July 28, 2014
gra·tu·i·ty
A voluntary payment (as for meritorious service) given without claim or obligation
I hate tipping. I hate tipping with a passion. I just don’t see the point of it. So why has it become a deeply engrained and “expected” part of American tradition?
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Once upon a time, a gratuity used to be a nicety — a little something extra you’d give a waiter, waitress, or service worker because of something special they did for you (the key word here is something “SPECIAL”). But now, it’s become an absolute requirement and I don’t like it!
Nowadays, restaurants are paying their wait staff peanuts in salary, while promising them they’ll make up the difference in tips. But that’s just wrong. Why should I have to make up the difference in salary when all the waiter or waitress did for me was THEIR JOB?? I don’t receive tips for doing MY job!
Bringing me a fork, a few extra napkins, or filling up a glass with tap water I never asked for and won’t drink anyway should not be the basis for an extra 15-20% when the check comes. Those are duties that should happen anyway. They are not “extras.” But most restaurants and wait staffs believe it is and literally EXPECT you to pay for it. Hmmm…
Not long ago, the manager of La Fisherman’s restaurant in Houston locked an entire family inside and refused to let them leave until they paid a 17% gratuity. When the family complained about being held against their will, the manager called the police, arguing “If you don’t want to pay the gratuity, we will have the Houston Police Department waiting for you outside.” At that point, it was no longer a gratuity — it was ransom!
e Entertainment
This gratuity thing has just gotten completely out of control. I recently took a taxi from 42nd St. to 50th St. in New York City — a grand total of 8 blocks. With traffic, the fare came to $5.50, so I gave the driver $6.00 and thanked him. That’s when the driver stopped me and said with bewilderment: “What kinda tip is this? If that’s all you’re gonna give, I don’t want it!” So I took my 50 cents and went on my way, all the while wondering when did an 8 block taxi ride REQUIRE a specific tip amount, let alone any tip at all!?!?
On my birthday, a group of friends took me out to a favorite restaurant in Manhattan. At the end of the meal we paid the check, left a tip and headed for the door. But before we could exit, the waitress stopped me and said “Excuse me. I’m guessing maybe you might not know any better, but the tip you left was not sufficient. You really should leave more” Realizing my error, I apologized to the waitress for not “knowing any better” and corrected my mistake by taking ALL of the tip from the table, leaving her with ZERO. What nerve!
Aside from that one weirdo waitress, I don’t place blame on the servers of America for the crazy rule we’ve all been taught to follow. They’re just doing what they were taught to do and expecting what they were told to expect. I blame society for letting this BS go on for so long.
Waiters, waitresses, bartenders, taxi drivers, doormen, even the cashier at the ice cream shop with a tip jar, are all expecting you to hand them extra cash for doing what they were hired to do in the first place and that is insane! So, I have a suggestion and I’ll use the restaurant world as an example: Instead of telling me the Chicken Sandwich is $9.99, then guilting me into adding 20% more for the waiter and kitchen staff, just raise your rates to the ACTUAL price you really want at the end. That way, everyone on your staff gets paid what they expect and I don’t feel guilty for not leaving the gratuity everyone is expecting me to leave.
Packhouse Meats in Newport, Kentucky has come up with a brilliant idea. Owner Bob Conway bans all tipping within his restaurant. Signs on the walls say tipping isn’t allowed, cash tips are returned, and the credit card receipts don’t even have a tips line. Instead, his servers have 2 choices they can pick from at the end of every shift: they can take a flat $10/hour rate or get paid with a commission of 20% of their food sales. Again, the choice is up to the servers and in the end it’s a fair system.
So, what do you think? Is tipping really necessary?
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