# General Discussion > Opinions >  What do you think of the custom of tipping?

## Golgo_13

When I was in Japan last month, at the first restaurant I ate at, as a force of habit, I left some money on the table as a tip for the waitress. Only to have the waitress come running after me to give me the money "I had forgotten to take with me." Then I realized, Oh yeah, there's no custome of tipping in Japan. 

Is U.S. the only country where there is tipping? I thought about this . . . if I'm eating at a restaurant, shouldn't the server be paid by the restaurant? Or at a barber shop, since I'm paying for the haircut chouldn't that be enough? Or a cab ride? Even call girls demand tips. J/K! But if I go have the oil changed for my car, I don't tip the mechanic. If I go grocery shopping I don't tip the gal who's working the cash register. Who should and who shouldn't get tipped?

I've been a waiter myself in my younger days at a very busy popular restaurant in NYC in the mid 1980s. I averaged $80 a night, five nights a week, which was very good money then. The restaurant also paid us minimum wage (might have been lower) because tipping is compensation for serving the food, and the restaurant can't make the waiters do cleaning, supply-shopping, or other sundry work without paying a wage. The withholding tax on the tips came out of this wage, so the "paycheck" was literally a few dollars each week.

This is what would happen if there was no tipping. 

If waiters can't make enough money to live on and the restaurant won't pay them a decent salary, they'd quit and find a better job. The the restaurant would have to raise the wages so that it can attract people to work as servers, and raise the prices of the food to make up the cost. If the restaurant increases the prices by 15 - 20 %, the customers are no better or worse off. If they raise it more, the customers end up paying more in the long run than had they kept tipping the servers. 

Since there are many countries that do not have the custome of tipping, yes, the society would still run efficiently if there was no tipping. But in the case of the U.S., I say don't fix anything that ain't broke. However, if I get bad service, I ain't tipping as much, or AT ALL !!

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## Kama

There is a custom of tipping in Poland. Like give tips to the waiters, or cab drivers. Usually it depends on the service and the man who is serving us. If nice and helpful, I may leave a tip. 

It is rather an option here, not a must-thing.

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## jeisan

*points at this thread*

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## Maciamo

I hate tipping and think it should always be included in the bill (and consumption tax/VAT too). So the system in Japan or some European countries is ideal for me. The US is a nightmare.

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## Golgo_13

> *points at this thread*


Thanks. Wow, that's from 2002 ! No way I would've found it myself.

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## jeisan

the original is lol it was revived for abit in october. 

anyway yeah now waitresses are paid less than minimun wage, like $2.15 an hour here.

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## kirei_na_me

Golgo? Call girls?  :Sou ka:

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## bossel

There is tipping in Germany, but it's entirely optional. I don't have much money & I almost never tipped (well, not that I go to a restaurant all too often, anyway).

What is also interesting is the culture of distributing the tips among the employees. I heard from friends who've worked in restaurants, that in German ones the tips are shared equally among all members of the team. In Chinese restaurants all either keep what they get individually or, even worse, the boss gets it all.

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## Golgo_13

> Golgo? Call girls?


Sorry, I should have said "Ladies of the Night."  :Laughing:   :Laughing:  

Of course, I was joking, doncha know?  :Balloon:

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## Brooker

I really liked not tipping in Japan. I don't like that it's an obligation in the U.S. Not leaving a tip is usually considered an insult. If I get great service (which is rare) I don't mind leaving a tip, but I shouldn't have to "bribe" my server to do his/her job. I think the burden should be on the employer to pay its employees a decent living wage - it works in other countries. I've worked in restaurants before, and of course I didn't mind when people left me some extra money, but I still thought that that shouldn't be the customers "responsibility" to do so. At my job now, no one gives me extra money when I do a good job and my paycheck is CRAP!

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## lineartube

In Portugal, tipping is optional, and I must admit that in most occasions that I "tip" is just an excuse for not to have too much coins in my pockets. The only occasion that I give an all-hearted tip is when there is a big dinner or lunch party and I know that there will be a lot of grief put in the employees, so I convince the guys to give each one at least a coin to the bill plate. A coin doesn't look like much, but multiply it by 20-30 persons.  :Laughing: 

Oh, and one time, an Oporto taxi driver managed to put me in the airport in less than 20 minutes and my hotel was across town and I was running late. I only had a big bill with me so I let him keep the change. He must had a 300% tip, but he earned it.

