Do you think the act of tipping is strange?

nope! tipping is the best way to encourage the employee to give you a fantastic service. It's a way of saying that the waiter made the experience better. If they didn't, don't tip, if they did, tip generously. It's the only way these people can make ends meet.

I usually only tip if they recommend me something that I turn out to really like.

I always tip for the most part... My best friend works as a waiter at a restaurant, and i'm not positive if this is the same, but there they split the tip between the waiter and the busboy (not sure if the host/hostess gets anything), and the wage that they get is most of the time below minimum wage, so the tips is where they make their money, hence the reason why bartenders make so much. 

I hate tipping, and the whole institution of tipping, even though it isn't that common in the UK. It's whole purpose is to allow business owners to advertise lower prices than a meal actually costs by the simple expedient of not paying their workers properly. It's ridiculous and getting rid of the tips exemption to the minimum wage was the best thing about the last Labour term.

Tipping is definitely strange.I understand the concept and do tip well/more than average, but it's still fucked. Why do restaurant employees get a tip for something their already getting paid for? So you say the pay sucks? Then how about get a different job, don't be a tool and spit in the food or come to the table once the whole time. Why don't gas station attendants get a tip? They're providing you with a service and it's also dependent on speed. Their job is equally hard because of all the stupid shit a customer might want you to do and it's all free. This is just one example because I knew a couple guys that worked in both areas back in the day.
 
I just think tipping should be an above and beyond gratuity instead of this "tipping is mandatory" deal we have now.

I don't find it strange. It more of a obligation nowdays, but I don't really mind.

*Gasp* Capitalism!

"If your waitress, waiter, delivery guy, etc. does a good job, you fucking tip them. If you don't, you're cheap and an asshole.  /thread "

Tipping falls into a gray area.  It sucks, and is a completely shitty practice.  They should be just paid more.  Its stupid to have to automatically tip for a service you have no choice in using.  Yea, service jobs SUCK, usually the person deserves the extra money in the grand scheme of things, but its not something that should fall to the customer.  I dont know that I have ever gotten service where I felt I should leave a tip.  I just feel like I have to because Id be a schmuck if I dont.  Hell you end up feeling like a dick leaving a poor tip with marginal service.  Just pay them more so I dont have to deal with it.

So why dont they raise prices so we dont have to tip?  Thats just dumb.  We should give them more money because the restaurant doesnt?  come on.  Why don't I get tipped for my job?  Because I get paid well enough?  Well then have the restaurant pay them more.  Also, tipping should be for doing a great job, not just doing your job.  And its dumb to base it on how much you pay.  Tipping based on percentage is for retards.  Why should someone who opens a 20 dollar bottle of wine get tipped less than someone who opens a $500 bottle?  They did the same thing, the difference was my order.  To tip based on percent because a restaurants meal prices is dumb.  So fuck that.  I give you 3 bucks for taking my order and bringing me my food.  How much more should someone get paid for doing that?

Some people here don't seem to have read the original post. He's asking if you find the act of leaving a tip strange. Everyone coming in here and going "are you guys fucking pricks why would you not tip people they get paid shit!?" aren't getting the point. I do think that what tipping has become is strange and wrong (justification for lower wages). I would much rather pay more for my food to ensure that the server is getting paid a decent wage, tipping SHOULD be OPTIONAL, a bonus for good service or such. I know that that isn't the reality, but it is the way it SHOULD be.

" @Suicidal_SNiper said:

" My friend makes about 30k a year just with his hourly wage as a waiter. With tips he makes about 60k a year. "

Where? "

" @Bloviator said:

" @Suicidal_SNiper said:

" My friend makes about 30k a year just with his hourly wage as a waiter. With tips he makes about 60k a year. "

Where? "

In an Irish pub in Halifax, Nova Scotia. A not-so-big city. So I can just imagine how many more tips he'd get in a huge city. Or maybe the whole reason he does so well is because it's a small city. Who knows! "

" @Suicidal_SNiper said:

" @Bloviator said:

" @Suicidal_SNiper said:

" My friend makes about 30k a year just with his hourly wage as a waiter. With tips he makes about 60k a year. "

Where? "

In an Irish pub in Halifax, Nova Scotia. A not-so-big city. So I can just imagine how many more tips he'd get in a huge city. Or maybe the whole reason he does so well is because it's a small city. Who knows! "

The part that surprised me so much was his hourly wage. "

"

Why should someone who opens a 20 dollar bottle of wine get tipped less than someone who opens a $500 bottle?  

