Assuming you have been to a restaurant, you have experienced U.S. tipping culture, which involves giving a tip for the waiter or waitress’s service, typically 20% of the total price of your meal. Maybe less if the service was mediocre, maybe more if it was exceptional.
This tipping culture comes out of obligation, since it was conceived during a time when restaurants couldn’t afford to pay their servers properly, so it became its own culture for the customer to pay them. Nowadays restaurants can absolutely pay their staff members steady wages, but they choose not to because it keeps menu items cheaper and they spend way less on servers.
That is one of the reasons I dislike it; a tip never seems to function as a reward. It’s a nonsensical obligation that people feel they must fulfill; otherwise, they fear their food will arrive with a large amount of spit. A tip by definition is a small amount of money given as thanks for their help; you shouldn’t be forced to thank someone for doing their job at a normal level. A thank you should feel earned or be given out of gratitude for a satisfactory job.
On top of that, you’re now paying 20% more for your meal every time you go, with increasing prices. I do understand why people don’t complain about tipping through; instead, some business is giving money to a hard-working individual, which feels much better.
If we, as a country, were to abolish tip culture and suddenly food prices rose, people would get very angry, not thinking about why they rose. Tipping culture is a mindset of the people, not a government-mandated thing. It would take way longer to go away without the government forcing it.
In other cultures like Japan, tipping is considered a form of pity, so nobody ever tips. I find it perplexing that cultures struggle to interpret a simple thank you, regardless of whether we impose it or reject it entirely.
I believe that a tip should be genuine and sincere. Thank you for exceptional work. Our culture makes it some hollow obligation to pay for our server’s salary instead of the business they work at.
