Tipping: I can't be the only one, right?

[dcline9163]

I absolutely refuse to tip anyone, anywhere other than the wait staff at a restaurant. And I honestly don't even like doing it there. "Tipping" is a public subsidy. The federal government allows restaurateurs to pay wait staff less than minimum wage and we subsidize the rest of their pay. It's not about honoring work ethic or about showing off. It's 100% a reminder that the federal government is OK with people being paid less than they should because they can get us to cover the difference in tips....which then becomes taxed twice. Once when I got it and again when I give it as a tip. The whole thing pisses me off.

And so now hair dressers want a tip? Uber drivers? Lawn care guys? The girl behind the register at Moe's? Uh, no...kick rocks, nerds.

I heard Marc Arum doing a whole show on this the other day and it just drove me crazy. People were calling in talking about how they tip tow truck drivers and plumbers and all manner of ridiculousness. Why on Earth would I "tip" a plumber? You fixed the pooper. I paid you. Pound sand. I'm not giving you a tip.

Please tell me I'm not alone on this.

You're right It's out of hand.

 

[rOmiLaYu]

I fished charter boats out of Destin, for 25 years, after running around on deck for 8 hrs plus, baiting your hook, tying your hooks, making sure u didn’t get hooked, or bit by fish, then I would fillet all your fish, stay behind and clean the boat, so a new group wouldn’t have to look at the mess u left behind..what I did made your vacation, or ruined what u looked forward to for a year!..and u don’t want to tip?..after 15 years on the deck, I saved $250.000 to get my own charter boat, and if u didn’t tip and tip right, u weren’t allowed back!..and I would make sure u told all your friends..so there is the opinion from the tipped sector

I guess I wouldn't have been allowed back then. Charge what you feel you deserve. I'm not tipping you if you aren't waiting my table.

 

[JDUB]

Here's the scene referenced.

I need to watch this movie again. Been to long.

 

[Seacap]

I guess I wouldn't have been allowed back then. Charge what you feel you deserve. I'm not tipping you if you aren't waiting my table.

It was on a boat..guess u didn’t get that?

 

[Seacap]

I guess I wouldn't have been allowed back then. Charge what you feel you deserve. I'm not tipping you if you aren't waiting my table.

 

[rOmiLaYu]

It was on a boat..guess u didn’t get that?

No, I got it. Fishing guide, not a waiter. No tip.

 

[Seacap]

No, I got it. Fishing guide, not a waiter. No tip.

No not guide on small boat, small boat was for the pointy end of the boat..it was called a life raft

 

[greg vess]

Hold up there homey. Speaking from experience both as a customer and as a waiter. As a customer, I can tell you that there are absolutely valid reasons for not leaving any sort of gratuity at all. There are reasons I've left as little as a penny for the gratuity. There are reasons for leaving a large or generous gratuity. There are reasons I've walked back to the kitchen to tip the line.

As a waiter, there've been times when I've thrown tips in the bus pan as they weren't worth picking up. There've been times when I expected NO gratuity because I was purposefully slow walking every dish, ignoring every plea for more sweet tea, and for not checking on the table during their meal. This crowd was comprised of a local church group that came in and took up 4 four tops in my section and ran me to death the first time I had to wait on them. When they paid their individual checks I received either $1 plus some change on a $38 or $45 check, and this is so typical, they'd leave me a religious track folded to look like a $5 bill but when you unfolded it they were telling you how to be saved. That kind of crap. So, on their next visit, I conspired with my coworkers to give them the worst possible service the next time the crowd of tea swilling, pastitsio slurping, Bible thumping fat asses sat down. Must have worked because when they paid their checks the second time, they actually left decent tips even though I was determined they'd die of thirst before I refilled a tea glass (one fat ass even got up and served himself).

I've had a regular customer base that came into the restaurant every week and asked for my section. One week the hostess attempted to "assign tables" instead of seating customers by their request, I had regular customers apologize to ME and then tell the hostess that if I wasn't going to be their server, they'd rather eat somewhere else and leave. (the owner quickly remedied that situation and guests were seated where they wanted to be seated)

So, my wall of text is an explanation and correction. A waiter/waitress is not an indentured servant. They are free to sell their labor to anyone they please and any price that can be negotiated. IF that's $2.11 per hour plus gratuities, then they understand that when they accept the position. To insist on paying a gratuity, simply because someone works for a low hourly wage, without regard to the quality of that work or the product delivered from the kitchen? LOL, communist much? Maybe go to the higher end ghetto establishments like Applebee's where gratuities are pooled, then doled out by a kommissar, "each according to his abilities, each according to his needs."

This whining about pay is constant from wait staff and teachers. If you weren't smart enough to figure out what the pay might be, why did you enter that profession? I know waiters in Chicago that make over $130K per year, in tips. They are excellent at what they do and they have extensive knowledge of wine pairings, food preparation and the ingredients for the dishes they are serving. They bothered to learn something other than "Ham n' cheese omelette plate! Scattered & smothered! Biscuit instead!"

I wasn't a waiter long enough to make a science out of it. I just didn't want to lie to a employer and say I would stay when in fact I had a killer job lined up in three months after the facility was finished. I was one just long enough to figure out what happens in some cases that are beyond the servers control. I try to give them the benefit of the doubt. I can tell when I have a slacker for a server. If I have to wait 15 min. for a tea refill then I am not so generous. I am a giving person by nature so I never walk from a table without leaving a tip. Even at a buffet they have to refill your beverage so even they deserve a tip.

I have seen certain women sit down at a buffet and start ordering around thier table wait staff like they are at Olive Garden. They feel entitled and deserving of first class treatment. Those rear ends I would lay money on them not leaving a dime with the attitude " this is a buffet they don't deserve a tip " . I am sure you can guess the type.

Every person has the right to do what they feel adequate but I just think sometimes the server is so slammed they run a little behind. If the restaurant is packed with a long wait you can bet that's happens a lot. I just feel that a person that never leaves a tip no matter the quality of service needs to stay at home and eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich because that's all they deserve.

 

[greg vess]

I always had the skills to land a much higher paying job so I just did it since It's a high turnover position to begine with.

 

[palmettomoon]

I always had the skills to land a much higher paying job so I just did it since It's a high turnover position to begine with.

I'm simply pointing out that there are circumstances where not leaving a gratuity is perfectly acceptable. You made some strong statements about the character of folks that do not leave a tip at all. I'm simply pointing out that is ridiculous, some servers do NOT deserve a gratuity based on service AND/OR food quality.