A dishwasher can make or break a restaurant (2017)

Post by Ekaros » Wed, Aug 28, 2024, 3:04 PM UTC

bivargen wrote: post #96

eldaisfish wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

is your alternative that someone washing dishes is not entitled to have and support kids? I would ask you - do you have evidence to show that lowering wages benefits anyone other than the employer? Look at the Nordic countries. Paying everyone a minimum wage and creating a societal safety where education is free and everyone has access to the tools to better themselves results in staggeringly good outcomes.

While I agree with your sentiments, I must correct you in that Sweden doesn't have a minimum wage, never had! Our societal safety also isn't all that it was, but to be sure it's much stronger than the US. For the other nordic countries I can't tell, though I seem to remember that Denmark has a minimum wage and Norway doesn't. As for Finland I have no idea.

Post by dhosek » Wed, Aug 28, 2024, 3:06 PM UTC

wichert wrote: post #109

ThunderSizzle wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a combination of things, but it's similar to why online stores advertise a price, and then add charges at checkout (like shipping, or credit card charge, processing fee, etc). You entice the customer with the lower price, and once they have committed, you can hit them with another charge or fee without as much ramification. Restaurant customers can be price sensitive, so tipping is a way to advertise a lower pri…

Let me change that a bit: "it's pretty ubiquitous in the US". It's not common everywhere. My personal observation (in NL) is that with the transition from cash to contactless payment it seems to be becoming less common over time. Payment terminals here are not setup to ask for a tip (with very rare exceptions) - you just pay the amount on the receipt directly.

Post by helios_invictus » Wed, Aug 28, 2024, 3:08 PM UTC

CalRobert wrote: post #71

My summer as a dishwasher made it clear tipping, already deeply stupid, is wildly unfair even to service workers. A lot of people helped you get your meal, but your dishwasher is definitely not tipped.

Post by dingnuts » Wed, Aug 28, 2024, 3:08 PM UTC

liotier wrote: post #110

Gormo wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, tipping is a way of directly compensating people who are directly doing work for you, even in the context of an organization managing the transaction. You tip people who are personally responding to your requests -- that's why the dishwasher and other people you're not directly interacting with don't usually get tipped.

> No, tipping is a way of directly compensating people who are directly doing work for you From a European point of view, this is ludicrous. Why don't workers in the USA receive a salary from their employer instead of resorting to charity from their employer's customers ? How is not paying employees even legal ?

Post by harry_ord » Wed, Aug 28, 2024, 3:09 PM UTC

wichert wrote: post #109

ThunderSizzle wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a combination of things, but it's similar to why online stores advertise a price, and then add charges at checkout (like shipping, or credit card charge, processing fee, etc). You entice the customer with the lower price, and once they have committed, you can hit them with another charge or fee without as much ramification. Restaurant customers can be price sensitive, so tipping is a way to advertise a lower pri…

Let me change that a bit: "it's pretty ubiquitous in the US". It's not common everywhere. My personal observation (in NL) is that with the transition from cash to contactless payment it seems to be becoming less common over time. Payment terminals here are not setup to ask for a tip (with very rare exceptions) - you just pay the amount on the receipt directly.