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It's a tip, it's supposed to reflect how well you were treated. That may be how the practice started, but that's no longer how it works. I mean, you can clea

It's a tip, it's supposed to reflect how well you were treated. That may be how the practice started, but that's no longer how it works. I mean, you can clearly tip however little or much you'd like, but, culturally, the tip is nothing more than a formality. And like any formality, you're free to ignore it, but you should be aware that that's what you're doing.

kencausey 13y ago
Excuse me? Where do I apply for the manual on how things work? More seriously, tipping policy is up to the tipper.
- dionidium 13y ago
  Of course and I said as much. Whether or not to shake the hand of someone you meet is also up to the hand-shaker, but, again, you should just be aware that declining to do so bucks convention. You're talking about what you think tipping should be; I'm talking about what it is.
freehunter 13y ago
The idea of a tip is to compensate service based on quality. If that's not the goal, then the cost should just be integrated into the price of the meal. Since it's not, that means tipping should be reserved for compensating service based on quality. Restaurants are free to set service fees (and many do, "A fee of 18% will be imposed upon parties of 10 or more"), but a tip is still a tip. You give me poor service, you get a poor or nonexistent tip. If the server doesn't like that, then they should provide better service. If the restaurant doesn't like paying their staff to make up the difference between what their wages and minimum wage, they're free to take action against that server (from more training to just firing them). That's the behavior that tips are meant to encourage. Either you're a good server and you make more than minimum wage, or you're a poor server and you don't have a job anymore. That's how the entire economy works. At any rate, a tip is not a formality. If people are treating it as such, I have a problem with that. Either do away with tips and pay the staff what they're worth or make tips based on quality of service.

kencausey 13y ago

Excuse me? Where do I apply for the manual on how things work? More seriously, tipping policy is up to the tipper.

dionidium 13y ago
Of course and I said as much. Whether or not to shake the hand of someone you meet is also up to the hand-shaker, but, again, you should just be aware that declining to do so bucks convention. You're talking about what you think tipping should be; I'm talking about what it is.

freehunter 13y ago

The idea of a tip is to compensate service based on quality. If that's not the goal, then the cost should just be integrated into the price of the meal. Since it's not, that means tipping should be reserved for compensating service based on quality. Restaurants are free to set service fees (and many do, "A fee of 18% will be imposed upon parties of 10 or more"), but a tip is still a tip. You give me poor service, you get a poor or nonexistent tip. If the server doesn't like that, then they should provide better service. If the restaurant doesn't like paying their staff to make up the difference between what their wages and minimum wage, they're free to take action against that server (from more training to just firing them). That's the behavior that tips are meant to encourage. Either you're a good server and you make more than minimum wage, or you're a poor server and you don't have a job anymore. That's how the entire economy works. At any rate, a tip is not a formality. If people are treating it as such, I have a problem with that. Either do away with tips and pay the staff what they're worth or make tips based on quality of service.