Reasons Why I Hate the Whole Concept of Tipping
**Editor’s Note: WOW! Who knew that a post I wrote in September, 2007 would get about 500 hits from a single link on someone else’s blog in July, 2009. I check my blog and suddenly i’ve got eight new angry comments on this old post, ha. It looks like I hit a nerve with some of you. Most of these comments were written tongue-in-cheek and just for the record, I never said I don’t tip, I said I don’t appreciate seeing more and more tip jars popping up at every place I go with no forewarning and for services that simply don’t deserve a tip. The hard working waitress deserves a tip, the guy that hands me a coffee cup so I can pour my own coffee doesn’t deserve a tip. Thanks for the visit, everyone and I hope things calm down over here so I can get back to my miserly, anti-tipping ways 
**
Who was the genius that first came up with tipping? I would like to meet him and make him tip me 20% of his yearly income for writing this blog about him.
I hate the whole concept of tipping. Why, you ask? I’ll tell you why.
- I could make myself the latte, bring the plate of food from the kitchen to my table, and carry my own luggage to my room, it’s not like you’re paying off student loans for those skills.
- Nobody tips me for my work even though I AM paying off student loans for it.
- Tipping is now a competitive sport between my husband and the other males at the table. If he wins, I don’t get new shoes. If he loses, I still don’t get new shoes.
- I didn’t come to this restaurant to pay for overpriced food and then pay the waitress her evening salary. I came to pay for overpriced food so that the restaurant could pay the waitress her salary.
- When I tip the bare minimum because I hate tipping so much in the first place suddenly I’m a cheapskate or insensitive or probably the Devil in disguise.
- I waitressed one summer at a country club where the staff wasn’t allowed to take tips. So there. I did the same dirty job and managed to pay the bills and I had to put up with lake snobs.
- The pathetic beggar message on the tip jar is funny but not funny because it’s so pathetic that you need to beg your overpaying customers for more money.
- Most servers simply don’t deserve to be tipped.
- If I don’t tip you, you might ruin my hair. I hate feeling bribed at the hairdresser of all places.
- More and more businesses now have a tip jar. If you can convince me that your sub making or mechanical skills really deserve to put that much more pain on my wallet then I’ll gladly tip you.
- I’m certain my money could be used better elsewhere, like towards my “I have no gas money because I’ve been tipping” fund.
- I didn’t ask you to carry my luggage you sneaky punk.
- If you are so desperate that you need tips, you’d probably be better off using the Welfare I already pay for and that way I won’t have to see who is living off the scraps of my hard-earned income.
So tell us how you REALLY feel.
I didn’t realize I was supposed to tip the pedicurist. Excuse me, aesthetician. No wonder I got the dirty looks on the way out of the salon. It was my birthday gift, I didn’t know I had to tip!
Generally, I like tipping food servers and will tip really well because its fun for me. I wish I had tons of money to leave a good server an outrageous tip. I think that would be a blast. I have a hard time leaving a lousy tip for bad service. I’ll just leave a minimum. I’d rather mention something to a supervisor which seems to be a more productive way to handle it than to be accused of being a bad tipper. No one actually thinks they give bad service. And in a bar(back in the day), a tip was a bribe. Tip well on the first drink, you will never have a problem getting the next one.
I have no idea how much I’m supposed to tip anyone here or there. And the group tip jar seems silly. I tip the good barista and the bad one shares the wealth. I’m all about justice!
Hi,
I agree, I really cant stand tipping. For three reasons:
1. We are already paying the business who accounts for its labour costs when setting prices so why should we pay extra. For each tip we are not just giving money to the attendant but also to the owner of the business.
2. The service is usually terrible. For instance go to a restuarant in London – bland food, pushy waiters with absolutely no training and expensive prices. People dont step back and look at the facts and just tip the earth…
3. Why do workers need tips to put in a good shift?
For all those that hate tipping please go to Japan!
