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All these silly excuses people make: "I tip when the service is good", "I tip when conversation with bartender is engaging", "I tip when the server runs around

• n4r9 8mo ago
  What's ymmw? Your mileage may waver?
  • ragazzina 8mo ago
    Your mileage may wario.
  • kleiba 8mo ago
    > I'm from EU Now we know they mean Germany.
    • hocuspocus 8mo ago
      Funnily enough Germans do tip, for pretty average service compared to most European countries where waiters are expecting zero tips.
      • llamara 8mo ago
        Of course. After living in Germany I can say that if I has not been not insulted in the process and the staff did not glare at me like I'm interrupting their free time, then the service was already much better than average
• bambax 8mo ago
  Yes but here in France where service is included and tipping is never compulsory (or expected), payment terminals are appearing where you need to select the tip before typing your code. This is usually shoved in your face by the waiter at touristy places, and they're watching you. Don't fall for it though! Just select "no tip" or "0" like in this game and you're good.
  • BrandoElFollito 8mo ago
    Exactly. Only by selecting 0 this will put pressure to get rid of it I saw this in two restaurants already and I am pissed
    • londons_explore 8mo ago
      It won't though. A screen on the card terminal is free - if just 1% of people misclick the button and pay a tip, the company still wins.
      • BrandoElFollito 8mo ago
        > A screen on the card terminal is free ... consulting companies developing the terminal entered the chat ... (just kidding, I agree with you)
      • Wowfunhappy 8mo ago
        A restaurant is fundamentally selling an experience. These screens do not improve the experience. Therefore, they have some cost to the business. The question is whether the cost is recuperated.
        • majewsky 8mo ago
          Doesn't matter in touristy places though, because you don't rely on repeat customers.
    • direwolf20 8mo ago
      This is no pressure. You can exert pressure by saying that you are cancelling the transaction because of the tipping screen and you'll eat somewhere else.
      • BrandoElFollito 8mo ago
        This is too late, at that stage you have already eaten. I am not sure if they appreciate if you give them the food back.
• 47282847 8mo ago
  Did you ever work a job or were friends with people who did where tipping is a big part of the income? You make it sound like a general rule, but I don’t see how it is that “simple”. There are few things if any that you have to do in life. It’s all a decision and a tradeoff. Nobody forces you to breathe. Or to be friendly with your neighbors. Or a stranger.
  • kergonath 8mo ago
    > Did you ever work a job or were friends with people who did where tipping is a big part of the income? The friends of mine who worked in bars were paid living wage without tips. So no, no need.
  • trosi 8mo ago
    The "tips as compensation for your low salary" system exists only in the US and neighboring countries (Canada, Mexico) as far as I know. Now that they have started abusing it, it's even less defensible.
  • sensanaty 8mo ago
    I worked in the service industry for a while and have literally never cared about tips, in the sense that the default expectation in 99% of cases is no tip and the rare time I got a tip it was a few euros extra at most. Of course, I didn't care because it actually paid an actual wage, vs the weird shit you yanks are up to. Hell, I know some people who have been working at restaurants as waiters for a long time now, and they live perfectly comfortably with 0 expectations around tips. I still don't tip, basically ever, my only exception is the rare time I get food delivered, because unlike a regular service job the apps don't pay a livable wage and the cut they take is gargantuan compared to what the drivers get.
  • ikornaselur 8mo ago
    Most of my friends worked restaurants or bars when I was younger, tips were something some tourists would sometimes do and it would generally go into a pot for throwing a party for the staff few times a year. I have never tipped or seen a local tip in my home country. Tips weren't a part of my friends income. The restaurant/bar paid them a salary.
• gitowiec 8mo ago
  I'm also from EU. I tip only at restaurants, only 10% on average. The prices when recently up like 50% or so. So adding the tip on top of that is a hustle. And 10% on the higher price is also higher tip, so I am double assured I do good
  • Markoff 8mo ago
    here in Central Europe (SK/CZ) we never done percentage, we were just rounding up the sum, like 283 to 300, but even 292 would become 300, and if it's bill 300 then tough luck for waiter. But not sure what is the situation in recent years with card payments replacing cash, tips must been hit hard, also raising prices and people going to restaurants less and less doesn't help much. Personally I pretty much stopped going to restaurants completely during COVID when I was treated worse than dog - dogs allowed (to some places), unvaxxed not allowed to enter.
