Tipping culture: the good, the bad, the ugly.
When you go out, do you tip? Do you do it according to how much you spend? Did you ever avoid going out because you didn’t have enough for a 20% tip? Do you think tipping is a choice or an obligation? Is tipping a direct response to the low salaries servers have? Is tipping the product of a company that pays its employees less than minimum wage? Is it the customer’s responsibility to give the server a good salary? Do servers only rely on tips? Should they also be tipping out cooks, buzzers, and hostesses? Is there a right answer?
Tipping culture has become a little insane. Before, it seemed like a gratuity customers gave out to good servers for a job well done. But that has changed. Now it seems horrible to go out and not tip. This has gone so far that now servers even expect a tip of 20 to 40%. The worst part is, servers rely on these tips as if they were their sole income. Truth is, companies and big chain restaurants have been taking advantage of tips to avoid paying servers a proper wage. Some even pay them less than $3 an hour, as they have tips to cover the rest. This has gone so far that now most places even have to tip out the back, meaning that of the percentage that they get, they have to divide it between the line cook, buzzers, hostesses, etcetera. This also means that now tips are not seen as something you get for good service, but an obligation on the client’s part, as it represents most of the salary to every employee in the restaurant.
In this Reddit thread, the debate on whether this is acceptable or not gave us different perspectives. Especially when taking into account countries outside of the US, where even though tipping exists, it is not required and is never for more than 10-15%. The main question that all this brought is: Is tipping a gratuity or an obligation? And if so, wouldn’t it be easier to just update prices so that restaurants can ensure their employees have a minimum wage salary?
Â
Author: Kayitsi.com
