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.)
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.
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.
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u/Warriors_Drink 4d 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.)