5 ms·

Tipping for a convenience item at the till really really sucks. Am I the only one sane on this? Best regards Norway

skyyler 2y ago
It does suck. But in this culture that Steve exists within, those positions are paid mostly by tips. He certainly could afford to help out the people that prepared his iced tea ritual for him in a timely manner, but he did not.
- itake 2y ago
  > But in this culture that Steve exists within, those positions are paid mostly by tips. False. Presumably this was in WA, employers have to pay full wages. there is no carve out "tipped" wage (most) of the rest of the USA has. Currently, min wage in Redmond (King County) is $20.29/hr. Many businesses in King County do not allow tipping.
  - thatfrenchguy 2y ago
    Minimum wage != Prevailing wage in that occupation
    - skyyler 2y ago
      >Currently, min wage in Redmond (King County) is $20.29/hr. I'd love to know if that is a livable wage in King County.
      - itake 2y ago
        My gripe with "living wage" is the term (to me) is too subjective. MIT's living wage [0] seems to include car ownership (despite King county having a decent public transit system and I know several people that don't have cars working in tech). My first place in a great part of town was $1,400/mo in a roomshare. The podments are as low as $750/mo, but MIT says you need at least $2k/mo. [0] - https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/53033 https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/53033
        skyyler 2y ago
        >My gripe with "living wage" is the term (to me) is too subjective. Yes, what is considered "livable" varies wildly from person to person.
      - locusofself 2y ago
        I live in Redmond. A decent house is 1.2 million dollars here.
  - fshbbdssbbgdd 2y ago
    If you make more than 1x your wage in tips, then you are mostly paid in tips - regardless of whether your state has a tipped minimum wage law.
  - kevin_thibedeau 2y ago
    Even in states with a lower tip worker's minimum wage, they are still guaranteed to make the standard minimum wage if the tips don't make up the difference. Serving up food you didn't even cook isn't an intensely difficult or skilled job. Nobody should expect a 20% cut for doing that. It is not a customers responsibility to ensure unskilled service workers are rolling in largesse. Just making minimum wage is fair for that kind of work provided the minimum is livable.
    - thowawatp302 2y ago
      > Serving up food you didn't even cook isn't an intensely difficult or skilled job. So how long did you spend doing it, to be able to asser that?
      - kortilla 2y ago
        You can tell based on the hiring criteria. There aren’t any
    - casey2 2y ago
      >Serving up food you didn't even cook isn't an intensely difficult or skilled job. Then it should be easy to automate, but the best I've seen is a conveyor belt or a box on top of a roomba. In reality it's a very skilled job, it's just that most everyone is capable of doing it. And "fair" is any wage were you can live and increase the quality of your life over time as much as your work has increased the quality of others.
      - itake 2y ago
        Can you share a couple examples of non-skilled labor?
      - pennybanks 2y ago
        lol forreal? its not skilled work i dont know what to say. your definition everything is skilled but thats not how people use it in this context and it becomes a useless term. also have you seen a vending machine? its already automated.. its literally what this person is doing: taking order, giving correct drink. yes they have ones that pour it and everything. even give the correct change. and i dont even know where to start of your ideology of fair either. i feel like its flexible enough to use it however fits your idea why denying any other
  - locusofself 2y ago
    do you know how expensive it is to live in Redmond? Very expensive
  - ethbr1 2y ago
    As recently as 10 years ago in 2014, at the tail end of Ballmer's CEO tenure, Washington state minimum wage was still ~$8.60. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage_in_the_United_States#/media/File%3AMinimum_wage_by_state_by_year.webp https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage_in_the_United_S...
- infecto 2y ago
  Should not matter how rich the person is. Tipping at the register is a shame.
csomar 2y ago
No you are not. The tipping culture in the US is insane (along with the idea that employers want their stuff to be paid via tips). Good for Ballmer for sticking to his values.
EasyMark 2y ago
Baristas in Norway get paid far more than here in the USA except in the fanciest of coffee shops. Tip culture is simply a part of the restaurant scene here, while I don’t agree with it, I don’t see hurting the baristas/waitstaff as an option either. I may not give exorbitant tips, but I give a reasonable 10-15%
- oefnak 2y ago
  You're keeping the system in place by contributing to it. I don't see how people don't understand that. You should act how you want everyone to act.
- ywvcbk 2y ago
  > Baristas in Norway get paid far more than here Are they? Google claims the average is about NOK 200 per hours? That’s barely above the tipped minimum wage in Washington or California. So it would be considerably less with tips?
pennybanks 2y ago
this isnt expected. not for most ppl at least. you can if you want but its nothing like sitting down getting served or delivery driver, etc.
nicholasbraker 2y ago
Hi Norway, The Netherlands here. I feel you ;-)
fastasucan 2y ago
I am also Norwegian and I also dislike tipping culture, but when they have your daily ice tea ready for you before you come in I would say it would be strange to not say "ah, just keep the change" now and then to show that you appreciate (and essentially pay for) the extra service.