By far the best restaurants in the world, the cheapest place to eat in the West/Developed countries ($3 can buy you a good meal) and no tipping anywhere whatsoever but still the best service in the world. Even service at the grocery store in Japan is no match for service at somewhere like the Hilton anywhere else in the world.
Japanese people take pride in their work, see tipping as a dirty custom that they know they dont need to stoop down to.
Once you have been to Japan you will all hate tipping – its so wrong.
I want to go to Japan sooo bad and your not helping xD
hear hear!! finally stuff i like to hear
i hate tipping as well for all the reasons you stated
when i was in college i worked in retail(at staples), i worked at customer service desk for minimum wage. you get treated like a human punching bag, people swear at you when you cannot accept the merchandise they want to return b’c they dont have a receipt or the packaging their laptop came in. and i also worked on the merchandising floor, where i helped carry furniture to peoples’ cars; heavy furniture; and im a petite girl. did i ever expect a tip? NO.. did i get tipped? NO. did i treat the customer like shit b’c i didnt get a tip? NO. Why? b’c i was doing my job. yeah thats right, DOING MY JOB.
i think we should get rid of tipping altogether. the restaurant managers should pay their servers minimum wage and be done with it. and servers will continue to do their job w/o the expectation of tips; and they will do their job, for the same reason the postal employees, retail workers and white collars do: it is THEIR JOB.
when i go out to eat alone, i dont tip at all. if i go out with friends, im usually coerced into it.
ok, im off my soapbox. and just call me mr pink
Yes i too hate tipping. I used to hate being called a tightass too, but now i don’t even care what others think. The truth is I hate tipping sooo much because i think its a bull custom and don’t believe in it whatsoever. It makes people money grabbers. where is the mateship???
Do their jobs and yes, take pride in helping others. Don’t ask for a dime, lowlifes
I feel the same way. It’s a shame this is still a practise in our 1st world country. So lowly, no different than bums begging you for change on the street. Although bums sometimes have more courtesy and still wish you a good day even when you just ignore them. Waiting tables is no different than working in retail or a fast food joint. (I have worked in fast food and it’s back breaking and i made minimum wage ) So why should they make more than that? Any asshole with half a brain can bring my food over and fill my water glass.
What irks me the most is when they pretend to be all nice (it’s all an act of course) with a big fake grin. But all they see is dollar signs. So frickin’ fake! I hate fake people. But I really don’t personally have anything against waiters. It’s not their fault the system is like this.
I am from Europe where tip (and tax) is included in the price on the menu, so what you see is what you pay. And the waiters get a decent wage from their employer too and I’ve found that they do pretty much the same job without all the fakeness of the beggers over here. Fair enough. When I go to a restaurant I want to eat, not socialize with some dimwit who only tries to get on my good side so he/she extort money from me. Jeeez. Get some class people!
Um, Honey? Pretty much EVERYONE you deal with when you go out to buy anything is giving you a big fake grin, not just waiters/waitresses. And yes, it is all for the money, doesn’t matter if it comes from you, or their supervisors.
Sounds like you’re just cheap. Waaa, I have to give a few extra dollars, because these people are doing me a service!! Its not even THAT much usually, unless you’re at a restaraunt and you just got a huge expensive meal.
Tithing. Maybe that’s where it came from. Nasty habit that.
If service is crappy, I don’t even leave a penny. However, if the service is really awesome, then I want to leave a tip.
And beware… tattoo artists also want a tip.
Have you ever heard of a tip-based position?
In most states, if you have a job where you receive tips, the employer is permitted to pay less than the minimum wage because it’s expected that you’ll make up the difference. This can be as low as $2/hr in some states. One of my friends, while living in Idaho, worked the deli counter at her local supermarket, and was paid $2.35/hr because the store owner managed to get that spot classified as a tip-based position. Don’t like it? Change the laws instead of taking it out on your waiter.
