There are few financial topics that can ignite a fiercer debate than the American practice of tipping. I’ve been hearing from a lot of readers following a recent column on splitting the check when dining out with a large group, and whether it’s right to berate someone for leaving a tiny tip. Not surprisingly, comments from readers turned into a discussion about tipping itself. One reader asked: “Do you think we in the U.S. will ever move away from the tipping culture?”
“I think it has gotten out of hand,” the person wrote. “Two glasses of wine for $20 gets a $4 (20 percent) tip. Two beers for $6 gets a $1.25 tip. Who came up with this system? Just pay the people what the market will bear while complying with minimum wage laws like every other job where folks do not work for tips.”
With so many in the American workforce depending on gratuities to make a living, it’s hard to stand your ground and not tip when you get subpar service. You don’t want to be called a “jerk” for withholding an important part of someone’s pay.
Let’s say a server repeatedly forgets to refill your iced tea because her mind is on her sick kid? Or she brings out your entree before the appetizer, which had long been ready for pickup from the kitchen? As a diner, you’re not privy to why your waitress is so distracted.
What if the service is bad because the kitchen is backed up? What if there’s a shortage of staff because several servers are out with the flu? A good server wouldn’t burden customers with why things are going so terribly wrong.
Another reader, a former server, wrote, “It's also important to recognize that there are a lot of people who take absolute glee in ‘sticking it to the server’ by leaving no or little tip. They get a power rush and it's absolutely demeaning. If you receive poor service at a restaurant definitely address it with the employee and with the manager, if appropriate. Please don't let it result in a less than 18 percent tip.”