It does suck. But in this culture that Steve exists within, those positions are paid mostly by tips. He certainly could afford to help out the people that prepared his iced tea ritual for him in a timely manner, but he did not.

itake 2y ago
> But in this culture that Steve exists within, those positions are paid mostly by tips. False. Presumably this was in WA, employers have to pay full wages. there is no carve out "tipped" wage (most) of the rest of the USA has. Currently, min wage in Redmond (King County) is $20.29/hr. Many businesses in King County do not allow tipping.
- thatfrenchguy 2y ago
  Minimum wage != Prevailing wage in that occupation
  - skyyler 2y ago
    >Currently, min wage in Redmond (King County) is $20.29/hr. I'd love to know if that is a livable wage in King County.
    - itake 2y ago
      My gripe with "living wage" is the term (to me) is too subjective. MIT's living wage [0] seems to include car ownership (despite King county having a decent public transit system and I know several people that don't have cars working in tech). My first place in a great part of town was $1,400/mo in a roomshare. The podments are as low as $750/mo, but MIT says you need at least $2k/mo. [0] - https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/53033 https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/53033
      - skyyler 2y ago
        >My gripe with "living wage" is the term (to me) is too subjective. Yes, what is considered "livable" varies wildly from person to person.
    - locusofself 2y ago
      I live in Redmond. A decent house is 1.2 million dollars here.
- fshbbdssbbgdd 2y ago
  If you make more than 1x your wage in tips, then you are mostly paid in tips - regardless of whether your state has a tipped minimum wage law.
- kevin_thibedeau 2y ago
  Even in states with a lower tip worker's minimum wage, they are still guaranteed to make the standard minimum wage if the tips don't make up the difference. Serving up food you didn't even cook isn't an intensely difficult or skilled job. Nobody should expect a 20% cut for doing that. It is not a customers responsibility to ensure unskilled service workers are rolling in largesse. Just making minimum wage is fair for that kind of work provided the minimum is livable.
  - thowawatp302 2y ago
    > Serving up food you didn't even cook isn't an intensely difficult or skilled job. So how long did you spend doing it, to be able to asser that?
    - kortilla 2y ago
      You can tell based on the hiring criteria. There aren’t any
  - casey2 2y ago
    >Serving up food you didn't even cook isn't an intensely difficult or skilled job. Then it should be easy to automate, but the best I've seen is a conveyor belt or a box on top of a roomba. In reality it's a very skilled job, it's just that most everyone is capable of doing it. And "fair" is any wage were you can live and increase the quality of your life over time as much as your work has increased the quality of others.
    - itake 2y ago
      Can you share a couple examples of non-skilled labor?
    - pennybanks 2y ago
      lol forreal? its not skilled work i dont know what to say. your definition everything is skilled but thats not how people use it in this context and it becomes a useless term. also have you seen a vending machine? its already automated.. its literally what this person is doing: taking order, giving correct drink. yes they have ones that pour it and everything. even give the correct change. and i dont even know where to start of your ideology of fair either. i feel like its flexible enough to use it however fits your idea why denying any other
- locusofself 2y ago
  do you know how expensive it is to live in Redmond? Very expensive
- ethbr1 2y ago
  As recently as 10 years ago in 2014, at the tail end of Ballmer's CEO tenure, Washington state minimum wage was still ~$8.60. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage_in_the_United_States#/media/File%3AMinimum_wage_by_state_by_year.webp https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage_in_the_United_S...
infecto 2y ago
Should not matter how rich the person is. Tipping at the register is a shame.

csomar 2y ago

No you are not. The tipping culture in the US is insane (along with the idea that employers want their stuff to be paid via tips). Good for Ballmer for sticking to his values.

EasyMark 2y ago

Baristas in Norway get paid far more than here in the USA except in the fanciest of coffee shops. Tip culture is simply a part of the restaurant scene here, while I don’t agree with it, I don’t see hurting the baristas/waitstaff as an option either. I may not give exorbitant tips, but I give a reasonable 10-15%

oefnak 2y ago
You're keeping the system in place by contributing to it. I don't see how people don't understand that. You should act how you want everyone to act.
ywvcbk 2y ago
> Baristas in Norway get paid far more than here Are they? Google claims the average is about NOK 200 per hours? That’s barely above the tipped minimum wage in Washington or California. So it would be considerably less with tips?

pennybanks 2y ago

this isnt expected. not for most ppl at least. you can if you want but its nothing like sitting down getting served or delivery driver, etc.

nicholasbraker 2y ago

Hi Norway, The Netherlands here. I feel you ;-)

fastasucan 2y ago

I am also Norwegian and I also dislike tipping culture, but when they have your daily ice tea ready for you before you come in I would say it would be strange to not say "ah, just keep the change" now and then to show that you appreciate (and essentially pay for) the extra service.