Tipping is the norm, because it's always been this way. Go to Europe or Asia and there's hardly any tipping. They also don't have tip jars at every counter either.
It's due to a combination of expectations:
- Owner pays low wages
- Wait staff expect tips from customers to make up wage gap... which is weird because you'd think they would bust the owner's balls for the higher wages
- Customers tip because everyone else does it and every bill, credit card process has a tip line
It's one big circle jerk.
It's amazing when I went to Asia for the first time and not knowing any better left a tip. The staff came back and put the change my hands and didn't want it.
If this was Canada, the wait staff, taxi driver, hotel door guy etc.... would look at it and probably think.... "That's it? I shoulda got double"
Guess what? I've waited tables before too when I was in school. It's a job any moron can do. The only tough thing is if it's super busy at dinner and you are scampering around (speed). But the actual work is menial.
And it's retarded too at the tip expectations. A family of 4 can be more work than a table of 2, but the table of 2 ordered more expensive food or wine. So a waiter expects higher tips from the table of 2 just because they have a higher bill.
Someone who supports wait staff will respond with something like..... "well, if they got money to buy wine, they can afford it to give extra money to the staff".
Well, fuck off. If you want a good paying job and not clearing tables and pouring water to pay your rent, then go to school and get a good job like the millions of other people, so you don't have to rely on people's tips.
It's amazing..... go to Asia for vacation, fantastic friendly service. Zero tipping expected. Eat in Canada or take a taxi. Hit and miss service, but generally average. 15-20% tips expected. If anything, I'd rather sink my tips into the cooks. Service is usually nothing memorable, but food quality is something everyone remembers. Yet some reason the wait staff get all/most of the tips, while the cooks are forgotten.
Figure that out.
