Kimaya Khurana – Week 5 – Tips, Tips, and Tips
Why is it that in America, tips are expected and even automatic, but everywhere else, all around the world, they aren't?
In Japan, they specifically prohibit tips and find it disrespectful if a tourist even suggests it. However, in America, some businesses automatically set the tip for the buyer, even without asking them what percentage they would prefer. One thing that really irks me is when the servers don’t even do anything; all they do is be at the counter when you place your order. Yet on the screen, it will still ask what percentage of a tip the customer would like to give. Why should a tip be given for that? Something which anyone, even me, can do?
Tips used to be for table service. Now it's for coffee shops, to-go orders, delivery apps, haircuts, nails, airports, kiosks, and the list honestly just keeps on going on.
Society has been shaped in a way that it even makes someone look like a bad person if they don’t tip, instilling guilt in the buyer. Whether it's DoorDash or Uber Eats, the app automatically asks for a tip for the driver, which makes a person like me feel guilty for not giving them some money for driving to get my food. Why is it that in other countries the bill itself is the total compensation, but in America, the bill + the tip is full compensation?
CNBC mentions how “tipping remains a small gesture of gratitude” in Europe, but in the U.S., “tipping is almost obligatory.” This, however, is because a worker’s wage isn’t keeping up with inflation, and therefore, the money they earn mainly comes from tips. In contrast, for other countries, this isn’t the case.
In London, 10% is for pleasant service and 15% is exceptional.
In Paris, the tip is usually included and will say “Service Compris.”
In Italy, they don’t accept tips, and 10% for exceptional service.
In Greece, only 5%.
In Mexico, it can go up to 15-20%.
But in America, tips can go up to above 20% for “excellent service.”
Even so, there's a law that makes tipping this high. The U.S allows restaurants to have a sub-minimum wage for services, which can go as low as $2.13 per hour, since tips supposedly make up the rest. But this is illegal in many other countries, where a living wage should be guaranteed regardless of tips. Tips should be optional, and only granted for truly exceptional service, not just for a person asking what you would like to eat at a coffee shop.
Do tips honestly help workers? Or is it just a bigger scheme that allows companies to not spend as much money on their employees’ wages?
I completely understand the struggle you have with giving tips to workers that have done nothing at all except say a couple words, click some buttons, and turn the tablet towards you. Just yesterday, I went to a Thai restaurant for some impromptu Tom Yum soup to take to-go. When the worker gave me a receipt to add a tip and sign, I signed it first and paused before writing anything on the line that followed the word "tip." Ultimately, I did end up not leaving a tip since i was taking it to-go and my parents are careful with their tips, but that doesn't mean I didn't walk out the door feeling guilty. I definitely think that inflation and the absolute inability of some places to pay their workers basic minimum wage or even just a little more is what has made tipping culture increase, especially after COVID, during which restaurants took a big hit. Ultimately, waiting tables is how some people make their entire living. You mention that tipping culture is different in multiple countries, and that's always fascinated me. What are these other countries doing differently that don't have their customers feeling guilty when they walk out the door for not tipping an insanely high amount? In my opinion, tipping culture can tell us a lot about the countries themselves. For example, Japanese people are known for being extremely respectful, and that is reflected in their refusal to accept tips.
ReplyDeleteHi, Kimaya! Tipping culture is definitely interesting. I also grew up thinking that it was almost required, and I vividly remember, as a young kid, getting mad at my dad every time he didn’t tip at least 15% (even if the service was bad). I used to dramatically tell him that these poor employees were probably just having a bad day and ask him how he would feel in their situation if he were expected to put on an act of serving others perfectly for multiple hours per day. I was quite the dramatic child. But, to this day, I think tipping is a very important thing, unless the cost is already egregious like an $8 boba drink. Though I do think tipping culture is excessive, and reflects poorly on the structure of America’s treatment of the working class, it is (to some degree) also understandable. In other European countries, though tipping isn’t a big part of the culture, there are already built in service fees (unlike most of the US) and they charge for water (unlike most of the US). So in that way, other countries still have tipping, though not as extravagant as it is here.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this blog Kimaya! Tipping is inherently an American quirk that, like you said, comes from the U.S. law that “allows restaurants to have a sub-minimum wage for services.” I personally think that restaurants are trying to move from paying their waiters a reasonable wage to using tips as a justification for the customers themselves to pay for these waiters, effectively enabling the restaurant to save money. The Doordash and Uber Eats feelings are so justified. I also “feel guilty” whenever I do not give a tip for these people “driving to get my food.” At this point in time, I think tipping is a social norm. These days, for the times I tip, I do it not because of the good quality service, but honestly because that is what I am accustomed to doing. I also worry about how there are some places where tips do not even go to the waiters. I remember at one restaurant, my family was about to tip but the waiter just moved on and we asked them why. They explained how this restaurant’s tips do not even go to them so they just ignore the tips altogether. This kind of greed exemplifies America’s corporate ideologies and are the logic behind the tipping culture.
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