171–180 of 456 posts
It's a shame that the comments here are laser focused on the tipping parts of the article, and not the bigger picture items. The author outlines the struggles of getting service jobs filled in high CoL areas, the vicious cycle of turnover in these jobs, and all the commenters here want to discuss is the 2 paragraphs on tipping.
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I don't think that was the expectation, not sure where you read that into it. The two examples he gave were for the bar in the lobby and a total bill that would be mainly food. This is presumably a Drafthouse or one of the similar places that have full waiter service at your seat.
> On Christmas Day a family bought over $100 worth of tickets and food two days after Christmas. > The tip? $2.00. How else would I read that? If it was $85 in tickets, $10 in served items, and $5 in tax, that’s a 20% tip in my book, but the author (a career politician) would like you to read it as a 2% tip.
>You want to see Spider Man? You desperately want to bring your kids to Encanto or Sing 2? And you want your popcorn, food, and drinks? Cool. But if you don’t tip...
If someone is taking their kids to a movie night, I wouldn't expect them to tip for tickets, popcorn and soda. And if there's a theater where the workers get upset that you don't tip them for those, I'd expect people to avoid it and go to a normal theater.
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I naively thought the whole point of the market was to effectively route resources to where they are most in demand and allow innovation from the ground up where it's needed without central planning
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Real estate agents are the craziest example of this.
That's just a commission on a sale. It's the similar, but not the same. When I buy a house, there isn't an amount tacked on to pay the agent, that comes out of the sale price.* Unless you're saying real estate agents are expecting tips now. That's messed up. *Now, there are a bunch of other hidden fees and closing costs associated with a house to where you just need X% of the cost of a house in just to handle that bu…
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I don't think that was the expectation, not sure where you read that into it. The two examples he gave were for the bar in the lobby and a total bill that would be mainly food. This is presumably a Drafthouse or one of the similar places that have full waiter service at your seat.
...a family bought over $100 worth of tickets and food... I'm not sure how this theater is arranged. My local theater serves beer/wine and some heavy snacks. But, it doesn't have table service. Just the typical counter service. I've never tipped and always assumed the counter staff is earning at least minimum wage (no different than buying a latte at Starbucks). The few times I've gone to a movie theater with table s…
I think most people think like you, because at the time I calculated my average tip was 5 cents per customer, but that still raise my hourly to something I could almost afford to live on (I think it took me from $6-something to about $9/hr).
I wouldn't consider getting a latte and not tipping after that experience.
Someone finally said it better than me. All of the discussions of "worker shortages" around Unemployment Benefits have either been incoherent nonsense, or political points cloaked in fake economics.
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I naively thought the whole point of the market was to effectively route resources to where they are most in demand and allow innovation from the ground up where it's needed without central planning
Also, markets can't allow innovations from the ground up by themselves, the require a government to implement a fragile and inefficient intellectual property system, but that's just nitpicking.
I am always baffled when I read about the tip culture in the states. I find it so belittling for workers. It seems to incentivize a mentality of "the customer is always right", with workers putting an extra effort to always smile and be nice in the hope for a fair tip.
I agree and in that regard I've always found EU countries much more humane, in the sense they don't have to take shit from a bad customer and smile because of the weight of the tip in their salary.
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I naively thought the whole point of the market was to effectively route resources to where they are most in demand and allow innovation from the ground up where it's needed without central planning
It is. Free markets do not preclude social safety nets, or things like universal basic income.
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I think you'll find that servers and bartenders are the most adimant supporters of tipping. They make a killing.
Making a killing is pushing it unless you're working at a high end place. I really wonder how many HN people have ever worked in a waitstaff role. As much as you might hate it, tips keeps you just above minimum wage 95% of the time. Its not some money fountain like some people here seem to thing it is. People who want tips of course want it because it gives them money on top of minimum wage, why the hell would you ex…