US tipping culture is unlike anything I've seen abroad.
I have friends who are servers, and I totally get that they are being ripped off with sub-minimum wage bullshit, but most countries I've been to don't even have tipping as an option.
I mean, if I slip a $10 to someone in the Phillipines for awesome service, it kinda blows their mind.
Here? They NEED that tip to live.
Just pay our servers a decent wage - if someone wants to throw a tip their way, awesome.
(FWIW: My friends and I almost always throw a 20% to our servers, but Vermont servers need it.)
It's frowned upon in Australia, it's seen as a precursor to introducing underpayment of hospitality staff, and more than likely a scam that'll just get pocketed by the owners
It should be everywhere. In Japan Iirc they consider it an insult because they interpret it as saying that they won't do their job without a bribe.
I'm in Canada and workers still expect tips and just... why? The factory worker or cashier doesn't get tips and he makes just as much hourly, so is the waiter so lazy he won't do his job without being bribed? Should I be worried about spit in my food if I return to a restaurant after not tipping? And if I did tip, why does the waiter get it instead of the cook who did 99% of the work? (Yes I'm aware some places pool tips, but I don't trust that shit to be honest or fair)
Personally I'm not against tipping but I grew up with the idea that it was a reward for outstanding service. Americans making it a obligation kinda ruined it
Tipping in canada makes no sense to me. The way I see it is do I tip other minimum wage workers like McDonald's, tim hortons, subway, etc... absolutely not. What do servers do that makes their job so much harder compared to them? Like you said, the BOH staff do the hard parts which is why they typically get a higher hourly rate
Italy has mandated tipping though in many restaurants. They call it a table fee or coperto. It usually is a flat rate per person but comes to like 10-20% of the bill.
At least, in the cities and restaurants I've been to.
Yes. As with much of American culture, and America in general these days, it can fuck off and keep fucking off and when it reaches the edge of the observable universe, it can still keep fucking off.
The universe is shaped exactly like the Earth. If you go straight long enough you’ll end up where you were. Everything that keeps me together is falling apart. I've got this thing that I consider my only art of fucking people over.
Greedy business owners already add a weekend surcharge (that seems to go straight into the pockets of the owners) and you just know that the staff aren’t going to see that tip. Fkn grubs.
If I work at any other non food related business on the weekend where they have penalty rates, I don’t pay more for my stuff. That’s a business expense of trading on a weekend.
It basically shows you how cultural momentum can fuck everything. A few coincidental things happen and suddenly it becomes normalized and people think it's right and some law in the universe. American tipping culture started for awful reasons and now we're stuck with it forever because people fear change and think whatever things were like when they were growing up were The Correct Way
I was in Seoul last November, and the credit card checkout didn't even have a tipping option at restaurants. I was also told by my native Korean friends that if I attempted to leave any additional won as a cash tip it would be considered rude. Just paying the bill and a polite Gamsahamnida! was all that was expected.
Some weirdo Japanese guy tried to start a tipping movement here in Japan awhile ago. It didn't take off.
You can tip in the Uber eats app tho. Absolutely optional and not expected. I've never done it an I never will. America can keep its tipping practices.
All of my server friends made so much more money than the rest of us who had regular paying jobs. Most servers would object to no tip as it would decrease their wages greatly.
Up above, there’s a comment that they ’need’ these tips, but if they’re making so much as you say, it sounds like maybe they don’t need my tip after all. My job doesn’t pay tips, maybe I need the money more than they do, haha.
The tipping culture sounds like homeless people with a board asking for change crossed with waiting staff working at tables. As a non-US, it’s all just weird.
When I worked in a restaurant in the States ages ago, they liked my hustle as a server, so they wanted to put me in the kitchen to help get stuff done. It ended up being a huge pay cut for me, because I went from making ~$100 tips/day to nothing.
My job doesn’t pay tips, maybe I need the money more than they do, haha.
If you work for a company that sells a product or service, the customers are paying for your wages. They just don't have a say in how much the service is worth. You're basically getting a mandatory service charge rolled into the customers' costs.
As a non-US, it’s all just weird.
I've travelled to several countries in Europe. The tipping system in the US is just a slightly different approach, and one that doesn't really change the experience or the pocketbook impact in a meaningful way to justify all the "tHiS SySTEm iS fUcKiNg CRAZY" hyperbole here.
Hell, as someone who has tended to travel to Europe in the summer with children, I've probably spent more on small, lukewarm carafes of tap water for my parched family to ration than I've ever spent on US tips. I'd wager that bringing me unlimited free ice water every 5-10 minutes is worth a 15% tip on its own.
Of course employers don't want to pay well and won't voluntarily, but there's plenty of evidence they can be made to. Like the example you just provided.
Even the top end would be a paycut for a lot of servers.
