Posted on 10/25/2019 8:31:33 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
For most of my life I’ve been glad that America is a society that relies heavily on tipping. First, tipping allows us to reward excellent service. Second, in a world of rising economic inequality, a 30 to 50 percent tip is a small but direct way to redistribute money to those who are working hard to earn a living.
Moreover, tipping nurtures humane relationships. It encourages servers to try to establish social connection through direct eye contact and a display of warmth. Finally, most of the servers I’ve known like the tipping system. They’ve believed that by doing their job well they could earn far more than they could through a flat wage. That’s certainly what I thought as a bartender.
So over all, I’ve taken it as good news that tipping culture seems to be spreading to every cashier’s counter in the land.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The problem is this guy thinks in terms of redistributing wealth rather than rewarding good work.
“Amazing service might get me to 30”
That’s Antoine’s. Only.
Why don’t they lower the resturant tax and pay their help more?
And so long as the tips are given voluntarily there’s absolutely nothing wrong with people who deliver a service making out like “bandits”. It’s how a lot of hard working but otherwise saleable skills lacking people manage to feed themselves and their families. Taxes and government in general, on the other hand, is the genuine “banditry”.
Some people can not cook. Eating the slop they produce is extremely painful. Some people can cook. Most of their stuff is descent. On par with middle of the road restaurants. Some people cook very well. Their stuff is on par with higher end restaurants. Then there are people who love to cook and push the envelope. A lot of their stuff is on par with the best in the world.
Food snobs are jerks, but some people can produce spectacular food. Calling me a food snob because I sous vide (130F) my fries for 5 hours in a basic (Baking soda) solution because it creates tiny pits in the surface and triple frying them does not make me a food snob. It means I love to cook and push the envelope. You have never been to anyplace (unless top 10 in the world) that makes fries like I do and they will make you cry. Extreme crisp and almost mashed potato like interiors. Not food snobbing, rather loving cooking and thus becoming really good at it. People lucky enough for me to cook for them are ruined from the higher end places.
David Brooks now decides on morals???
The waitresses were among the worst tippers. I was a genuinely nice young man in those days and had customers ask for me personally, none of whom were great tippers. But it was better to have a paying fare than none at all.
One notable exception was a black gal who worked at a couple of different go-go bars and lived in a seedy motel on the outskirts of town. She was always sweet, told me jokes that I would get banned for posting and told me that she asked for me personally because I treated her like a regular person, not a novelty or a piece of meat. Black folks were rare in that area of the country, but I was brought up to treat all people with common courtesy. Her tip was generally in the 15-20% range.
After living in Asia for 14 years where tips aren't expected, I've come to the conclusion that they are a subsidy for employers who want to pay rock bottom wages. Even now at the point in my life that I can take the Mrs. out to eat regularly, we often choose fast food so I am not bothered with waiting for tables and tipping. Chick-fil-A gives me as much or more satisfaction than your average sit down restaurant and THEY don't expect tips.
Cool idea.
Ahh, you beat me to the Mr. Pink reference.
Correct.
The whole premise of his argument is based on wealth redistribution.
I’m sure he wants restaurants to be ordered to pay waiters $15.00 per hour.
Regardless of the fact that means many restaurants will have to raise prices, lose customers as a result, and then of course go out of business.
I drive a cab and am fine with a ten percent tip. As long as it’s least a dollar! Handing someone fifty cents is ridiculous - and has not happened to me.
Every day one or two people don’t tip. They don’t anger me. I figure they are poor or don’t know. Usually.
Most tip fifteen to twenty percent. I am grateful. Cab drivers at least here don’t make much.
Some tip up to a hundred percent. God bless them. It is very kind.
But as long as people pay the metered fare and are polite I don’t get angry. I understand I am one of the rare ones. Just yesterday a passenger was telling me about a driver who got angry at him for “only” tipping $5.
I have never and will never berate a passenger.
“Servers who work in upscale restaurants can make good money. Servers who work in diners struggle.”
First off, a good server at a diner that sees decent business is not going to be struggling.
Beyond that, there are higher expectations at an upscale restaurant than there are at a diner. That goes for everything from appearance to performance.
My starting point is 17%, and then I adjust depending on the circumstances.
In college I was a waitress at a Dunkin’ Donuts in Binghamton, NY. It was a full-service diner, and on a truckers’ route. I made 90 cents and hour, and a LOT of tips.
Hear hear!
My buddies and I were in Dallas in the 80’s and had a sure-fire way to ensure great service. We would select a bartender at a busy club when we entered as being the focus of our largess. We would each put down a $20 bill and order a drink, stating that we wanted to open a tab. The bartender would usually look at the cash and ask what that was for. We would explain that the cash was for him or her as a “pre-tip”, in return for our expectation that we would get excellent service throughout the night. We would further explain that if the service was good, we would be tipping again at the end of the evening when we cleared our tab. Boy, did we get great service throughout the night! And when we had each consumed a dozen or more cocktails and closed our tab, the tab was usually ridiculously low. So, another $20 each followed. I’m sure that the bar’s beverage cost ticked up a fraction on the nights that we were in attendance, but the memories were epic and for $50 a head, it was worth every dime.
Better idea, a new tax rate for RINOs, with twice the rate for the same income level. And do away with ALL deductions for RINOs living in blue states.
GO AWAY Brooks. Or at least join a throuple with the Romneys where you’ll be happy and satisfied.
“They don’t like it? They can go collect from the kitchen. Or the manager who failed to staff the restaurant properly.
The customer is not responsible for “unforeseen conditions”
My wife and I both worked food service. There was plenty of unforeseen conditions out of managers control.
Yes, 2 waiters call in sick at last moment, a bus full of tourist arrive etc
There is a difference between bad service and those unforeseen conditions and we tip accordingly.
I don't know why this author even wrote this with today's millennials, they have no concept of finances and wouldn't think twice about paying a 50% gratuity. After all it's like free right? You just put it on a credit card!
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