Tipping at restaurants?

[NoOneIsIllegal]

So, I've been wondering what others thought about tipping waiters/waitresses at restaurants? I believe in getting better wages, however, do you still tip generously even if the server isn't that nice or attentive to you? Is tipping possible small-scale exploitation put into our hands? This is a petty question, but I'm curious as to others approach the situation. They do earn less then minimum wage, and a very busy night could make them not at their best. I don't know, shoot away?

[The Vegan Marxist]

So, I've been wondering what others thought about tipping waiters/waitresses at restaurants? I believe in getting better wages, however, do you still tip generously even if the server isn't that nice or attentive to you? Is tipping possible small-scale exploitation put into our hands? This is a petty question, but I'm curious as to others approach the situation. They do earn less then minimum wage, and a very busy night could make them not at their best. I don't know, shoot away?

I think it all depends on the type of tipping that may be put forth. If it's a tip that was put down willingly by a pleased customer, or merely a customer who saw it as something worth giving, then I find no harm in doing so & rather helps the worker get by better. But, you then got restaurants that have the mandatory tips that come with the bill, which more than likely ends up being $30-40 at times. That's when it becomes a burden, not because of the prices, but because of the lack of choice whether it's deserving or not.

[Raúl Duke]

I tip when I can and usually to round up the bill to some nice multiple of 10s.
But usually, I don't give much money...I'm not exactly wealthy.

In the U.S., I've noticed that there are places where you don't really get served by a waiter/etc (i.e. you pick up the food yourself/etc) but they still put tips on the receipts and/or have a tip jar...
For those things, I usually don't tip at all...in PR it's unheard of to be asked to tip in those kinds of places.

[cska]

So, I've been wondering what others thought about tipping waiters/waitresses at restaurants? I believe in getting better wages, however, do you still tip generously even if the server isn't that nice or attentive to you? Is tipping possible small-scale exploitation put into our hands? This is a petty question, but I'm curious as to others approach the situation. They do earn less then minimum wage, and a very busy night could make them not at their best. I don't know, shoot away?

I usually just tip 15%, rounding up so the total bill is a multiple of 50 cents. I don't like to judge how nice the waitperson was, and I view that as exploitation.

That said, if I had extremely bad service (very very rare), then I wouldn't tip at all.

[Martin Blank]

About fifteen percent -- $1 for every $6 on the bill (minus tax) -- is the standard for restaurants. In most states in the U.S., wait staff who get tips are paid on a lower scale from other workers, meaning that receiving a good tip is the only way they can bridge the gap. It does seem like a way to equate customers and bosses. However, there is a solution to that: tip generously (at least 20 percent) and converse politically ... and ask the waitperson if the tip is acceptable to them. That's what I do.

[Black Sheep]

The worker needs the tip (many times, here at least, i 've had conversations with waiters / waitresses, saying that the biggest part from the daily income comes from tips)

Practically, if you can afford it do it (and converse politically as miles said), but politically you "shouldn't".The employer of that person should pay him enough so (s)he needn't have to rely on voluntary payment of a little bonus from the customers.

It's like charity.It helps those who need it, sure, but on the long run it may promote a wrong mentality and viewpoint.
So, converse politically whatever you do!:p

[bcbm]

TIPS
"Waitressing is the number one occupation for female non-college graduates in this country. It's the one job basically any woman can get and make a living on. The reason is because of tips."
--Mr. White (from the movie "Reservoir Dogs")
Many restaurant workers make tips. This means that part of our wage is paid directly by the boss, and part is paid by the customer. Tipped jobs are often the better paid jobs in the restaurant. This creates a false association for some people between tips and good pay. Tipping is a pay structure set up by the boss for very specific purposes.

Restaurants can't produce in an even assembly-line rhythm like some industries, because meals have to be eaten right away. In fact, most of a meal can't even be started until there is a ready buyer sitting in the restaurant. This means that the ups and downs of regular business hit restaurants particularly hard. When employees are paid in tips, our wage is tied to sales. This means that when business is good, the boss makes a little less profit than he would be if he paid us a steady wage because our wages are a little higher. When business is bad, he makes a little more because our wages are lower. It is a way of transferring some of the risks of entrepreneurship off the boss and onto the workers.

More importantly, workers whose wages are made up largely of tips are schizophrenic. Waiters (who usually make tips) don't like work any more than cooks (who don't usually make tips). It is just as meaningless, stressful and alienating for both of them. At the same time, cooks make the same wage whether business is good or bad. They just have to work harder when business is good. Waiters make more when business is good, and therefore have an interest in pushing themselves and other employees harder--which of course makes more money for the boss as well. This function of tips, is paralleled throughout the economy. Steelworkers' pensions are tied to the company's stock, workers in a coffee shop are given shares in the company they work for.

