Originally Posted by Philatravelgirl

Can we put a stop to this whole "tipping issue" on FlyerTalk. I seem to see a new "tipping is horrible" post every few days by those who have never had to wait on the public to earn a living? I've waitressed for over ten years while in college and to supplement my first job earnings at an investment firm so I could travel. I learned so much more about the public (good, bad and truly ugly) working in bars & restaurants that it definitely helped me dealing with C-level staff and folks around the world. You are making blanket assumptions that they don't want to improve education or technical skills? I really can't believe I just read that sweeping generalization.

The US definitely has a problem with tipping (it's gotten worse IMO) - I earned $2.01 an hour and had to declare to the IRS a % of sales whether or not the table covered the % or not. I had to tip out to others from my tips - tip the bartender and about five others (if I was lucky others) so you assume folks get to keep those tips - you are served by a village not one person in a restaurant. The host(ess) who seats you, the bartender makes your drink, the sommelier, the food runner, the guy who refills the water glass, the person who clears the table and a few others. I paid taxes on the whole pile of tips, not the net after paying out to the others. So for your $200 dinner, if you did tip 10%, the server doesn't keep that $20 as they need to tip out to everyone.