we cannot live on tips alone!

[aethyrflux]

there are articles out there on people's motivations for tipping

and there are reports of the industry's interests, as well

there's even a lot of excellent research & suggested solutions for what to do about the whole debacle

but i noticed that there wasn't a whole lot of data out there about how the current American system developed... here's

Comments

[nobodobodon]

Funny, I was just typing about tips today, and brought up Black Star, and Australia.

When I went to Australia many years ago, I had a couple tips returned to me. And again my first time at Black Star.

It really changes the server/customer balance. I feel more an equal when there's no tip. It feels more honest if I know they're not angling for a tip. If they're friendly to me, they actually mean it. If they serve me well, it's because they actually enjoy doing their job well.

No tips also make me more likely to complain or request special treatment, because I know they're not worried that I'm threatening their livelihood. If I ever send food back in a tip-based restaurant, I always feel the need to apologize and overtip to compensate for the anxiety they might have over the possibility of me stiffing them.

[aethyrflux]

I have always thought that tipping was a way for the industry to offload their responsibility to pay workers a living wage onto the consumer. I resent the whole system, but I tend to empathize with the employees that are just doing their jobs & have no control over the way the whole scam is structured. As a limousine chauffeur, I am also in a service industry that ostensibly runs on tips, but since everything has shifted to company credit cards, all of my clients assume that a sufficient tip has been included & think that they have no personal obligation to tip out of their own pocket... I know that, as service industries go, many have been hit much worse than transportation has, by the economic collapse in the past few years... But it is especially disappointing to see that millionaires aren't even inclined to tip generously, in these days of severe economic disparity... Apparently Uncle Scrooge is back in style!

[nobodobodon]

It offloads the living wage responsibility onto the consumer, while also offloading the responsibility of satisfactory customer service onto the workers

[aethyrflux]

What about wealthy philanthropists like Andrew Carnegie, or even folks such as Bill Gates & George Lucas?