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Why Tipping Is Impossible to Get Rid of in America

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Re: Why Tipping Is Impossible to Get Rid of in America

#91

Post by hotpotamus »

distortionfield wrote: post #53
notjonheyman wrote: post #13

You think restaurants are bad... you should see services like UberEats and DoorDash drivers. I have had orders cancelled by the driver because they found something that tipped higher despite me tipping $7 for something down the street less than 1 mile from my house. I have also tipped $20 only for instructions to be ignored where I put my gate code, unit# and ask for it to just be dropped off at my door step but the…

I've had delivery drivers give me my order only after explicitly telling me to tip more - which was frustrating because I actually increased my tip from $5 suggested by the app to $7 cause it was a snowy night. Some people won't be happy no matter what you do for them.

$7 seems pretty good to me, though it's pretty mileage dependent (I assume the suggested tip is probably taking that into account), but I wonder, how much would I have to offer you to complete a Doordash order?

Re: Why Tipping Is Impossible to Get Rid of in America

#92

Post by mixmastamyk »

nwah1 wrote: post #70
mixmastamyk wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tips are taxed, and probably more likely to be electronic these days rather than cash.

Big difference between taxed and taxable. I know people who have explained how being a cabbie etc was only lucrative because of cash tips. But yea, electronic POS is now more common.

You'll be taxed whether or not you receive tips, so better work to get some. Has this changed? I've not heard that it has.

Re: Why Tipping Is Impossible to Get Rid of in America

#93

Post by LarryMullins »

WillDaSilva wrote: post #60
LarryMullins wrote: post #12

Make no mistake, tipping continues in America because most Americans like the system. If you don't like to tip, there are plenty of restaurants where tipping isn't expected; specifically those where you carry the food yourself from the counter to your table. If enough people hated tipping, restaurants that don't have tipping would eventually out-compete those that do. They may yet do so, but presently most of the pub…

> If you don't like to tip, there are plenty of restaurants where tipping isn't expected; specifically those where you carry the food yourself from the counter to your table. Generally such restaurants serve significantly different kinds of food, and are typically lower quality. You can't expect these kinds of restaurants (typically fast food, food trucks, buffet food, etc.) to out-compete restaurants that they are h…

Plenty of people simply choose not to eat at those sort of restaurants. If this is an issue you feel strongly about, it is within your power to choose not to eat at restaurants with waitresses. Such restaurants are a luxury you choose to indulge in.

Re: Why Tipping Is Impossible to Get Rid of in America

#94

Post by LarryMullins »

jaredandrews wrote: post #34
LarryMullins wrote: post #12

Make no mistake, tipping continues in America because most Americans like the system. If you don't like to tip, there are plenty of restaurants where tipping isn't expected; specifically those where you carry the food yourself from the counter to your table. If enough people hated tipping, restaurants that don't have tipping would eventually out-compete those that do. They may yet do so, but presently most of the pub…

> If enough people hated tipping, restaurants that don't have tipping would eventually out-compete those that do. What makes you say this? As another comment points out, minimum wage is lower for restaurant workers in most (all?) states. How would a restaurant without tips outcompete in this system?

Restaurant wages are lower for waitresses, not for cooks, cashiers, etc. Fast food/etc restaurant workers get the normal minimum wage at the least.

Such restaurants can out-compete restaurants with waitresses by simply offering the sort of self-service that most people prefer, if in fact most people prefer that. It's not as though these restaurants are forced to pay their waitresses more; they don't have waitresses at all. That's one less expense they have to worry about.

Re: Why Tipping Is Impossible to Get Rid of in America

#95

Post by RajT88 »

gambiting wrote: post #25

"Customers looked at the higher prices ($25 for the chicken instead of $21, $17 cocktails instead of $14) and ordered fewer and less-expensive items, even though they were paying exactly the same amount for them by tacking 20% onto the check at meal’s end." You know what, I worry about this sometimes. We think that we're so evolved and advanced race - that we have poetry and literature, modern medicine and rocket sci…

It's even more dire than this.

Anna Gunn played the emasculating wife of Walter White in "Breaking Bad". She was not a popular character (and wasn't supposed to be, at least at first).

She received a myriad of death threats on social media for that portrayal.

https://www.vulture.com/2013/08/breaking-bads-anna-gunn-conf...

I cannot express how bananas that is that people can't separate fiction from real life in this way. That these people are such emotional creatures that it never occurs to them that the way they feel towards the character is invalid towards the actress.