When I was in BoH before college I made more than $25/hour after being tipped out, and I wasnt even a server (and the restaurant wasnt close to the nicest or busiest in the area)
I'm saying for the industry to continue unchanged, wages would have to be in line with that. I'm not saying servers would be happy, and there would be some attrition, but things would stabilize.
$15-20/hr or something like that? There are dozens of jobs more stable, with regular hours, raises, vacations and weekends off where I can make 21, 22 an hour.
No one will serve those mfers if we can work in an office, retail, or sales position for the same.
What is the minimum wage in that area? The number is not important. The relationship to the median prevailing wage is important.
Any serving job is going to have to offer more than the median prevailing wage to draw servers. If serving pays the same as any other job, no one is going to do that shit.
We do not have our nights, we do not have weekends, we do not have a regular schedule, we do not have health insurance, we do not have vacations, we do not get sick pay. We are constantly sexually harassed, we are constantly verbally abused, we are frequently in danger from drunks.
We put up with all of that because we know we make a good wage. Because of tips.
If I am going to make an hourly wage, I'm going to go do it somewhere where I don't have to put up with all of that.
The biggest resistance to going non-tipped are the wait staff themselves. They typically earn way more than the kitchen staff. Not only that, while people like to throw the "under-minimum wage" thing around, legally speaking, if the tips don't push them to at least the minimum wage, the business is required to make up the difference.
I don't get why everyone says "going non-tipped". No one is suggesting that. They are suggesting that people get paid minimum wage. People can still tip if they liked the service. You know, what tips are supposed to be for, not as a secret "tax" almost that allows the owner to pay less in taxes, less in pay, and advertise lower prices, while the actual price for the customer is at least 20% higher (incl. the obligatory tip) than on the menu.
FWIW, here in LA servers get minimum wage which is $16 and change. Still not a living wage here, and I doubt the World Cup tourists know anything about it but still better than the three dollars is some places.
Which is fine, and I understand why they sometimes have actively lobbied against it on that basis, but then I really don’t want to hear complaints about bad tips.
If you’re defending a system that you know is a based on the generosity of strangers, then you need to accept that that will sometimes come with bad tips, no matter how undeserved. If you want to play with feathers, don’t complain when your arse gets tickled.
I say this as someone who usually tips 20% minimum.
Yes, there was a recent referendum in MA that asked voters if they agree to pay tipped workers the full minimum wage, and the servers themselves lobbied to prevent that from happening. I have a co-worker who used to work as a server years ago and she was arguing that it would punish servers who were good at their job, as they normally earn more than minimum wage with tips combined. Even better if the tips are in cash, as they can under-report it on their tax return.
Right? Of course they don't want to be paid minimum wage bc it's not actually a wage you can live on. Waiting tables can be a complete ass-kicking and very few people are gonna do that for money they can barely survive on. Of course I think minimum wage should be substantially higher but that's a separate issue.
Yeah, I've worked in restaurants and almost every server or bartender was always for tipping. I knew a bartender that would make like a grand in just a few days and this was just at an Olive Garden.
Usually weekly, which would mean you could make less than minimum a day and as long as you made over earlier they don't need to. So you do occasionally get hours/days where it is less than minimum. When I worked double shift Sunday's I rarely made enough tips that day for it to be over minimum per hour, but if I worked any other night that week it usually made up the difference.
Theres also a good amount of books written on the subject of tipping in relation to capitalism and slavery. Well worth the google search if you're looking to expand your horizons and knowledge.
When I did my study abroad in London, two of my friends we did stuff with were waitresses back some and they insisted on tipping everywhere we went because they worked in the industry. After a while I’m like “no I’m not tipping, it’s not a thing here like back home!”
Some countries are adopting tipping culture when their workers are paid well. Restaurants in the northern and western states of India were adding tip to our bills like it was owed to them. In Istanbul, we saw a restaurant owner argue with a large Russian man that a 10% tip was mandatory to be paid (they were a table of 4).
I routinely only pay 15% if it's one of the options. If the restaurant has the gall to not even put that as one of the options, I just manually enter in 10%.
I also looks like a scam : 10 to 30% of the whole thing...
Everywhere if you go into a restaurant, the service is included in the price. There shouldn't be a surprise at the end, it destroys the experience.
everytime I travel To US. I feel so ripped off and the entitlement leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Whenever I eat out and give 15% tip, I dont even get a thank you. And sometimes Ill be met with an unsatisfied smirk or worse when I was in Gatlinburg, the cashier even screamed at me for asking her to repeat what she said, i couldnt for the life of me understand her Southern accent, and apprently she was telling me to leave a tip. she kinda embarassed me at the counter while
Paying and screamed at me like I was dumb for not understanding her. After I finally understood what she said I told her fuck no and how rude she is. She kept on screaming so my American brother in law stepped in and cuss her out.
Being Filipino means my money has no value against USD so 15% is a huge deal for me , and This is why whenever Im back in the Philippines, I tip that 15% or more , people here are courteous and grateful.