    • n4r9 8mo ago
      Whenever someone complains about being treated "worse than dogs" I have to wonder how they think dogs should be treated. To be fair, if dogs could catch COVID and pass it onto humans they'd likely have banned unvaccinated dogs as well.
    • BrandoElFollito 8mo ago
      > unvwaxxed not allowed to enter This is the correct approach. If you are an asdhole for not caring about others but using the herd immunity znyway, this is the latest that can be done to show contempt. My wife is immunodepressed and cannot be vaccinated. She avoids plenty of places because shit people like this do not care. I once physically threw away someone sick and unvaccinated from a place for babies only that are not protected by the mother and too young to protect themselves. It was violent, I called the police afterwards myself. People don't be dicks with other people life.
      • account42 8mo ago
        Covid vaccines never prevented infection and transmission. If anything, out of the people I know the vaccinated got it much more often because they were more careless.
• hk__2 8mo ago
  You see these things in the EU too.
• FranklinJabar 8mo ago
  If I can't tip, I don't go out. Cuz I don't have to. Granted, I also don't go to the EU if I can avoid it, and most places I make so much more money than the locals I don't mind a bit extra for the worker.
  • selfmodruntime 8mo ago
    You are not entitled to money beyond what you list as prices
    • FranklinJabar 8mo ago
      Nobody is entitled to anything, of course. But you're a jackass if you knowingly exploit people. A "livable wage" is a legal concept and does not incorporate your wealth.
      • selfmodruntime 8mo ago
        The exploitation happens between you and your employer, mainly.
• Markoff 8mo ago
  And imagine people bring their own drinks to restaurants in China (for big family lunch it can be even big plastic bags full of many bottles) and nobody even understand the concept of the tipping - why would you tip someone for doing their work and paying for the meal? One of the things I loved about China. They even come running after you if you forget your change. What I liked much less is smoking in the restaurants which happens in Beijing even in 2026 despite posters on the wall saying No smoking in Chinese and English and everyone is affraid to tell something to smoker. You would think after years of campaigning it will improve, but I don't see much improvement after visiting after many years.
• tamimio 8mo ago
  I don’t tip either, simply because the work done wasn’t worth tipping. The only time I tipped was in a 7 stars restaurant, and the waitresses were up to their names, literally standing and waiting by our table changing utensils and plates and filling the drinks. North America tipping “culture” is out of control, I remember picking up some street food and the guy asked for a tip.. Most restaurants nowadays buy the food from costco, machines do most of the cooking, and the waitress job can be literally replaced by a robot, it’s just a scam and it should be illegal actually.
  • blks 8mo ago
    The actual scam is that restaurants can and do pay wait staff below minimum wage (like 2-3$), because it’s explicitly allowed, with expectation that the rest comes from tips. So not tipping in USA may in some cases be an asshole move.
    • direwolf20 8mo ago
      Tipping is one of those Moloch coordination problems where if everyone would suddenly decide to make the world better at the same time, it would be, but if only a few people try to make the world better, it gets worse and they're assholes. https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/
      • account42 8mo ago
        It's really not a binary situation where you'd ever see $2 wages with no tips though. If less people tip then the effective real minimum wage will gradually increase to compensate - either because laws are updated or because the restaurant has to compete with other better paying job opportunities. Sure some waiters may get upset when someone doesn't tip, but that is just that - them getting upset - and not the client being an asshole.
        • blks 8mo ago
          This will hurt people in the moment, people who sometimes are few dollars away from not making rent or buying enough food. And as other commenter correctly pointed out, by the federal law of hour wage plus tips is below federal minimum wage, the restaurant must pay extra to reach the minimum wage. So if we assume that restaurants actually follow this law, wait staff will be kept at poverty wage 7.25/hr.
• hunterpayne 8mo ago
  Fine but a few things. 1) the service at restaurants and bars in Europe is terrible. 2) the employees at US restaurants and bars often make more money than people doing the same job in Europe. 3) it allows the folks with more money pay a larger share and those with less to pay a bit less. The problem with tipping is tipping in places which aren't restaurants and bars.
