid at least mininum wage (8.57) plus tips. My high school son was making $10 an hour plus tips. (My best friend as been in the restaurant industry for over 20 years and I hear her complants.) Most of the servers complained about customers who didn’t order drinks, used coupons, order tea or only order water with lemon. I was told ordering hot water is the worst. At one big chain restaurant the servers were required to push selling soft drinks and wine …. the restaurant had servers on teams competing against each other to raise wine sales.
I have lived in Asia and enjoyed the laid back dining experience, fresh food, no presure to buy appetizers, drinks, soda pop, or dessert, sharing food IS expected, and NO tipping, oh, and for the most part EXCELLENT customer service, and of course tea was complimentary!
In China if one of my kids wanted to order a soda pop it would not be uncommon to get a lecture from the server about how bad soda pop is for the body… and how we should drink hot tea or hot water. In China I learned from the locals how to order to off the menu and specific. That would be rare here in America… servers here don’t like complications and quite frankly the more I know about how servers really feel about customers the more I HATE tipping! I feel for the most part it is all about the tip and not serving to be serving.
Frogbarf // Jul 27, 2011 at 2:31 pm
The practice of tipping is wrong on so many levels
1: Relying on tips amounts to begging for one’s wages for doing the job that they they are expected to do.
2: It allows employers to legally justify not paying their employees minimum wage because patrons are doing it for them. Only illegal aliens earn less.
3: It amounts to bribery and would not be tolerated in any other industry. (Try “tipping” a cop sometime)
4: It is discriminatory: e.g. attractive female waitresses tend to bring home more in the form tips than their male or not-so attractive counterparts doing the same job.
5: The practice is of dubious origins. In the 1800s customers would “tip” (that is “bribe”) service industry staff to ensure halfway decent service. Something else that encouraged the practice: In the late 1800s were migrant blacks would hang around near hotels and train stations asking travelers and guests if they needed help with their bags. At the time the hotels and train stations would not offer these people jobs, so these people had to rely on whatever the traveler felt like paying them. Over time this practice became a socially acceptable form of earning a living. Tipping should be forbidden in the service industry and to suggest that someone should not frequent restaurants and/or bars or “put up with it” simply because they resent the practice is a cop-out.
There is also a chicken or the egg problem related to the practice. Service workers are forced to rely on tips simply because their employers know that customers tip and many customers tip because they know that the workers are “working for tips”. The customer should not be forced to pay an employee’s wages. That should be the employer’s responsibility.