Also, tips re-enforce the division of labor. Tips usually flow from the top down. The customer has a certain amount of power over the waiter, since she can decide to tip him more or less. It's not uncommon for some yuppie customer to sit for a minute, looking at the bill, and then at the waiter, relishing that moment of power. At the end of the night, the waiter then tips out of his tips to other employees, such as the busser or hostess. He too can tip out more or less within certain limits. The flow of tips from top to bottom re-enforces the hierarchy in the restaurant. This last function of tipping can be lessened in restaurants where tips are pooled.
http://libcom.org/library/abolish-restaurants

people who don't tip are scum.

[pcm]

The standard tip in the US is 18%. I waited tables for years and so I usually won't tip less than 20%, although I do understand that the whole practice of tipping is bad for the workers.

Unfortunately, in our society the standard says that the customer, rather than the boss, is responsible for paying the wages of waiters (most waiters who make decent tips get 0.00 paychecks after taxes. If they actually make a paycheck that usually means they're making very little money).

If you can't afford to tip, don't go to a sit-down restaurant.

[Arlekino]

With regret I get minimum wage and don’t get any tips. All tips for the boss and we actually lair to customers that we get it.

[pcm]

You give your tips to the boss and tell the customers that you keep them??

That's totally fucked.

[x371322]

Waiters and waitresses have to put up with a lot of shit in their jobs. From rude customers, to demanding bosses, so they deserve the largest tips one can afford. I always try to be as nice as possible at restaurants. Whenever I see someone yelling at a waits person, I get so pissed off. Even at a fast food place, someone gets the wrong order, and feels the need to make a big scene and insult the cashier. Whatever happened to being polite?

[Arlekino]

Yes absolutely crap but is nothing we can do it.

[x371322]

With regret I get minimum wage and don’t get any tips. All tips for the boss and we actually lair to customers that we get it.

That is seriously messed up. What kind of asshole runs a restaurant that way? I'm not sure if that's illegal but it should be. Those tips belong to you.

[ev]

I wouldn't tip someone unless they deserved it, not that i ever go to restaurants..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-qV9wVGb38

This scene from Reservoir Dogs sums up my thoughts. (although in australia its somewhat different, waiters get paid better)

[Raúl Duke]

I'm not sure if that's illegal but it should be. Those tips belong to you.

I think I heard that it is illegal...

[which doctor]

Wage theft in restaurants is more the norm than the exception, so this isn't anything people should be entirely surprised about, but suing for back wages can be a long and arduous process.

[Comrade Akai]

I'll tip when I can afford it (rarely) and when I feel the waiter has been nice. Since I can rarely afford generous tipping, I usually don't tip. If I could afford to tip I would.

[Arlekino]

Few years ago I tried to campaign about tips for working staff not for the bosses. Even from Independent newspaper was contacted me. I heard in London there was demonstration about tips but I don’t know details. I am sure not only me don’t get tips in England.

[Red Commissar]

I always try to tip, more so when the waiter does a good job. Only time I've never tipped as much was when I was in NYC. Over there they add gratuity to every bill. Even in that case I try to leave a dollar or two on top of the mandatory gratuity, I'm not sure if the waiter gets all that back.

[Cymru]

I like to think that I am a generous tipper.
One thing that always bothers me is when I'm paying by card, the waiter/waitress always skips the tip option on the card machine. Anyone know why?

[bcbm]

Since I can rarely afford generous tipping, I usually don't tip. then serve your self.

[Vendetta]

Um, I love my tips. It's like a second paycheck.

[TheJungle]

I think it's a shame that labor laws are set up so that you can pay someone less than minimum wage for a job. Even in Capitalism, the basic meaning of a less than living minimum wage should mean nobody gets less than that rate.

But in the real world, we should tip, they're the proletariat and they need that money.

[black magick hustla]

i generally tip. i dont like it when waiters are obviously smoothtalking me and agreeing with me or whatever for a tip. it feels fake. this happens a lot in bars with "hired guns". i.e. beautiful bartenders who are kindof filrtatious to get a tip. it feels all fake and i feel less inclined to tip.

[Bitter Ashes]

Intrestingly, in Anarchist Catalonia, tipping was actualy banned. It was seen as degrading and discouraged workers from keeping thier basic self-respect.

While I can totaly understand and support that, it's got to be a mass thing to happen and overall wages must be raised to compensate for it. The end result would be that the staff at the resturant would be able to feel that they have the same control over thier jobs that other workers have, while not putting them in any hardship as a result. If the worker's not in a position of poverty, then a thank you is perfectly acceptable way of thanks from one worker to another. Having the ability to hold another worker hostage though with your cash is just so wrong and should be discouraged.

Anyway, this is for mass movements only. In the meantime I tip whatever I can, which is usualy between 10-20% although I cant afford to eat out often. The reason I do this is simply because I know that without the mass movement, me witholding that tip will only cause poverty to that worker who relies upon it currently.

[blake 3:17]

In Ontario servers minimum wages are below the regulat minimum wage. Tips are built into the model. I'm a heavy tipper.

It'd be great if wait staff could make a decent living without tips. Until we're ready to seriously challenge this relation, tip.

A now deceased comrade told me about the Spanish anarchist barbers refusing tips on class grounds. In the absence of this kind of resistance, not tipping is just being cheap.