Tipping question - What would you do?

[riverwed070707]

Sorry to return to this post again as I don't want to cause a flame of wars, but have you never encountered extreme unpleasantness from the wait staff if they felt the tips were low? I was once threatened because I refused to pay the 15% bribe for a downright shoddy service and paid "only 10%". There are numerous videos/evidence out there that the service staff spits in customer's food if they see a "non tipper" return back to the place. Pray tell me - would you as a customer even dare to frequent a place if you didn't tip 15-20%? You would be scared out of your wits.

It is universally accepted that if you don't tip AT LEAST 15%, you would be subjected to some bad and gross things. Several people tip even a bad service out of fear. It's fine if you don't want to acknowledge it; it doesn't change the truth.

Fact: Even restaurant wait staff is guaranteed minimum wage. That's the law. if they pressure you to tip above and beyond NO MATTER what the service is, it's blackmail - I don't know any other word to put it. I am not blaming any individual - it's institutionalized. I am also sane. I agree if I belonged to that institution and if tipping benefitted me, I would insist on tipping too and create all sorts of illogical arguments to somehow justify this.

By law, everyone in any industry gets a minimum wage. If you work menial service jobs in a restaurant, that's what you should expect. You should never think of this job as a career and expect to make upper middle class salaries out of extorting tips from your customers.

Here is a simple math exercise. On average, I would expect a middle/upper middle class family to spend $250 a month on food in restaurants. That's $3000 a year. At 20% tips, it's $600 in tips. Over 18 years, that's almost $11K. Do you begin to understand just how much money you are throwing away in tips? Compare this number to the average student debt in the US at $25K.

Seriously. My final post on this topic. Happy tipping.

Keep fighting the good fight. You clearly know a lot more about the topic than anyone who's been in the industry and don't care how degrading you are to prove a point.

[Butterscotch]

Menial service jobs? Wow, avl, you sounds like an elitist prick. If people are spitting in your food it is because of your 'better than you' attitude, not because you tip 10%.