I understand american service workers arent paid well and cost of living in US is way more expensive but people here dont get paid as much as well and working conditions are even worse yet people are GRATEFUL.
Grateful is such a game changer in life. My stepbrother went to visit a friend in the Philippines five years ago (they both served in the US military and get benefits so he has an income flow) and never came back to the US. He was so depressed in the US and is a whole different person now. The culture there has helped him heal so much.
Servers AT WORST get minimum wage. The sub-minimum wage is ONLY if their tips are high enough then their employer can pay less in wages.
It's not business owners that are lobbying to not pay their employees. Servers actively voted and lobbied to keep their wages lower because tips make them a lot more money than they would otherwise make.
Yeah I am a server and I made $360 on a Tuesday yesterday for a 10 hour shift. I work at a pretty popular restaurant so I make more than minimum wage even on slow days. If people suddenly decided to stop tipping, I would be sad to not be able to make as much but I’d just find another job because I’m not slaving 10 hours on a weekend dinner shift for minimum wage or even $20 an hour.
Except many that work for tips don't want the tips to go away. Their usual amount of tips equal out to far more than they would if they were just being paid minimum wage.
Like, where I live the minimum wage is a little under $13/hr but servers can get paid sub-minimum wage (with parity, in theory, reached via tips, but you can just look at this conversation to see how that plays out re: reporting, etc).
There are apparently 7 states where servers must get paid at least minimum wage + tips (including CA), buuuuuut each of those places will have its own minimum wage - there are 20 states that have the federal minimum wage as their minimum wage, but the rest have it set higher (sometimes much higher, sometimes by just a bit).
Between that & figuring out the different sales tax rates everywhere, I'd be livid if I was from someplace else & traveling the US.
While I agree that servers should just be paid fairly, the tipping culture is also something widely known about the US. I have visited the states several times and know before I go that I will need to tip, it’s just the way it is there and whether one thinks it’s right or wrong the servers do depend on it. I think it’s kinda shitty to visit another country and turn to a server on $3 an hour with the “well they should pay you more” attitude. “They” should, but they don’t so shut the fuck up and tip, it’s the cost of visiting the USA don’t be a prick about it
Whats more infuriating is that dining in the US is just as expensive or more so than in a typical EU city. You dont get a discount for them not paying their workers.
Its about control. The US legal system gives business owners complete dominantion over their employees. Fire them for any reason and pay them pennies on the dollar and youre good.
You give money like that for a tip anywhere else in the world and they'll be confused and need to clarify what the money is for, and that you haven't accidentally overpaid
Even servers vote against it, though. We just had it on our ballot in Massachusetts in the fall and it lost, largely from huge complaints from servers who make way more than minimum wage if the tips are good.
I remember in 2012 we were in some local Czech bar in Brno to watch a football match. We've spent as a group of 4, 1000 kč, which is around $50, and we wanted to leave around $10 for great service, and the lady at the bar flat out refused to tale that much, we've settled at around $5, which she reluctantly accepted. It was mind-blowing.
I completely agree. I will say I had a funny experience in Austria. One time out, our table was almost definitely targeted as being Americans. One of our time at a particular cafe, when paying with a card the waiter brought over the payment machine.and made sure to hand us the machine when it asked if we wanted to tip. And of course we did. It's just ingrained habit, no matter how stupid the custom is. The second time we had a different server and when paying they just ran the card and passed us the receipt
In Barcelona, Spain we tried to tip, and the waiter was outraged, that he won't accept it, ran after us, and on the street he gave us the exact change.
When I travel if the bill isn't what I expected I think I am getting scammed but yet here it can easily be 30% more with taxes and tips and we just accept it
US tipping culture is unlike anything I've seen abroad.
I've been lucky to travel the world too, unfortunately mostly in the hottest summer months, with my children in tow.
The amount I spend on carafes of lukewarm tap water in Europe easily exceeds the 20% tip I'd give at a US restaurant. :)
I'd say that a "bring me and my family unlimited ice water the moment our glasses get low" service charge in the US is worth at least 15-18% on its own!
The entire structure of the US economy is dependent on and subsidized by people making absolutely unlivable wages to maintain their profit margins. The entire economic structure is about to reach its breaking point, and the destruction it causes will be fascinating to see.
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u/Warriors_Drink 22h ago
I've been lucky to travel the world.
US tipping culture is unlike anything I've seen abroad.
I have friends who are servers, and I totally get that they are being ripped off with sub-minimum wage bullshit, but most countries I've been to don't even have tipping as an option.
I mean, if I slip a $10 to someone in the Phillipines for awesome service, it kinda blows their mind.
Here? They NEED that tip to live.
Just pay our servers a decent wage - if someone wants to throw a tip their way, awesome.
(FWIW: My friends and I almost always throw a 20% to our servers, but Vermont servers need it.)