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Rant on tipping
Me | July 6 2014 | Me

Posted on 07/06/2014 2:10:26 PM PDT by Ben Mugged

OK, here is my rant about tipping. Not the kind where folks in Frisco are standing little cars on end or the practice of pushing sleeping cows over but the kind that takes place in restaurants.

I worked in food service and as a bartender for many years while in the Air Force. When I started out the business would pay me to serve the customers. If my service was good, the customers would reward me with a gratuity. Over time the businesses noticed their servers were making a lot of money in tips so they reduced their pay to minimum wage. The difference between that and what you should have been paid was made up by tipping. In other words the burden of paying the server moved from the business to the customer. Instead of working for the business, servers were now working for the customer.

It is still that way today with some businesses adding the "gratuity" to the bill automatically. Folks it is no longer a "gratuity" if it is mandatory and the only way the server gets paid. Let's call it what it is, a service fee.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: gratuity; tip
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To: C. Edmund Wright

One of zero’s minions coined that phrase, ‘changing the DNA of capitalism’. I forget which department.


41 posted on 07/06/2014 3:02:04 PM PDT by txhurl (2014: Stunned Voters do Stunning Things!)
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To: txhurl

your use of it in this context was elegantly brilliant IMO!


42 posted on 07/06/2014 3:02:52 PM PDT by C. Edmund Wright (www.FireKarlRove.com NOW)
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To: Cry if I Wanna
I like the idea of a living wage for the server and a 5% tip max if the service was great.

That's how you should do it in your restaurant.

43 posted on 07/06/2014 3:03:04 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler (Conservatism is the political disposition of grown-ups.)
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To: Ronin
I personally think tipping is extortion and I hate the practice.

Be sure and mention that to your waiter before he serves you your food.

44 posted on 07/06/2014 3:05:10 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler (Conservatism is the political disposition of grown-ups.)
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To: RIghtwardHo
There is no requirement to tip, but if you don't I would advise not returning to that restaurant.
45 posted on 07/06/2014 3:08:28 PM PDT by AU72
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To: Jeff Chandler

No kidding. Good luck getting someone off their ass for the hope of 5% - regardless of base pay.

Anyone working hard for tips or commissions always has the hope of basically unlimited pay - it’s in your hands. Hourly wages alone can’t provide that and can stifle hustle.


46 posted on 07/06/2014 3:08:31 PM PDT by FlJoePa ("Success without honor is an unseasoned dish; it will satisfy your hunger, but it won't taste good")
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To: DisorderOnBorder

What do you mean ‘anymore’?


47 posted on 07/06/2014 3:09:18 PM PDT by Balding_Eagle (I am a proud citizen of an idea called America.)
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To: txhurl
I wish you’d do something else with your time, like waiting tables.

I just want to see tipping go away. That's all.

48 posted on 07/06/2014 3:09:59 PM PDT by Cry if I Wanna
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To: txhurl
SEIU troll.

I really am looking for more of an enlightened conversation. There's plenty of name calling at DU and other low-brow sites. I thought FR was above that.

49 posted on 07/06/2014 3:09:59 PM PDT by Cry if I Wanna
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To: Jack Hydrazine
What about cow tipping? Should we tip cows, too?

As long as it isn't "Elsie"...why not.

Elsie appears daily on my milk carton and until she is found, I will not rest.

Can I get a moo?

* Big Smo reference

50 posted on 07/06/2014 3:15:09 PM PDT by capt. norm
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To: Cry if I Wanna

We are above that, but start tossing about the canned Liberal phrases,............. well, you see what happens when you’re recognized.


51 posted on 07/06/2014 3:16:31 PM PDT by Balding_Eagle (I am a proud citizen of an idea called America.)
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To: Cry if I Wanna

Tipping ain’t broke: it works perfectly in a perfect market, and there is no need to ‘fix’ it, in SEIU terms you can (maybe) understand.

I think DU is probably a better place for you.


52 posted on 07/06/2014 3:18:07 PM PDT by txhurl (2014: Stunned Voters do Stunning Things!)
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To: Jeff Chandler

Don’t miss my original point. I have no problem with paying for a meal including a service charge. Just don’t try to tell me it is a “gratuity” when it’s not. The business should tell the truth. It is a “service charge” and is included in the overall price of the meal and is how the business pays the server.


53 posted on 07/06/2014 3:21:47 PM PDT by Ben Mugged (The number one enemy of liberalism is reality.)
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To: Cry if I Wanna

I knew what you meant by the context.


54 posted on 07/06/2014 3:24:18 PM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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To: Cry if I Wanna

Don’t get too riled up or discouraged. There are certain terms that are “land mines” within FR. You just happened to trip one. The first time I posted on FR I was flamed and took it personally. Don’t make that mistake. Welcome to FR.


55 posted on 07/06/2014 3:25:44 PM PDT by Ben Mugged (The number one enemy of liberalism is reality.)
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To: Ben Mugged

Agree. Tipping should be about 15% and 20% for good service. No tip for utterly poor service. Automatic gratuity of 18+% became popular when the economy was good during the late 90s and the early 2000s (not the Obama years, of course). I am not sure when this became an expected thing in the service industry.


56 posted on 07/06/2014 3:26:24 PM PDT by KC_Conspirator
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To: Ben Mugged

How about a massage therapist who is supposedly a professional but expects a tip like a cab driver?


57 posted on 07/06/2014 3:26:42 PM PDT by Mamzelle
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To: capt. norm

Moooooooooooooooooooooooo!


58 posted on 07/06/2014 3:28:12 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; We need a second party!)
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To: Jeff Chandler

I do think it sucks that a restaurant assumes I will pay their workers. They certainly can do so, but I mention it to them from time to time that it makes me less pleased eating out knowing how little they compensate their workers.

Waiters and Waitresses are not strippers who should be charged for use of the pole.

On tipping, I’m generally a large tipper. It does bother me that two waiters provide me the same service, but due to historical convention the one who serves me a $30 meal gets twice what the guy does who serves me a $15 meal.

However, I know that this is the market. The waitstaff train and when they are good enough, they look to move to the more expensive restaurants, so theoretically you get much better service there as they have the “best”. Don’t generally see it though when I’m served, but sometimes. Certainly you see the difference between a fine restaurant and the guy behind the counter at McDonalds.

I’ve got nieces and nephews who have done the waiter bit, and they said on many days they would make less than they would have behind the counter at McDonalds.


59 posted on 07/06/2014 3:31:09 PM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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To: Ben Mugged

My daughter got offered a $20 tip on a $8 drink if she let the guy kiss her cheek (on her face). She does get minimum wage and has earned over $250 in tips on an 8-hour shift a bunch of times. She is very pretty though, and a very hard worker. Nice work if you can deal with the sore feet, aching back, complaining hips and the headaches.


60 posted on 07/06/2014 3:33:48 PM PDT by lkco (Busy Mom)
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