So excuse me if I don’t feel too sorry about your shoes – I’ll be over here deciding which bills to pay this month if you need me.
Seriously? What iKento said…I know waiters/waitresses where I live do NOT make minimum wage…they mostly live off tips. It’s not always a mine, mine thing; they are working a job basically for peanuts depending on the generosity of other people by way of a tip. Now most places these days include a tip in the check just because of people like you.
To be 100% honest, no, tipping is not the best way to do things. But as a waitress, why are you punishing me for the way the industry is set up? The way I see it (even before I started in the service industry) is that you don’t go on a roadtrip without budgeting for gas, so why would you go to a restaurant without budgeting for a tip? No one forced you to go out to eat, and if you really wanted to get your own food, why didn’t you go somewhere that you can do that?
Look, even if you disagree with that, the point is that punishing a server by withholding their income just because you think the company should cover it is unfair. It’s like me coming to your job and taking away half your paycheque because I don’t like the industry you work in. Also, your last point is ridiculous. The fact that you think someone who needs tips is “desperate” and should go on welfare is about the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Seriously.
1. For all you new parents and grandparents who take your two year old to a restaurant and have them throw food all over the general area that I have to clean, to not get anything from that, I don’t ever want you to come through my doors again. go to McDonalds where they have a playroom for that kind of crap
2. For all the couples eating out without children, being polite, enjoying their food, disregard the above. That’s not meant for you
3. For all the huge groups of people that come in and expect me to get them a refill one at a time, go get suzy’s refill, bring it to the table, have sally see suzy get her refill and suddenly decide she wants one, go get that one and bring it back. then have two other people decide they want more ranch or something like that… people, i’m going back to the kitchen to get stuff for you. If you want ANYTHING AT ALL, i’m going now… if you miss this chance, (and i’m going to make sure everyone knows i’m going back) you’re shit out of luck.
4. For all the people who decide it’s going to be a good idea to come into my restaurant at 3am after the bar and then be a jackass and throw food across the restaurant at your friends, or unscrew the salt/pepper shakers so the next table has it dumped all over their food, steal parmesan cheese shakers, or in some cases, even puke all over the place (and believe me, it DOES happen more than you’d ever believe unless you’ve worked that shift.) I’m just a server, not an extortionist begging for money, not a bouncer needing to keep drunken testosterone driven frat boys in line and not fighting with each other, keeping the other patrons from having to be hit on by you, or just keeping them from being interrupted by assholes being loud and obnoxious in my restaurant… you’re damned right that I want more than the piddly $2.65 that I get paid an hour for putting up with that.
5. the truth is that someone you know is currently, or has at one point waited tables to put themselves through school, to support a family or just to live. If you can’t pull an extra dollar or two out of your wallet and help her put food in her children’s mouth, then you know which restaurants have servers that expect a tip. DON’T GO THERE!! There’s plenty of places that don’t expect their people to get tips… or here’s an idea! Cook food yourself!!!! But you’re too tired from work, too hot or just not feeling like you want to cook. If you have my restaurant make your food for you, then you know what’s expected, with or without your server asking for it, they hope for a tip… don’t be a jackass. Tip well and you’ll always be welcomed back. Extra ranch that I’m supposed to charge you for bc there’s a recession and the restaurant wants all the billable money it can get? I’ll most likely give it to you for free if my boss isn’t looking. Tip your bartender well? you may get that extra half second pour on your shot… which over the night could get you WAAAY more drunk for the same money.
People, tipping may be a crappy way to make your living, but the point is that the money you put down on a table for your server is the same money they use to pay their rent, put gas in their car, give their kids for lunch at school, and so much more that you’d never think of… is it so much to ask that if your server gives you good service, doesn’t make you wait for refills or even anticipates your needs, sees your glass as almost empty and brings you a new coke without you having to ask… is it so much to ask you to put a dollar or two on the table? If it is… then I hope tonight you’re visited by 3 ghosts and taught the error of your ways.