" Waiters often don't even earn minimum wadge. They're just poor people that need the tips to sustain any kind of life. If you get a horrible waiter, don't tip them. If you get a good one, pay a generous tip. It's simple enough. The restaurant owners may charge too much, but depending on where you go, the waiters might not be treated any better. "
So they're doing slave labor? The reason it's called minimum wage is because that's the minimum a company is allowed to give their employee. If they're not paying that much, they're doing something wrong and the employees need to get out of there.
I can understand the reason not to tip -- I've worked in customer service pretty much all of my life and never receive tips -- giving good customer service as a greeter, or a deli server (which involves making the food as wellas serving it), a cashier, or a customer service rep -- none of those see tips and they have to deal with customers as much as servers, and their wages are seldom much more than minimum wage, either. It's strange that one form of customer service deserves it more than another, considering most of them involve dealing with mean/dumb/obnoxious customers, staying on your feet all day, and having to provide a smile the entire time.
Back when waitresses were responsible for taking the order, carrying all the food, making sure things were going okay, then cleaning up afterwards, I could see the reason to tip. But now there are multiple people bringing out orders (more often than not now, when I order food, someone who wasn't my server brings it out... so do I count that as good service?), then the original server will ask if things are okay, bring the bill, and then someone else will clean up the table...
So who exactly is deserving of a tip at that point?
That said, I still find myself giving tips at restaurants out of the feeling of social pressure, even though I think people like deli clerks - who have to serve food, make custom orders, deal with customers non-stop, stay on their feet, etc. are far more deserving.
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