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## noyhauser

If I had more money I'd probably tip a lot more, over 20%, because I know how hard it is to work in the industry (as being a waiter in my past life). As it stands Im poor as hell from grad school, so I can't tip as much as I like. In north america, people's livelihoods depend on tips, especially in canada where a ""servers wage" often exists below minimum wage (well it used to... I don't know anymore). So I suggest you tip well if your service is good. 
Japan is one of the few places that tipping doesn't exist. I know its called "le Gratte" in france (I think)

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## Frank D. White

with the young waiters , that I"m helping them pay for their college tuition.

Frank

 :Blush:

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## kirei_na_me

I know how it is. I worked as a waitress through high school and while I was in college, and it is _not_ pleasant. Those picky people who have to have this removed, that on the side, this toasted, this left off, this added, no ice in that, I want my lettuce crispy, so wrap it separate, I want my BUNS steamed, and then have their party of 15-20 all pay separate!!! You put on a smile, act pleasant through all of this, and then they leave you a dollar or something!  :Mad:  Okay, that's my outburst for the day.

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## Hachiko

If you want to be a tipsy, do so in moderation. If you don't want to be a tipsy, don't. It's a matter of preference. It does not need to be an obligation.  :Gohan:

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## Mandylion

> anyway yeah now waitresses are paid less than minimun wage, like $2.15 an hour here.


Whoa, how is that possible? I thought it was against the law to pay below the federal minimum wage? If it wasn't why does the US have one?

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## kirei_na_me

To my knowledge(at least around here), all waitresses who earn tips do not get paid minimum wage. I guess they don't get paid minimum wage because of the money they make in tips. I believe they pay waiters/waitresses a wage that when added to the average of the money the make in tips, adds up to minimum wage, maybe more. I guess they are not required to pay minimum wage to wait staff if they make over a certain amount in tips. 

In high school, I worked for a family owned business that was part drive-in restaurant and part dine-in. The girls working the drive-in part would get a little less than minimum wage, but the girls working the dine-in part would get a lot less, because they made a lot more in tips than the drive-in waitresses.

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## Frank D. White

$80 to $100 a day is average at a good resturant. I think they have to work harder than a hooker by far with what they put up with!

Frank

 :Blush:

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## mad pierrot

I try to tip well. Of course, it depends on the service! That being said, I love my barber and always tip him alot. Afterall, the man has a razor at my throat half the time I see him.

 :Laughing:  

At your standard venue in the US, I tip according to how often my coffee cup gets refilled...

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## Golgo_13

> with the young waiters , that I"m helping them pay for their college tuition.
> 
> Frank



With young actors in LA and NYC, you're prolonging a dream that will never come.  :Sad: 




> $80 to $100 a day is average at a good resturant. I think they have to work harder than a hooker by far with what they put up with!
> 
> Frank


That was in 1984 I averaged $80 a night. And yes, I did put up with a lot of nonsense.




> I try to tip well. Of course, it depends on the service! That being said, I love my barber and always tip him alot. Afterall, the man has a razor at my throat half the time I see him.


Then you'd hafta tip a call girl pretty well , too. Afterall, she has a very vital part of your male anatomy in her hands.  :Laughing:   :Poh:   :Sorry:

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## TakaraNeko

Hello  :Wavey:  

We don't have 'tipping' here in Australia. A lot of tourists I see/meet tend not to realise this. Actually, the other day I was eating lunch at a cafe with friends and an american couple came in (for whatever they were going to have). They paid, ate, put a tip on the table and then went to leave. They looked so confused as to what they had done wrong when the cafe assistant tried to stop them from leaving (to give them back the money left on the table). Food/whatever is paid for before you even sit down over here...then you get to eat  :Ramen:  .....and tips just don't exist.

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## Brooker

I'm so tired of tipping! I rarely do it because I actually got good service, but just because I feel obligated. The other day I was at the bar and I asked the bartender for a drink that she told me they didn't have. So then I said I'd just have a beer. She opened the fridge, opened the bottle, put in on the counter, and said, "That'll be $3.50." I put down the $3.50 and she gave me a pissed off look and sarcastically said, "Thanks." So I felt guilty and gave her a tip. But why? She put in less effort to serve me than someone working behind the counter at McDondald's, but you don't tip them. And drink prices in bars are already so high.

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## Duo

I think one should tip when one gets good service, or when u just are havin such a good time that hell, who cares!!!!!

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## toyomotor

I don't mind leaving a tip for waiting staff if their service has been good. In Australia, it's really left up to the customer as waiting staff are paid a fair wage. In the USA, as I understand it, it is expected that customers leave and additional 20% of their bill as a tip as waiting staff are very, very poorly paid, and rely on tips. I think staff should not have to rely on tips, and that wages should be better. And it's not the case that in the US food in restaurants is so cheap either.

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## morris

It is rather an option, not a must-thing.

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