Tipping. Is it bullshit?

[Brandon's Impotent Rage]

Personally, I think it kind of is.

It's a moronic practice that we Americans adopted nearly a century ago, and we refuse to give up.

And in the long run, it hurts restaurant workers the most because it gives the employers an excuse to keep their wages low.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

It isn't moronic. It should be an essential part of a sharing economy, where those who don't 'earn' the highest wages in a pre-moneyless society and who work in tough, customer-facing roles are given a 'gift' as a token of solidarity and goodwill.

However, you are right that cost-cutting capitalists use it as an excuse to keep wages low, along with the generally precarious nature of many low- and semi-skilled customer facing roles and the high turnover such roles tend to generate.

[Bala Perdida]

In Japan I hear that tipping isn't taken upon the workers because they're proud of their work or some terrible brainwashed shit like that. If you leave a tip, they'll chase you onto the street to return your money.

In Mexico tipping is good chunk of a service worker's wage. They expect a tip for their good work because that's a perk to being a service worker in a country with terrible wages. If you don't leave a tip at a restaurant they'll chase you out to the street to take your money.

[bricolage]

The system in the US is fucked and yes it allows companies to get away with paying poverty wages.
But if you don't tip, you're a prick. End of.

[Zoop]

Well, I don't see how it's moronic.

I'm not going to judge people for not tipping though, especially if you live on a shitty wage.

[Thirsty Crow]

Personally, I think it kind of is.

It's a moronic practice that we Americans adopted nearly a century ago, and we refuse to give up.

And in the long run, it hurts restaurant workers the most because it gives the employers an excuse to keep their wages low.
Obviously it depends on the place you live.

But the point would also be that one excuse or another - wages are going to remain to be low. It's not like there's a ton of working class pressure to up the wages here where I live (in fact, restaurant and bar workers are completely left to themselves, no organization to speak of, and many of them work in the grey economy; in fact, one of my friends used to work for a relatively low level crime boss in his bar) so many of these folk rely on tips as important part of income.

One other thing with tips is how the money is divided; whether there is a common pool for tips, where a particular individual has the informal right to scoop whatever amount they want, or if it is strictly personal and a worker gets their tips.

[Comrade #138672]

It's a nice strategy for capitalists to keep wages low while putting the burden on the workers and the customers.

[Palmares]

It's a nice strategy for capitalists to keep wages low while putting the burden on the workers and the customers.

I feel like this is a key point: the system of tipping puts the onus of customers to pay the wages of the employees, rather than the bosses. It's a way of switching responsibility and thus making the customer the bad guy. It's a common strategy to explicate the boss from being the enemy.

So of course you should tip, if that is the given context, but in a fair system, it shouldn't be necessary.

My only experiences with tipping is in Canada/USA/Mexico. When I actually remember, I always tip. Try to figure out the correct percentage etc. I remember once though, just off the plane, forgot to tip at a bar. Went there again the next day and apologised, and double-tipped. The barmen said he understood, as Australians are notorious for not tipping - it's from all the high wages over here. Funnily enough though, some of my American friends who lived in Australia before who worked in bars or similar, preferred doing such a jobs in the US. This is because tips actually made the wage higher there, which can't be said for almost any other job in the US compared to Australia.

[Counterculturalist]

The system in the US is fucked and yes it allows companies to get away with paying poverty wages.
But if you don't tip, you're a prick. End of.

I completely agree, with the exception that I avoid tipping at places where tips are traditionally not required, but where you're suddenly starting to see tip jars, like at fast food joints or fucking hardware stores and shit. If people keep tipping at these kinds of places, next thing you know, Walmart and McDonald's have yet another reason to slash wages. We shouldn't let this trend catch on.

The worst argument in favor of tipping is that it "improves" service. Bullshit. In countries that pay wait staff livable wages and tips aren't required, the service is just fine - the wait staff just isn't forced into the degrading position of flirting with or groveling over customers.

[BIXX]

I like living in oregon, here they can't legally lower your wage base don tips, its all supplemental.

[Sewer Socialist]

Well, first and foremost, it means that prices are not the same for everyone - you're making up for that that douche who didn't tip.

It also makes the worker kind of a head case trying to figure out where the tips are, often leading to the worker relying on stereotypes of who tips and who doesn't, and preemptively treating them as such. It absolutely takes the pressure off the boss, who is even often seen as an ally by tipped workers. It also makes the employee want to be as busy as possible; the opposite of what a waged worker wants. This further helps the employer cut labor costs.

Also, on the West Coast, everyone must be paid minimum wage, even tipped workers. So you get the weird situation where an untipped minimum wage worker is expected to tip someone else above minimum wage, even though said customer isn't tipped and makes the same wage as the person they're supposed to tip - they're supposed to pay the person more than they make themselves.

[Lord Testicles]

https://libcom.org/library/enjoy-your-tip-honey