  • Yizahi 8mo ago
    Service in restaurants in Europe is way better than in USA. I don't want waiter to ask me anything except taking the order. I don't want to be ushered away as soon as I finished eating. I usually do that anyway, but I want to choose so myself and have option to sit and talk with my friend or family sometimes. I don't want to give my credit card to a stranger, who will carry it to some back room without control. An finally I want to pay exactly what is advertised, without scam fees or blackmail "tips".
    • technothrasher 8mo ago
      > Service in restaurants in Europe is way better than in USA. Eh. Having eaten at plenty of restaurants all over the USA and Europe, they seem equally littered with both good and bad service. Understanding and adjusting to the culture of individual countries helps make your experiences better.
      • mrweasel 8mo ago
        Yes, this isn't a question about the US or Europe. Some of the absolute worst service I've received have been in the US, yet they ask for tips. I've also received some of the best service at a US restaurant, where the suggested tip was 10% and the prices where pretty low. The weirdest thing I've experience is the large number of staff in US coffee shops, compared to locally, yet basically not being able to order, and then having a suggested tip at 20%. I've encountered this a multiple locations, and different chains. Four people, one person takes the order, one makes the drink, one continuously mop the floor and the last person just stands around (manager?) You could significantly increase the base pay by getting rid of two of these people.
• mmustapic 8mo ago
  I also live in Europe and tip, specially if I know that the salary of the staff heavily depends on tips. Also, if the service wasn’t great, I also tip, maybe they weren’t having a good day, like when I’m not that productive some day at my coding job. If I ever find the system too unfair for the workers, then I won’t go to those restaurants anymore.
  • bjourne 8mo ago
    Then give your excess money to a homeless person or donate it to Amnesty. We don't want or need the "pressured to tip" culture here.
    • mmustapic 8mo ago
      No, homeless people should not live from tips, they should be helped by the government. I live in Belgium and tip because I'm used to (I'm from Argentina) and I know the staff is happy when I do it.
      • bjourne 8mo ago
        And restaurant workers should be paid by their employers. If the goal is to spread happiness then, again, the homeless person trumps the employee.
        • mmustapic 8mo ago
          And they are in Europe, thanks to strong labour laws!
  • sorenjan 8mo ago
    > I also live in Europe and tip, specially if I know that the salary of the staff heavily depends on tips. > If I ever find the system too unfair for the workers, then I won’t go to those restaurants anymore. Sounds like you only tip once at each restaurant then? Not paying a reasonable salary to employees and assuming they'll beg customers for extra money to make up the difference seems unfair to me.
• MarceliusK 8mo ago
  The bigger issue, to me, is that the burden is on customers at all. That's what creates all this awkwardness and moral accounting in the first place
• PlatoIsADisease 8mo ago
  The service in the US is significantly better than in Europe. You want to feel like a burden when you go out to eat, eat in Italy. In the US, the servers are dancing excited for you to be there.
  • hocuspocus 8mo ago
    Only if by better you mean annoying. I've always had good experiences in Italy even though I was a stupid tourist during peak season.
    • account42 8mo ago
      Agreed, not a fan of all the "is everything alright" and "can I get you anything else" and other "helpful" interruptions that many US waiters like to do.
  • CaptainZapp 8mo ago
    That's a matter of taste. I, for one, can't stand this fake chumminess you often experience in American restaurants.
• j1elo 8mo ago
  Little known (apparently) thing from Spain is that our tips are not proportional. I see percentages everywhere when going out... 10% here, 15% there, so the quantities seem outrageous to me. In Spain if you want you leave a 1€ or 2€ coin, maybe 3 or 4€ plus some other smaller coins if you are more than 2 people. But that's it. I've never seen a tip reaching 10€ in a restaurant, even in tables of 5+ people.
• shiroiuma 8mo ago
  >I'm from EU, so ymmw. I simply don't tip. I guess you've never been to Germany. Last time I was there (last year), I tried just giving small "trinkgeld" tips (round up to nearest Euro) and the servers were PISSED. I've never seen such rude service. So why do EU people always say there's no tipping in the EU? This clearly isn't true, at least not any more. When I traveled in the EU in the 2010s, it wasn't like this at all. WTF is going on over there?