American tip culture is baffling
this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2023
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Speaking as an American, this crap is new. It started because of the proliferation of those iPad-based POS systems (like from Square, et al). They're ostensibly a good thing (low barrier to entry, easy to deploy) but most of them come with an inbuilt tip request.
For my part, I never tip for counter service, unless I'm paying cash, then the change goes in the tip jar because I don't like jingling when I walk. Nor does anyone I know, really. Same for carryout food. I'm not tipping you to hand me a bag.
Didn’t it really start to take over during Covid over here? All the ‘essential workers’ needed to be tipped because Uber and all the other delivery services didn’t want to pay their employees a living wage. Also all the restaurants turned to tipping for takeout as well since there was no dine in and here we are. Post lockdown and still doing this ‘goodwill’ tipping to line pockets.
Yeah, I think that's exactly what happened.
I used to always tip 20% when sitting down at a restaurant or bar, still do unless something is really off, but I would tip nothing or a lot less when picking up, unless I had a really good relationship and they'd hook me up. But then Covid hit and I tipped 20% everywhere for picking up because I was just glad they were open but also because I knew they were taking a risk and no one was allowed to dine-in so they wouldn't get their normal 20%, so I thought it was fair. Now they took a nice gesture and exploited it too much. I don't tip when picking up anymore.
That's part of it too, and I think the driver behind the overall "tip creep" trend, but I'd been seeing this particular brand of crap since long before lockdown
Here's how you can understand it:
American company orders are greedy and they will do whatever they can to not pay workers, including trying to con customers into paying them
As a customer I have a rule for tipping that is easy to follow
You come to me, I tip. I come to you, I don't
Only exception is if I ever do take out and the servers have to prepare it. I'll tip them
It's strange to me as an American that when I visit some countries there's no where to tip. I get physically anxious when I can't tip a waiter or bartender.
Assimilation complete
Why we still allow restaurants to under pay their employees and make the customers foot their salary is so far beyond me
Because it's legal. It will never change unless the government steps in and intervenes.
Or if the goverment stops intervening with unions.
In Canada, we play this game where we complain that all employees (aside from "contract workers" in gig work) make minimum wage and don't live off of tips like our American counterparts, then someone complains that minimum wage still isn't livable so tips are still important, then someone retorts that this only means everyone in minimum wage needs tipping or nobody needs tipping, which usually ends up in a lot of poop being slinged around until you get guilted into tipping before receiving any service.
This is what I tell people I'm with when they ask if I'm going to tip.
More accurately this is us when we see the tip request for a nuked pastry.
Gunna be waiting a long time. Don't particularly see how handing me a croissant from behind the counter is tip-worthy.
What if it's really hot croissant?
Then I guess I'll tip the microwave.
Please don’t tip the microwave. It was just cleaned.
Gotta tip it with reheating soup in it.
I select "No tip", avoid eye contact, and hope for the best that they don't mess with my food/drink.
Not giving you shit unless you delivered it to my house or served me at a table.
American tip culture is baffling
Say my name, and tip me
Tipped jobs have a lower minimum wage than untipped jobs.
If you give the option for customers to tip...
Then it's easier to underpay them (further)
It’s baffling to me that this exception exists. There’s zero justifiable reason for it imo.
Especially since I think it hasn’t been increased in ages. So it’s essentially an unpaid tip only job (yeah yeah I know they cover it if tips don’t make up to minimum)
Especially since I think it hasn’t been increased in ages.
That would completely depend on your juridiction. Minimum wage where I live is $13.85, minimum wage tipped is $10.85.
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/minimum-wage/tipped
If you're at a sit down restaurant and sit there for an hour and are the ONLY table that person has for that hour, they make minimum wage with a $3 tip. And yet, even then I hear the nonsense about not making enough on tips from time to time. It's greed at that point.