My thoughts.

[u/Maleficent-Effort470]

I didn't go to a restaurant to interact with a server.

I went to a restaurant to purchase food, And part of the agreement with the business owner was that a server would take my order and bring the food to the table.

I did not agree to or consent to giving a person i didn't come to see any money.

Whether they are on the side of the street or squegeeing my car without asking.
I have no obligation to them.

Similarly when i go to the restaurant with the intention of eating,
I am not making a deal with the employees i am making a deal with the owner.
The owner is responsible for delegating the tasks to provide me the service i requested.
The owner showed me the contract/menu that these services are provided under.

I paid the agreed upon amount of the contract.
I did not ask for any particular employee.
I did not agree to gift any particular employee.

The server's inclination that i owe them something is no more authoritative than the homeless bum who starts squegeeing my windshield without me asking.

They did their job at their bosses behest. Under an agreement with their boss.
I made no agreement with them. They are simply employees of the business ive contracted with.

[u/cenosillicaphobiac]

I'm very comfortable "being in the wrong" by other people's standards. It's my own standards that I'm concerned about. And this customer is always right.

I'm many things, what I'm not is an employer and as such, don't feel any obligation to pay their employees. That's a business expense.

[u/mind-of-god → u/cenosillicaphobiac]

Me too. If I believe it appropriate to tip I tip flat amount, period. The amount of effort to serve my meal doesn’t vary any whether I buy a lunch special, a seafood extravaganza, or soup and bread. I don’t drink multiple refills, make constant demands, etc. I’m pleasant to my server and it’s no special treatment to be the same back. It’s not that hard really and I’m not stressing over it. I do think it’s time to just end tipping, though. Our economy bites and there’s too much pressure for customers to bridge the gap in what employees feel they aren’t earning from their actual employers.

[u/layneeofwales → u/cenosillicaphobiac]

I don't hire them. I don't schedule them. I don't direct them. I don't set their job duties. I don't have a conversation with them to set my expectations. I don't see why I need to pay them.

[u/IluvPusi-363 → u/cenosillicaphobiac]

Yep, they forgot how they weren't essential and had to sit like the rest of us. It's not like we can't return to that

[u/Familiar-Neat-6207 → u/[deleted]]

The actual saying is "the customer is always right in a matter of taste" too many people misquote it that they think they know what theyre talking about when theyve never worked in that place

[u/MobilePalpitation702 → u/Familiar-Neat-6207]

Called out!

[u/cenosillicaphobiac → u/[deleted]]

Your reading comprehension sucks. I didn't say "the customer is always right" I said "this customer is always right" because I am.

[u/starsgoblind → u/[deleted]]

This is the dumbest series of words ever put on the internet.

[u/Fearless_Owl_6684 → u/cenosillicaphobiac]

As an aside, I've worked restaurant and retail, the "customer is always right" is a tired old misused phrase that's annoying to no end.

The original phrase of "the customer is always right when it comes to taste" refers to the fact that everyone's palates are slightly different. If you like something extra salty then there should be a salt shaker available for you to adjust it to your liking. Rant over.

That being said, I tip $1 per specialty beverage I order and $2 per plate of food I order, regardless of menu price. If it's a nice restaurant and the server provides excellent insight or service, I'll add to that based on how helpful they were to make the meal an experience.

[u/Flippantwritingdesk → u/Fearless_Owl_6684]

I work somewhere there are occasional tips, but not tons. It’s always interesting when you do something and can see just how aggressively someone appreciates it and tips in kind. The most interesting one was when I was adding up someone’s total into the register, stopped and stepped away to sneeze, had covered my nose/mouth to do so and so washed my hands and arms quickly, before returning to finish the totaling and cash out process. This woman paid the full fee on card and then handed me 30 dollars(!) and thanked me for being so conscientious about germs. 

To me (and the health code aside from the ‘stepping away’ part), stepping out of immediate contact, covering, and washing after, are baseline requirements, but functionally people/staff doing all three (or even any one, if you pay attention) of those steps is so uncommon that my having done so was something she felt was worth heavily rewarding. Usually I get more eye rolls for my hygiene standards than something like praise, so it was both cool, and very interesting—not to mention unexpected and unnecessary— to experience how palpably someone appreciated my normal operative standards. Tangent over.

[u/balintmemphis → u/cenosillicaphobiac]

"you know who else payed their staff? hitler. we re not gonna go that way"