"

I don't find it strange.  It incentivizes hard work and satisfying the customer.  If they cut out tipping and just paid them a higher base wage, the quality of service would go way down.
 
A compulsory 'service charge' or whatever doesn't count.

They are underpaid because the employer takes in count that tipping is socially accepted, I don't know how the tradition is in the rest of the world but in my country people with good manners give the waiter/waitress at least a 10% of the bill and some restaurants add that minimum amount on the bill and especify that it is for the service, in that case I think that all the waiter staff take the same amount of money from that pool

" @Suicidal_SNiper:   Very high pay wage for a typical server job in the states.  I'm not sure how that compares in Nova Scotia. "

i am still lol'ing at people calling non-tippers dicks when the REAL dicks in the situation are the restaurant owners and managers. 
 
The Institution of tipping is as fucked as the US's Foreign Policies. 

Dude, cost of living goes up, minimum wage rarely reflects that. Most jobs that you earn tips at are the most basic occupations that you can find, and just about anyone can make a living off of them for one reason - because of their tips. So they go the extra mile, and try to perform their services as best as possible. 
 
Didn't you ever watch Reservoir Dogs? God damnit.

I like how most of the people on this thread who are pointing out that the restaurants should just be paying more and distributing wealth equally are the exact same assholes who won't tip people. 
 
"We should all have more money, just no one ask for me to pitch in! this cash is mine!"  
 
And they hide behind some sort of idealistic argument that they're standing up against evil business practices. No, you're not, you're just being greedy.

" I don't find it strange.  It incentivizes hard work and satisfying the customer.  If they cut out tipping and just paid them a higher base wage, the quality of service would go way down."

anyone who tips is a fuckin dick, you've made it so the restaurants rape the employees, the employees need to get their shit together and make a union and so they can actually get a good wage. The only thing good service should get in return is return custom, if I was ever asked for a tip I'd tell them to find a better job

" Completely agree dude. I especially hate when they write on your bill "Thanks :)"

They get paid decreased wages because they get tips. So they pretty much rely on tips to survive.

As a person who delivers pizza I always tip. It always sucks when you drive fifteen to twenty miles to a person's house and get stiffed. 

I used to work as a waitress and it was pretty tough. Being tipped or even just compliments for good service were always welcome because it made the fact my boss was an asshole a little easier to live with! In result, I always tip when deserved.

Watch Reservoir Dogs and listen to Mr. Pink's speech about tipping, that's why i don't tip.

Is the original poster European because they are notoriously bad tippers.  I only don't tip when the service is horrendous.

Tipping is an act of kindness. Waiters and waitresses get most of their money from tips. They rely on them. They don't get paid very much. Look at it as working on commission. 

I only don't tip if the service was bad.  Otherwise, I tip 18-20% depending on the quality of service.

Sure,I mean why not.It's a kind gesture

This is why I don't eat in restaurants 
 
I do however tip the pizza delivery guy because I live in a 3rd floor apartment and make the dude climb my steep ass stairs :)
 
That bastard works for it

In most West European countries, waiting staff get paid enough already (minimum wage really means minimum wage; tips are extra) so I generally don't tip the crazy percentages that you Americans do. I worked in a restaurant in Amsterdam for a while and got paid more than a minimum wage and I received a set percentage of tips on top of that. Tips were appreciated but not expected. It's funny to see how some users just assume that the way it goes in the US is the way it goes in the rest of the world.

 Tipping is an act of kindness. Waiters and waitresses get most of their money from tips. They rely on them.

I worked in a restaurant for a year and I made pretty much all of my money through tips.  If people did not tip me, I was really pissed because that's how I made money.  I always tip at least 20 percent and sometimes go over 30 percent as well.

I'll gladly pay a few dollars to keep someone who has access to my food behind closed doors happy...

In Ireland its only common to tip in restaurants or similar situations where you are being served and attended to by someone. I'd tip a waiter if they did a good job but sadly thats been rare in recent times. I tip Taxi drivers, usually because im drunk and forget that im already being over charged to use the service

" @Jimbo said:

" I don't find it strange.  It incentivizes hard work and satisfying the customer.  If they cut out tipping and just paid them a higher base wage, the quality of service would go way down."

So, how do you explain the service not being "way down" in countries where tipping isn't common? "

For good service yes. If service was bad then no. People act like some deserve a tip when the service is terrible.

I tip all the time. I'll tip anyone who's being paid to be my slave.

I only tip when im on holiday, when im eating out in my home town i dont tip

Usually tip 10%, seems right