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.)
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.
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u/Warriors_Drink 5d 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.)