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Not a showerthought, this is critique on american work ethic

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You're paying for their goods and their payroll either way, at least tipping is optional.

Problem is, servers are paid less than minimum wage. So a tip is compensation for that.

Tipping culture has shown that greedy business owners will exploit it. We can't have nice things and it needs to go.

Sounds like minimum wage isn't the minimum wage then.

It only applies to wait staff. It’s a loophole of some sort in the US. I don’t know why it exists.

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Sometimes true, but according to law servers aren't supposed to be paid less than minimum wage after tips. Company needs to make up the difference if tips are too low. Not that minimum wage is enough, but they certainly shouldn't get less than that

Yes, it’s a strange arrangement. One may certainly earn more in tips than min wage would provide. But the determining factor in a tip’s amount is the price of the meal, which has no direct correlation to the degree of service provided by the wait staff.

A server may devote the same amount of effort in waiting tables at a pricey restaurant or an inexpensive diner, but the diner tips will pay less.

Obviously, the process is intended to allow higher-priced restaurants to hire the best, most attentive and excellent wait staff. But there’s a big presumption here, that a good waiter at Denny’s will naturally be waiting tables at a five-star steakhouse some day.

The server at Denny’s may work three times harder than the server at Ruth’s Chris, but earn a comparative fraction of pay in tips. The server at Denny’s has no control over this, despite how good a server they are - and a tip is supposed to reflect the quality of their labor.

A bad chef can destroy a server’s tips. Unclean bathrooms may destroy a server’s tips. A lengthy wait for seating may do so. A customer may simply be a cheapskate or even a racist creep who doesn’t like to tip certain people. These are circumstances which have nothing to do with how well the server does their job.

exactly! employees in the service industry need to be appreciated by being compensated for the services they gave to consumers!

Not the goods, just the payroll. Essentially we pay waiters to carry food 100feet. The customers pay them smile and be pleasant.

You're so right on all those points! Well said.

exactly! it is optional and customers who have asked for more services than normal should acknowledge that and pay for the extra efforts of the service provider