4 ms·
It seems to me that tipping has evolved from an incentive and reward for good service to a form of voluntary workfare where those who have something to spare de
by blacksqr 8y ago
It seems to me that tipping has evolved from an incentive and reward for good service to a form of voluntary workfare where those who have something to spare decide to share with those still struggling in the low end of the service economy.
- exacube 8y agoyes! tipping is like a naturally occuring form of redistrbution of wealth in capitalist countries :) I personally view the evolution of tipping culture as positive on the whole. and also, I think people tend to tip a bit higher if they feel good about the service, so it still incentivizes good service. When I visit Europe, I am reminded how nice the service industry in America is.
- KyeRussell 8y agoOr you could just have a living minimum wage, lol.
- exacube 8y agoyes, if the government could manage to pass a good law there :) but in the event that the government won't, tipping helps correct the situation.
- jwfxpr 8y agoOr it can be argued that tipping offers those who control the means to change the law (the elected lawmakers) the excuse they need not to.
- keithnz 8y agoNothing quite like holding the barrel of 'not being able to afford to live' to someones head to get them to give you great service. I'm reminded from a number of times when I travel to the US and talk with people from the service industry and finding out they are, anecdotally, mostly in financial crisis.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- EliRivers 8y agoincentivizes good service I understand it actually incentivizes being an attractive female who touches male diners.
- SmellyGeekBoy 8y agoI've eaten in restaurants all over Europe and I'm genuinely amazed at how many Americans in this thread think the service is bad here. Personally I like my servers to stay out of the way unless I call them, instead of hovering around me with a huge fake grin wishing me a hollow "nice day" just because they want to extract money from me. It's the same reason I just don't see the appeal of strip clubs - I can't stand people being "nice" to me just because they want me to give them money.
- pacaro 8y agoI think that the history of tipping is more complex than that. My understanding is that at high end restaurants back in the day waitstaff paid the house for tables, and their entire income was from tips. That being said, I’d much rather society move towards the idea that every job pay at least a living wage
- jonny_eh 8y agoWhere did you hear that? Doesn't sound believable to me at all.
- smelendez 8y agoThat's still true in some tipped industries. Hairstylists and barbers pay to rent "a chair" in the salon, and strippers pay their clubs to dance for the night. If you go to a bar with "shot girls" who stroll around selling shots, they've often bought the booze from the bar to resell to you.
- sneak 8y agoLeave “society” out of it. All it would take is for the people you’re attempting to help choose to stop voluntarily accepting to work for less than a living wage. It’s not your or anyone else’s place to tell them that they can’t or shouldn’t be able to do that if they choose.
- chrisbennet 8y agoThat course of action would imply that they can get another job that pays a living wage.
- pacaro 8y agoYeah, I think about this too. What proportion of people working for less than living wage would have to do this before there was movement. Being the last person is easy, being among the first is really hard.