Why Do You Tip?

[TeeJay]

Lots of funny topics lately about tipping and etiquette associated with.
Besides the most obvious problem that everyone has an entirely different idea about how much you should tip and what a normal tip is, another funny side effect is most of you seem to not even know why you are tipping.

The most common reason given is that poor wait staff at a restaurant make less than minimum wage at a restaurant.
But if true, then why do people feel obligated to give tips to salaried employees making more than minimum wage? Or tipping at non-traditional places? Or even tipping people who earn commissions or bonuses?

So go on cast a vote and lets see what the general consensus really is.

 

[Vkcs20]

Well i always tend to follow the local culture. But obviously if service is bad then they won't get anything.

 

[Occasionally]

Well i always tend to follow the local culture. But obviously if service is bad then they won't get anything.

Same here.

I'll tip for sake of pitying these shlubs. But there have a few times I tipped zero because it was that bad. Looking back when I was a server, it's a mindless job. The only hassle is busy times (like Friday/weekend dinner) and it can get super busy. Even worse if someone calls in sick. But the job itself involves rudimentary skills.

However, don't feel too bad for these people. I was a busboy and waiter decades ago. As poor as servers claim to be making $1 less than minimum wage, they make a lot more that you think. Big deal. Their hourly wage is $1/hr less, but they make it all back in tips and then some.

Even when I was a busboy making $5/hr and getting tips from the waiters (they divvyed and decided how much tip to give the busboys since they had control of the tip bucket), I still averaged out $15/hr. If the lowly busboys were getting about $15/hr including hourly and tips, the waiters got even more since they kept more of the tips for themselves. They were probably getting $20-25/hr. And that was almost 30 years ago.

$5/hr included the usual income form the restaurant would churn out, the rest was cash. Guess how much money i declared on my annual income tax regarding tips? Yeah, zero.

If you want to see whiney baby servers backtrack on tipping culture, ask them why they tipped the busboys like shit and kept more of it for themselves even though the busboy does all the hard work..... working fast to clear tables, clean spills, take the disgusting dishes to the kitchen, take out the trash etc.... All the grimey tasks. So if people are so cheap and not tipping, how come they tipped like cheap asses to their own coworkers.

And we got less tips, while the "hands off" waiter did the easy stuff like taking orders, pouring water and processing the bill.

 

[TeeJay]

Oh to be fair: ignore one offs and oddities

EG if you always tip, but 1 server somewhere pissed you off so badly you couldn't bring yourself to it then you would still be an always tipper

 

[dbiz2]

Normally I tip 15% and the rare occasion 20% for outstanding service. But I've not left a tip on several occasions. In those instances, I've spoken to management and explained why I wasn't going to leave a tip.

I waited tables and did bartending on and off through undergrad (drinking age was 18 at that time). I know how important tips are. But if someone isn't giving their "A" game, its hard to justify leaving a tip.

 

[Jasmine Raine]

The poll is skewed.

Basically if I pick that I tip waitresses because they make below min wage, I am admitting to doing it out of guilt????


Leave the opinion out of the options. People are suppose to giving their opinion, not accepting yours along with it. ?

 

[dbiz2]

The poll is skewed.

Basically if I pick that I tip waitresses because they make below min wage, I am admitting to doing it out of guilt????


Leave the opinion out of the options. People are suppose to giving their opinion, not accepting yours along with it. ?

Well the poll might be skewed based upon a couple of things: 1) low survey sample size. At 13 respondents, there will be considerable variability, given that only a small number of the available population has responded (the poll's population is TERB members); and 2) the wording of the survey questions. Unless the OP took questions used in previous surveys that meet the criteria of validity and reliability, creating appropriate questions to obtain the information relevant to the issue under study is a tricky process.

I had to choose other and give my opinion. We'll have to see how the distribution shapes up after the sample size increases.

 

[Jasmine Raine]

Well the poll might be skewed based upon a couple of things: 1) low survey sample size. At 13 respondents, there will be considerable variability, given that only a small number of the available population has responded (the poll's population is TERB members); and 2) the wording of the survey questions. Unless the OP took questions used in previous surveys that meet the criteria of validity and reliability, creating appropriate questions to obtain the information relevant to the issue under study is a tricky process.

I had to choose other and give my opinion. We'll have to see how the distribution shapes up after the sample size increases.

I just don't like the game he is playing with this poll. There have been a couple of tipping threads where has been taking a verbal beating, so to post this poll with his added opinion in ()'s is just a troll move considering the history he has on the topic.

 

[dbiz2]

I just don't like the game he is playing with this poll. There have been a couple of tipping threads where has been taking a verbal beating, so to post this poll with his added opinion in ()'s is just a troll move considering the history he has on the topic.

I Gotcha...

 

[rhuarc29]

I tip staff that make below minimum wage, even though I disagree with such a stupid system. I don't know why the government hasn't stepped in, forced minimum wage, and outlawed tipping (temporarily).

Other than that, I tip for great service, and generally it's more than your "10% max" you included in your poll.

 

[TeeJay]

The poll is skewed.

Basically if I pick that I tip waitresses because they make below min wage, I am admitting to doing it out of guilt????


Leave the opinion out of the options. People are suppose to giving their opinion, not accepting yours along with it. ��

If you want then post here WHY
But I think it is quite fair to say based on guilt after reading page after page of people crying we need to help out poor servers who make less than min wage because they choose a job that pays so little assuming they will be tipped

For fun post an alternate theory but after 5 threads and hundreds of responses it boils down to pay them a tip since they do not earn enough
That is guilt

I just don't like the game he is playing with this poll. There have been a couple of tipping threads where has been taking a verbal beating, so to post this poll with his added opinion in ()'s is just a troll move considering the history he has on the topic.

Beating???
Anyone with basic english comprehension would see my arguments made far more sense than the feel good/bad joke of a response others keep making
But do keep that discussion in other thread

This thread is solely for rationale
Not whether it is correct or not

 

[TeeJay]

Other than that, I tip for great service, and generally it's more than your "10% max" you included in your poll.

But it would have to be
Basic bell curve
You can not be getting "great" service everywhere
Otherwise it would be expected levels of service

Even if you eat at same restaurant all the time
You are bound to get different levels of service from one employee to another
It's not like school everyone gets a trophy day

I am willing to accept a higher percent (20%?) but the percent can not be the majority (51%+) or it would no longer stand out as great service

 

[italianguy74]

I tip female servers because I don't want to appear cheap or sexist.
I tip colored servers because I don't want appear to be racist.
I dont tip white male servers because they are privileged.

Btw I only sit at tables that have a white male servers.

 

[dbiz2]

I tip colored servers because I don't want appear to be racist.

sure nuff n' yes we thank ya Mista Charlie...

 

[TeeJay]

It has to strike people as amusing that the number of people who vote they only tip for great service is equal to the number of people who never ever tip

But you can see most people are tipping because they "have to"

That amazes me, even a group of criminals trying to conform to societal norms

 

[black booty lover]

We get it already you don't tip and you laugh in the face of people who want tips or tip. Enjoy your life, only you are right in your own mind.

I couldn't understand why he started this poll, especially since the topic had already been discussed a bunch of times. He also doesn't give a flying fuck about how it effects people's lively hood. TeeJay cares about one person, his name happens to be TeeJay. As long as he comes out on top with that extra loonie in his pocket, he feels good. Either you get it, or you don't, and he doesn't.

Is it out of morbid curiosity that he decided to start this poll thinking to himself "how do people actually find it in there hearts to tip people?".

Okay TeeJay, now go a head and start correcting all of grammatical mistakes.