Just Saying -- the soapbox thread

[billstein]

What I don't understand is the amount expected in a tip.  For a restaurant, for example, when I was younger a pretty standard amount was 15% of the final bill.  Then I run into some friends who tell me that when they were servers 15% was a minimum, and 20% was more acceptable.  But my sister-in-law was also a wait server and when I tried tipping her she scoffed and said "for a pizza place, don't tip more than a dollar a person.  That's plenty."

So I really have no idea about what's expected even where I live.  I think it varies by person and by restaurant and by city and by State here in the U.S.

20% in restaurants is typical, I get that. Where I'm confused is in the fast food places where you walk up to the counter, then stand there until your food is ready. Most of these places now have tip jars. Do I have to tip them also?

[Luke51411]

A conundrum that arises is that while you may be against a restaurant not paying a person a living wage or at least the minimum wage for any other job, tipping out of a feeling of obligation while it is nice for the person receiving the tip, is it not just propping up a poor business practice of expecting the customer to directly pay the employee rather than accounting for it in the cost of the service?

[Muadzin]

I'm more amazed that restaurants get away with it. Why is there no law enforcing a minimum wage in all sectors of the economy? Or is that considered 'socialist'?

[davent]

We have a minimum wage (by no means a living wage) but there's a number of levels;  general, students, liquor servers who are at the low rung on the ladder, expected that their income will be supplimented by tips then a couple other levels.

http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/pubs/guide/minwage.php

[bcalla]

I just caught part of a radio talk show and the guest was someone who just published some research on tipped workers.  For many years the federal minimum wage for tipped workers was set at 50% of the minimum for other hourly workers.  In the 90's the law was amended and the tipped minimum wage was set at $2.13 and disconnected from the standard hourly minimum.  So while the federal minimum has been raised a few times since then, the minimum for tipped works is stuck at $2.13.  (As stated in other posts, many states have higher minimums).  A piece of trivia for US residents is that the person who negotiated that disconnect on behalf of the restaurant lobby was former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain.

[rumbletone]

I'm more amazed that restaurants get away with it. Why is there no law enforcing a minimum wage in all sectors of the economy? Or is that considered 'socialist'?

We have minimum wage here and it's reasonably well enforced. But minimum wage here is $9/hr for food servers and the average house price is now over $1million -  you do the math - I don't mind giving a 20-30% tip IF the service is very good...

[chromesphere]

All this talk about the US and confusion around tipping / amounts / staff getting underpaid and ripped off makes me happy that we don't have any of that BS in Australia.  We know we're getting ripped off up front from the meal prices ;-)

"$40 for a steak!  i thought we were one of the largest meat exporters in the world".

[alanp]

Key word there being export.

"We could either sell to Arabia, Europe, China, and NorthAm for big bikkies, or locally for less...

"Let's do BOTH for big bikkies!"

[GrindCustoms]

Travelling is all about sampling different cultures, new foods, beverages, music and arts, languages, toilets and tipping practices, never mind tipping the toilet attendant. Embrace the differences get down and dirty with the locals, when in Rome do as the Romans...

I simply can't imagine going on some pre-packaged insulated/isolated, bubble wrapped tour/cruise where you're lead around by hand from one overpriced trinket stand to another never, yech.

Alan don't let some minor little difference in culture keep you at home, get out there have a blast, what goes down in Vegas stays in Vegas.

dave

+1 on that

When i was a child, i was raised by mom only, she was working as a barmaid... once she was done paying all the bills with her small paycheck it's her tip that was allowing us to go at Mr.Submarine every Sunday and payed for other activities so my brother and I could do activities and have fun experience to share with our friends at school.... like any normal  kid would...

A bit of kindness goes a longway sometime... i always tip well if the service is good... rule of thumb is 20% of my bill, if the service is poor, i'll let them know but give the minimum required so it's not taken from their tax return at the end of the year.

[davent]

I'm more amazed that restaurants get away with it. Why is there no law enforcing a minimum wage in all sectors of the economy? Or is that considered 'socialist'?

We have minimum wage here and it's reasonably well enforced. But minimum wage here is $9/hr for food servers and the average house price is now over $1million -  you do the math - I don't mind giving a 20-30% tip IF the service is very good...

I looked... but my guess was Vancouver.

[electrosonic]

I did the same - I am in Vancouver too.

Andrew.

[alanp]

This is my soapbox thread so hell with it.

Another thing that bugs me is how "America" refers to one country.

North America... South America... doesn't matter, two massive bloody continents, they only mean one country on one of them.

Peru is in America. Or is that now the continent south of the continent that America is on?

Canada is in America. Or is that north of the country called America, on an unnamed continent?

[Muadzin]

This is my soapbox thread so hell with it.

Another thing that bugs me is how "America" refers to one country.

North America... South America... doesn't matter, two massive bloody continents, they only mean one country on one of them.

Peru is in America. Or is that now the continent south of the continent that America is on?

Canada is in America. Or is that north of the country called America, on an unnamed continent?

I think this falls into the same category as Americans thinking they own the word football so the rest of the world has to call its game soccer.

[Leevibe]

I call myself an American not with a sense of exclusivity. It's just what we call ourselves. I definitely don't swell with pride at the sound of it. I was born in Canada anyway. My parents met and got married up there because they were going to school there. My dad tells me of a time when he called a Canadian an American, in the continental sense, and almost got his lights punched out. It seems there was at least one of them who would rather let us have the title.

[rumbletone]

Just because someone inexplicably named the entire land masses of the western hemisphere after a lesser known Italian explorer doesn't mean we as Canadians have any attachment to the term 'american'. The USAers can have it!