Tipping is a stupid debate because, at least in America, we set up waiters to fail and they're just victims of societal hypocrisy. Think about any other daily financial transaction you might take advantage of. Sales at a store, an oil change, coupon day....or any business where negotiating is standard (car sales, contracting services, fees of any kind). We are trained as smart people to try to get the biggest bang for our buck and generally don't stop to consider that a store owner's marketing techniques to get you in the door eventually result in cuts to quality or wages to an employee. It would drive you crazy to take into account the big picture of every single financial transaction. If you are asked to pay $10 or $15 for the same product, only a moron pays $15.... EXCEPT when it comes to waiters. If I go to the grocery store and buy produce that I could have got at the farmer's market for 15% more (and lets assume that the quality is the same), who's going to pay that 15% just because? Liberal hippies thinking they're saving the world, that's who. People pay more to ease guilt every single day, when in reality the only things people should be paying more for are (1) quality, and (2) service/convenience. I know the dealership is going to charge me $50 for an oil change when I can get it done at Jiffy Lube for $25. The difference is that the Jiffy Lube guy is a teenage piece of shit with no comparable experience and the cheapest quality filter and oil available. I pay more to get the better stuff because I believe in the long run my car isn't going to be damaged and the job will be done correctly. When I call a lawyer I don't go for cheap. I go for experience and results. Does the quality of my food go up when I tip? Not one bit.
So back to tipping....when a waitress comes to my table I see them as, maybe, the third most important staff member at that restaurant. 1. The cook is whom I am there for. He's going to prepare food that I love and he's going to make it taste good or I SEND IT BACK. 2. The owner is going to make sure the cook has quality ingredients and enforce safety/health standards OR I LEAVE. 3. Waitress/everyone else. these people keep the place clean, take my order and make sure information is passed correctly to the cook. Sure they physically bring me drinks and bread, but honestly any 8 year old can do that. Sorry. Every other staff member I can either leave or send food back, but wait staff are a constant reminder that at the end of my otherwise enjoyable experience, I have to endure a stupid guilt trip and pay more because their employer refuses to pay them properly. In any other context other than restaurants, a normal person would never pay more for that.
If you ask me what I want in a perfect world, tipping applies to the COOK. I'm not visiting the restaurant to tell my wife how clean a place can be, or how well people can pretend to be nice to me. I'm going to eat something that I have neither the time nor the skill to make at home, and for the convenience of not cooking. Management gets their profits from the price of the food. Wait staff should get a livable wage. That's it. If you don't pay a living wage you're only going to attract the lowest morons in the world to work those jobs. Then those guys are going to consistently disappoint you. If you're not willing to pay for quality wait staff you're going to get "barely acceptable" wait staff. Americans deal with so much shit I understand why they never want to tip. Many American wait staff are horrible and don't deserve anything. I've been to Europe twice in the last 15 years, and while I can't claim to be an expert on European wait staff I can definitely say that they are held to a higher standard and it shows.
Any worker should be able to live on their wage. But you want me to optionally contribute to the problem when it's your employer's responsibility to pay you fairly? No thanks. I don't need a guilt trip at the end of every meal. I go there to enjoy myself. I probably currently average about 10% on tipping just so if I return I'm not remembered as "that guy" and quality of food goes down. It's an industry that screws the worker over and it's a shame that people aren't willing to fix it.
So back to tipping....when a waitress comes to my table I see them as, maybe, the third most important staff member at that restaurant. 1. The cook is whom I am there for. He's going to prepare food that I love and he's going to make it taste good or I SEND IT BACK. 2. The owner is going to make sure the cook has quality ingredients and enforce safety/health standards OR I LEAVE. 3. Waitress/everyone else. these people keep the place clean, take my order and make sure information is passed correctly to the cook. Sure they physically bring me drinks and bread, but honestly any 8 year old can do that. Sorry. Every other staff member I can either leave or send food back, but wait staff are a constant reminder that at the end of my otherwise enjoyable experience, I have to endure a stupid guilt trip and pay more because their employer refuses to pay them properly. In any other context other than restaurants, a normal person would never pay more for that.
If you ask me what I want in a perfect world, tipping applies to the COOK. I'm not visiting the restaurant to tell my wife how clean a place can be, or how well people can pretend to be nice to me. I'm going to eat something that I have neither the time nor the skill to make at home, and for the convenience of not cooking. Management gets their profits from the price of the food. Wait staff should get a livable wage. That's it. If you don't pay a living wage you're only going to attract the lowest morons in the world to work those jobs. Then those guys are going to consistently disappoint you. If you're not willing to pay for quality wait staff you're going to get "barely acceptable" wait staff. Americans deal with so much shit I understand why they never want to tip. Many American wait staff are horrible and don't deserve anything. I've been to Europe twice in the last 15 years, and while I can't claim to be an expert on European wait staff I can definitely say that they are held to a higher standard and it shows.
Any worker should be able to live on their wage. But you want me to optionally contribute to the problem when it's your employer's responsibility to pay you fairly? No thanks. I don't need a guilt trip at the end of every meal. I go there to enjoy myself. I probably currently average about 10% on tipping just so if I return I'm not remembered as "that guy" and quality of food goes down. It's an industry that screws the worker over and it's a shame that people aren't willing to fix it.
