Originally Posted by
pinniped
No. Not joking. I've never had a waiter talk to me about my tip and their kids or livelihood.
Whether you've had it happen or not is irrelevant. Someone in this very thread had it happen, ergo one of the reasons at least one waiter expects to get a certain tip is so they can make a livable wage. It's not a large leap to surmise that others think the same.
Yes, I'm aware it comprises a majority of their wages, but the way you frame it - "that's why we tip them" - is logically incorrect.
My main point was that's why people try to demonize those who don't tip as "bad" people. It's because they are withholding a "living wage" from waiters by not tipping. So far we've seen someone liken non-tippers to those who wouldn't give up their seat for an elderly person. Just wait, I'm sure more jibes are coming.
You're basing your argument off of random OMNI posts? LOL.
We're not in OMNI.
Do a google search on tipping and find discussions about it on the net. The waiters always mention their low base wage as the main reason they rely on tips.
Again, I really don't think the causality is the way you describe it. The minimum wage in the U.S. came into being in the mid 1930's. I'm not sure when/where waitstaff became exempt from it (if it wasn't that way at the law's inception). Lots of articles talk about the origins of tipping...first page of Google results has a few theories that get you at least back to the medieval times.
And, again, it doesn't matter what came first. The point is most people today feel tipping is a necessity because of the low wages that wait staff make. It doesn't mean it's the ONLY reason, but it is one of the main reasons.
I don't think that tipping makes any more or less sense based on whether the state has a minimum wage applicable to waiters. Culturally, the custom makes the same amount of sense everywhere within that culture... (For what it's worth, I *don't* believe it's the most economically efficient system for compensating waiters, but I guess there are other positive elements of tipping that have made us culturally choose that trade-off.)
Yes, people have accepted giving large tips as a reward for good service in hopes that it will get them even better service next time around. My main objection is the people who deem tipping necessary to be considered a "good" person but then can't explain why it's morally necessary to tip the waiter who makes at least minimum wage but not the person who bags your groceries who makes the same.