[Jimmyhologram]

Originally Posted by misterbizmuth

I bet most of us get served by someone on minimum wage several times per week in some capacity. So why should I tip the guy who brings me my dinner that someone else has cooked and that I'm paying for anyway, as opposed to tipping the guy in the local book store for selling me a book he didn't write? Or tip the counter clerk in the post office when I pay to send mail? Or tip the ESB when they sell me electricity?

I don't know, but I always assumed that it was because a waiter is more literally "serving" you, whereas in other cases the transaction is more indirect, and more like a contractual exchange. I know they get payed at the end of the day, but when you think about it it's a bit weird and almost feudal to have somebody waiting on your every need while you gorge on food and drink. I suppose the tip is a mark of respect in that sense as much as a financial reward.

[misterbizmuth]

Dunno. Don't see a major difference between asking a waiter to bring me bread/drinks/sauce/ or whatever and asking a sales assistant in a clothes shop "can you bring me this in blue" "do you have these shoes in a size 12?" and so on. What I do with the product he sells me (whether it's food or not) isn't really any of his business. I can sympathize with the guy, but at the end of the day it ain't my place to see to it he gets a decent wage for his job.

[mikemac1]

Hardest working man in the restaurant is the kitchen porter

No tips

[Sound of Silence]

Originally Posted by misterbizmuth

I'll bet he didn't get rich by throwing good money away if the waiter is rude and the food was sh!te. As Frasier Crane once said "my tipping policy stands firmly on the twin pillars of courtesy and efficiency"

That's a good policy. But he still tips.

Seriously though, guilting people into tipping no matter what the circumstances is a pretty awful way of excusing the owner from having to pay a decent living wage.

The owner would never consider raising the wages of his employees simply to balance out what his staff earn in tips. Such a stingy social experiment will never work in erradicating minimum wage employment.

I bet most of us get served by someone on minimum wage several times per week in some capacity. So why should I tip the guy who brings me my dinner that someone else has cooked and that I'm paying for anyway, as opposed to tipping the guy in the local book store for selling me a book he didn't write? Or tip the counter clerk in the post office when I pay to send mail? Or tip the ESB when they sell me electricity?

The cook isn't on minimum wage - unless you're eating in McDonald's.

I worked in a Bookstore for a period of time and I was often offered tips when I made a special effort for the customer. I didn't take them, however.

The reason for tipping is simple. You're rewarding good service and providing a tangible incentive for the Waiter to continue to serve you promptly and efficently. The tables who don't tip are the last to be served - and for good reason. The Waiter does not serve to benefit from providing excellent service to a customer who is not willing to provide a reward.

[Biggins]

Originally Posted by mikemac1

Hardest working man in the restaurant is the kitchen porter

No tips

Thats the second truest thing posted here (the first one is that that Mark has actually donated many, many MILLIONS of his own money - NOT company money - but actually 78+ million of his own money in one example alone besides others!).

...But lets make out he's a tight wad anyway!

[misterbizmuth]

Originally Posted by Sound of Silence

That's a good policy. But he still tips.



The owner would never consider raising the wages of his employees simply to balance out what his staff earn in tips. Such a stingy social experiment will never work in erradicating minimum wage employment.



The cook isn't on minimum wage - unless you're eating in McDonald's.

I worked in a Bookstore for a period of time and I was often offered tips when I made a special effort for the customer. I didn't take them, however.

The reason for tipping is simple. You're rewarding good service and providing a tangible incentive for the Waiter to continue to serve you promptly and efficently. The tables who don't tip are the last to be served - and for good reason. The Waiter does not serve to benefit from providing excellent service to a customer who is not willing to provide a reward.

A: The cook doesn't generally serve you.
B: I also worked in a bookstore. I worked in the stock room taking deliveries. My job was waaaaaay more demanding than the shop floor staff, and very very physical which surprises a lot of folks who never worked in a bookstore, but I never got nor expected a tip. Why should I?
C. I don't see how tipping is an incentive for the waiter to continue serving me if I don't actually pay it until I leave.
D. I don't want to come across as stingy, in fact I always tip. But I don't feel like I should have some sort of obligation to do so just 'cos the owner of the business won't shell out an extra few quid for his staff. Abandoning your staff to the mercy and the whims of the customers to make sure you get a fair pay packet isn't really right either.

[Crooked Jack]

Originally Posted by Jimmyhologram

I don't know, but I always assumed that it was because a waiter is more literally "serving" you, whereas in other cases the transaction is more indirect, and more like a contractual exchange. I know they get payed at the end of the day, but when you think about it it's a bit weird and almost feudal to have somebody waiting on your every need while you gorge on food and drink. I suppose the tip is a mark of respect in that sense as much as a financial reward.

Jesus! What the hell do you do when you go to a restaurant. I order a meal and when it comes i eat it, pay and leave. I dont sit there gorging on a stuffed pig with my feet up on the waiters back while maids run back and forth filling my cup with mead.
Tipping is a yankee thing and it only exists because they (for some reason, probably the same one that dictates why they dont believe in welfare or universal healthcare) dont have a liveable minimum wage.
Minimum wage here is ****e. But it's a joke over there.

[Mr Benevolent]

I don't tip anymore, there's a recession on. Zuckerberg probably just didn't like the food and was severely regretting marrying his nagging shrew of a wife.

[donalg1]

Zuckerberg himself has said he places no value on money so probably doesnt even consider giving tips. And why should he have to tip, I think its really just an American thing and I never tip in Ireland, sure arent they getting paid already.

The odd time I might tell a taxi driver to keep the change if its a couple of quid and I have had a few beers but after that I begrudge tipping, I dont work in the service industry and never get tips for anything I do and never expect to.

Just cause the lad is rich people think he should be throwing money around left right and centre, how many others in the restaurant that night did or didnt leave a tip?

[ixoy]

Originally Posted by Sound of Silence

The tables who don't tip are the last to be served - and for good reason.

Seriously, how do they know what tables are going to tip? Tipping occurs at the end of the meal, after everyone has already been served.
Does this place demand a tip in advance for a service not yet received?
Perhaps there's a time travel element involved?
Or is this for repeat customers who, surely noticing this practice of begrudging service, could decide to take their business elsewhere thus losing the business out of a regular source of income.