wilkin250r
Chief Petty Officer
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2003
- Messages
- 570
Re: Here's a tip for you--Don't leave a small tip
The aspect of tipping is often controversial, as we have seen here.<br /><br />Society has certain rules, some of them set in stone (like laws), but also some of them unwritten. And those rules of society change over time. Tipping is one of those unwritten rules. Society says that if somebody serves you, you tip them. I kind of like the arrangement, because I get to decide how much to pay them. Things could just as easily go the other way. Rather than $24 for your steak dinner, you could be paying $31, and the restaraunt will pay the waiter $12.50 per hour instead of $5.15 to make up the difference. But at that point, you have no forum for bad service. Good service, bad service, you still pay the same amount.<br /><br />Personally, I like having that control. I am paying seperately for food and service. I cannot control the costs of the food, but I am in control of the costs of the service, I get to choose how much I want to pay. If the service isn't worth much, I don't pay much. It keeps the servers honest, and improves the overall service.<br /><br />Restaurants aren't lucrative businesses. It's very unlikely you will get rich owning a restaurant. They're not making tons of money. As it is, WE (the customers) are paying the waitstaff through tips. If we require the restaurant to pay the waitstaff, one of two things happens. Either prices go up, and we lose our voice and feedback to affect the service, or you get service that's only worth $5.15 per hour. Ask that poor kid at Wal-Mart a technical question, and you'll get a very confused kid, he doesn't have the answer. He's minimum wage, and worth every penny. Do we really want service that's only worth $5.15 per hour?
The aspect of tipping is often controversial, as we have seen here.<br /><br />Society has certain rules, some of them set in stone (like laws), but also some of them unwritten. And those rules of society change over time. Tipping is one of those unwritten rules. Society says that if somebody serves you, you tip them. I kind of like the arrangement, because I get to decide how much to pay them. Things could just as easily go the other way. Rather than $24 for your steak dinner, you could be paying $31, and the restaraunt will pay the waiter $12.50 per hour instead of $5.15 to make up the difference. But at that point, you have no forum for bad service. Good service, bad service, you still pay the same amount.<br /><br />Personally, I like having that control. I am paying seperately for food and service. I cannot control the costs of the food, but I am in control of the costs of the service, I get to choose how much I want to pay. If the service isn't worth much, I don't pay much. It keeps the servers honest, and improves the overall service.<br /><br />Restaurants aren't lucrative businesses. It's very unlikely you will get rich owning a restaurant. They're not making tons of money. As it is, WE (the customers) are paying the waitstaff through tips. If we require the restaurant to pay the waitstaff, one of two things happens. Either prices go up, and we lose our voice and feedback to affect the service, or you get service that's only worth $5.15 per hour. Ask that poor kid at Wal-Mart a technical question, and you'll get a very confused kid, he doesn't have the answer. He's minimum wage, and worth every penny. Do we really want service that's only worth $5.15 per hour?