It stopped being a cultural thing decades ago. Now it’s about about companies not paying employees a living wage and America’s right wing constantly blocking legislation that would force employers to pay people enough to have shelter and food.
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.
I tip for exceptional service. If someone goes above and beyond what’s required of them, I leave a tip. I also tip if I make their lives more difficult that they should have been.
Dealing with our general public, during COVID definitely counts as both. Particularly with the number of people who couldn’t figure out how to wear a mask. At the same time, I also didn’t go out much during the pandemic, mostly due to the whole pandemic thing going on.
What is exceptional service? How is it different from bad service? As an introverted north european I never figured this out myself. For me good service means I don’t need to wait too long for my food/get the check but other than that I want to be left alone. I imagine I would find “good service” quite uncomfortable.
It’s generally context and individual specific. E.g. a bed delivery driver is paid to get it to your door. If they also lug it up the stairs to the loft room, that is exceptional service.
Another might be a restaurant team who deal particularly well with a food allergy. E.g. making specific checks of requirements, and going out of their way to make a dish in a safe manner. Rather than just saying it’s not an option.
Have you noticed all take aways have delivery charges in the UK since Covid? I assume it’s because few of us have cash about anymore so the drivers aren’t getting tipped.
Last time I tried to tip a delivery driver im the UK they said they can’t take it…
Given we pay for delivery though and it’s difficult to see what a driver could do above and beyond that isn’t just ‘doing their job’ that’s probably a good thing, provided they’re getting a decent amount of it.
But you see, this approach is an international problem on both sides of the tipping argument. Are you against tipping and think the worker should be compensated by their employer? That’s great. Do you believe in this philosophy enough to actually seek out politicians who will make sure employers compensate the workers? All around the world, it seems that nobody cares that much about workers when it’s time to vote. Workers in countries where tipping is not customary earn a crappy salary that does not allow them to live without depending on the kindness of their families. Good luck making yourself independent of your parents on a typical salary a waiter earns in Spain, for example. Workers in the USA where tipping is all the rage don’t do much better. You can work in the retail industry and earn minimum wage, or sometimes slightly higher than minimum wage and live out of your car or live with your parents. You can work at a restaurant and depend on tips and live out of your car. You can be a visiting professor of sociology at whatever university and live out of your car. In Spain, you can have a PhD and ghost write for full professors and live out of your car or you can wait tables and not have a car and live with your parents. I mean, really. There is no difference in the end. Wages from work are low all around the world. They are low in democratic countries because people care more about some other issue and not about the people who bring food to their table at a restaurant, no matter what kind of tipping culture is predominant in that democratic country.
It used to be quite the opposite. Tipping was big in Europe but not in the US.
That changed with Prohibition. When alcohol was banned, there was suddenly a large whole in the bottom line of restaurants across the US. They turned to having a tipped staff to stay open.
Sadly, when it was repealed, tipping stayed. It was since inflated from 10% to 15% to now over 20%.
Some have tried to get rid of it, but sadly it hasn’t worked.
Tipping seems to be a cultural thing in the States.
Here in the UK we take the Mr. Pink approach to tipping.
It stopped being a cultural thing decades ago. Now it’s about about companies not paying employees a living wage and America’s right wing constantly blocking legislation that would force employers to pay people enough to have shelter and food.
It actually started as an economic thing too, because businesses during the great depression weren’t able to consistently pay living wages.
It was originally a way to be able to hire black people and not pay them
It started much earlier than that and has roots in racism. https://time.com/5404475/history-tipping-american-restaurants-civil-war/
During the UK lockdowns, I tipped all the front line workers where I could. That’s it.
I’m not tipping someone as compensation for doing their job, that’s what their employer is for.
I tip for exceptional service. If someone goes above and beyond what’s required of them, I leave a tip. I also tip if I make their lives more difficult that they should have been.
Dealing with our general public, during COVID definitely counts as both. Particularly with the number of people who couldn’t figure out how to wear a mask. At the same time, I also didn’t go out much during the pandemic, mostly due to the whole pandemic thing going on.
What is exceptional service? How is it different from bad service? As an introverted north european I never figured this out myself. For me good service means I don’t need to wait too long for my food/get the check but other than that I want to be left alone. I imagine I would find “good service” quite uncomfortable.
It’s generally context and individual specific. E.g. a bed delivery driver is paid to get it to your door. If they also lug it up the stairs to the loft room, that is exceptional service.
Another might be a restaurant team who deal particularly well with a food allergy. E.g. making specific checks of requirements, and going out of their way to make a dish in a safe manner. Rather than just saying it’s not an option.
Have you noticed all take aways have delivery charges in the UK since Covid? I assume it’s because few of us have cash about anymore so the drivers aren’t getting tipped.
Last time I tried to tip a delivery driver im the UK they said they can’t take it…
Given we pay for delivery though and it’s difficult to see what a driver could do above and beyond that isn’t just ‘doing their job’ that’s probably a good thing, provided they’re getting a decent amount of it.
It’s about how fast it got there for me in the past, which I know isn’t always in their control, but there needs to be some criteria.
But you see, this approach is an international problem on both sides of the tipping argument. Are you against tipping and think the worker should be compensated by their employer? That’s great. Do you believe in this philosophy enough to actually seek out politicians who will make sure employers compensate the workers? All around the world, it seems that nobody cares that much about workers when it’s time to vote. Workers in countries where tipping is not customary earn a crappy salary that does not allow them to live without depending on the kindness of their families. Good luck making yourself independent of your parents on a typical salary a waiter earns in Spain, for example. Workers in the USA where tipping is all the rage don’t do much better. You can work in the retail industry and earn minimum wage, or sometimes slightly higher than minimum wage and live out of your car or live with your parents. You can work at a restaurant and depend on tips and live out of your car. You can be a visiting professor of sociology at whatever university and live out of your car. In Spain, you can have a PhD and ghost write for full professors and live out of your car or you can wait tables and not have a car and live with your parents. I mean, really. There is no difference in the end. Wages from work are low all around the world. They are low in democratic countries because people care more about some other issue and not about the people who bring food to their table at a restaurant, no matter what kind of tipping culture is predominant in that democratic country.
It used to be quite the opposite. Tipping was big in Europe but not in the US.
That changed with Prohibition. When alcohol was banned, there was suddenly a large whole in the bottom line of restaurants across the US. They turned to having a tipped staff to stay open.
Sadly, when it was repealed, tipping stayed. It was since inflated from 10% to 15% to now over 20%.
Some have tried to get rid of it, but sadly it hasn’t worked.
It dates back further than that. It was a great way to not pay recently freed slaves as much as white people during the Jim Crow south.