Re: Why Tipping Is Impossible to Get Rid of in America

#96

Post by ghaff »

lazyasciiart wrote: post #42
nwah1 wrote: post #9

The odd thing is how specific to restaurants it is, and only a handful of other industries. You dont tip in any other context. If you want the deluxe experience you order the deluxe option. To me this seems wrong. If tipping were so great then why isn't it universal? What is special about restaurants? Taxis/Uber/Lyft want tips. Same with barbers/salons/spas. I know that the gray market is a big factor. Untaxed cash t…

> The odd thing is how specific to restaurants it is, and only a handful of other industries. I believe that generally it's in industries that directly replaced personal servants: people who cook and serve your food, carry your things around, make your bed, do your hair, chauffeur you around. I'm not sure why tipping happens in those jobs though.

I think you've sort of answered your own question. Servants used to be sort of an extension to the household and they tended to be given some extra money at Christmas if nothing else. Now that a lot of this sort of thing is time-sliced, it mostly got shifted to an ongoing gratuity.

I do give my monthly housekeeper something at Christmas and I've seen other contexts where there's the expectation of contributing to a Christmas bonus for staff as well.

Re: Why Tipping Is Impossible to Get Rid of in America

#97

Post by nwah1 »

lazyasciiart wrote: post #42
nwah1 wrote: post #9

The odd thing is how specific to restaurants it is, and only a handful of other industries. You dont tip in any other context. If you want the deluxe experience you order the deluxe option. To me this seems wrong. If tipping were so great then why isn't it universal? What is special about restaurants? Taxis/Uber/Lyft want tips. Same with barbers/salons/spas. I know that the gray market is a big factor. Untaxed cash t…

> The odd thing is how specific to restaurants it is, and only a handful of other industries. I believe that generally it's in industries that directly replaced personal servants: people who cook and serve your food, carry your things around, make your bed, do your hair, chauffeur you around. I'm not sure why tipping happens in those jobs though.

True, that is the common theme.

Personal servants being distinct from your lawyer or your doctor or therapist.

If tipping were good and respectable and promoting better market dynamics or service... then it would actually be more important in the medical field.

If I get better food service by tipping, then I definitely want better medical service by tipping.

Re: Why Tipping Is Impossible to Get Rid of in America

#98

Post by rcme »

RajT88 wrote: post #95
gambiting wrote: post #25

"Customers looked at the higher prices ($25 for the chicken instead of $21, $17 cocktails instead of $14) and ordered fewer and less-expensive items, even though they were paying exactly the same amount for them by tacking 20% onto the check at meal’s end." You know what, I worry about this sometimes. We think that we're so evolved and advanced race - that we have poetry and literature, modern medicine and rocket sci…

It's even more dire than this. Anna Gunn played the emasculating wife of Walter White in "Breaking Bad". She was not a popular character (and wasn't supposed to be, at least at first). She received a myriad of death threats on social media for that portrayal. https://www.vulture.com/2013/08/breaking-bads-anna-gunn-conf... I cannot express how bananas that is that people can't separate fiction from real life in this w…

(To me) it's abundantly clear that a certain percentage of the population is no better than feral beasts trained to live in society. For instance, some people report having no inner monologue. If such people are not introspectively evaluating their thoughts, then what are they doing? Most likely mindlessly going through the motions of their life as a simple stimulus/response machine.

Re: Why Tipping Is Impossible to Get Rid of in America

#99

Post by syntaxing »

hgomersall wrote: post #67
syntaxing wrote: post #18

I never really understood why tipping is not considered a bribe (which is why a lot of Asian countries has banned tipping during corruption reforms).

Well a bribe is normally an inducement to do something unethical. If it's not unethical, we call that a transaction.

I’m not sure if that’s true? Back then in the 50s in most Asian countries, you wanted water at a hospital? “Tip” the nurse $1. Want fresh blood transfusion, “tip” the nurse and doctor $10 on top of the cost of the blood. I’m not sure the outcome needs to be nefarious and unethical for it to be considered a bribe.

Re: Why Tipping Is Impossible to Get Rid of in America

#100

Post by drewcoo »

I thought tipping was a sign of (or form of) corruption.

https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/9491448/here's-a...

The US is incredibly corrupt. It's our culture. I think it makes people feel they have more control over situations because they can pay to influence outcomes.

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