• DeGandalf
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    10811 months ago

    As a german the whole tip system in the US is both redicilous and hilarious to me.
    We have tipping here, too (we literally call it “drinking money”). With the difference, that it’s pretty much voluntary and if you don’t have much money (e.g. as a student) noone will expect you to tip.
    Having tips be part of the actual wage totally defeats the point of them…

    • @[email protected]
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      3411 months ago

      Are you a true American if you don’t shaft your employees for every penny that you can though?

      • @[email protected]
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        1611 months ago

        This is actually a great reason for ending tipping. I used to feel like I was on the server’s side, slipping them cash the business couldn’t steal, but I never use cash anymore so have no idea who it’s going to. Also, businesses are getting more sleazy with required “tips” and fees, and it’s all one giant tax fraud no matter which way you put it.

        Actual prices on the menu are better for the customer, actual pay is better for the server, accounting for everything is better for the business and accurate reporting is better for all of us who depend on services paid for by taxes

        • @[email protected]
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          711 months ago

          I totally agree with you and my comment was sarcasm.

          The price should be upfront and the only thing you have to pay.

      • Cosmic Cleric
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        311 months ago

        Are you a true American if you don’t shaft your employees for every penny that you can though?

        No, but a true Capitalist, yes.

        (Sad of me to write that, as there used to be a time where companies made good products and accepted reasonable profit margins, going for the win-win scenarios. Today’s Capitalism seems all about the win-lose scenarios.)

      • @[email protected]
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        2711 months ago

        https://time.com/5404475/history-tipping-american-restaurants-civil-war/

        After the Constitution was amended in the wake of the Civil War, slavery was ended as an institution but those who were freed from bondage were still limited in their choices. Many who did not end up sharecropping worked in menial positions, such as servants, waiters, barbers and railroad porters. These were pretty much the only occupations available to them. For restaurant workers and railroad porters, there was a catch: many employers would not actually pay these workers, under the condition that guests would offer a small tip instead.

        “These industries demanded the right to basically continue slavery with a $0 wage and tip,” Jayaraman says.

    • @[email protected]
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      1311 months ago

      I was so confused the first time I went to Germany. I asked someone there about tipping and they said, “you can, but you don’t have to.”

      That didn’t really clarify it enough for me so I just tipped like I do in the US. Didn’t want anyone thinking I was a jerk.

    • tiredofsametab
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      411 months ago

      As an American and former tipped employee, living in a country without tips is so much better. However, there are some groups trying to make tips happen here in Japan. If you get good service, tell the manager or corporate. If you’re a regular, give them an actual small gift (this happens anyway because people exchange gifts when they go on vacation and such). If it’s a bar employee, buy them a drink. I like this much better.