wages in the USA need a ~50 or 100% increase in most places. Yet the only increase that most workers have seen recently has been an increase to tipping. The amount of places that ask for tips has easily doubled in the last 2 years. There is tipping everywhere now and while I want workers to get more money, I am also a worker. 20% extra on a large amount of purchases I make is pretty rough. Should I tip workers who get paid more than I do? Should I tip while unemployed? Its confusing and awkward to make the decision to tip or not.
It'd be nice to just commit to something clear. What do y'all do?
It is customary to tip everyone you see, and for them to tip you. Just constantly be handing wads of sweaty $1 between yourself and everyone around you at all times. This is called The Economy and it must be kept moving at all times. or there will be consequences. Consequences.
reminds of this joke: two economists are walking in a park when they come across a pile of dog shit. one economist says to the other, "i'll give you $50 to eat that dog shit." after performing a cost/benefit analysis, the other economist agrees, eats the shit, and accepts his hard-earned $50. as they continue their walk they come across another pile of dog shit. the economist who ate the feces earlier offers the same deal to his walking buddy, "ill give you $50 to eat this pile." the economist agrees and earns his $50. a few minutes later one of them says to the other, "it feels like we both ate dog shit for nothing." "nonsense!" says the other economist, "we just contributed $100 to our country's GDP!"
I would suggest, in your case, only tipping in traditionally tipped situations.
In the last year, my partner and I have both achieved stable employment with pay that would have seen us buying a house ten years ago, but it's now so we're still renting for the foreseeable forever. We both come from working class upbringing and spent years in poverty, so having anything in savings is a weird feeling. I tip freely wherever workers can be tipped, in cash if I can help it to avoid the owners and taxman taking a cut. I can afford it, I've subsisted off of tips and food stolen from work before, so I do what I can. Don't put yourself out if you can't afford it.
Fortunate enough that my partner and I both have secure high paying jobs so I mean you could basically spit in face and beat me senseless and I’d still tip at least 20% if the receipt has a spot for it.
spit in face and beat me senseless
sounds more like 40-50% territory imo
I am fortunate enough to be making decent money so I tip out the ass
do you at least clean it off after it comes out? i would not want to be tipped directly out the ass
Tipping is mostly for people who are getting paid like $2 an hour, so waiters and waitresses, and maybe delivery people as well. Tip jars are probably just going to the owner, so I wouldn't bother unless you're cool with that.
Obvious this is all with the caveat that you shouldn't spend money you can't afford to spend. Don't put yourself on the street paying for Doordash.I tend to tip around 20% (rounded up if cash). If it's counter service or an establishment I know pays it's employees a regular wage I tip a little lower. I make $3 an hour above minimum wage in my city and most tipped workers here make more than I do in a year.
IMO we should stop tipping completely in places that have a tip credit. That's just customers directly subsidizing the employer's labor costs and the data shows eliminating the tip credit is good for tipped workers. For some reason they tend to be very defensive about tips though.
I tip flat amounts, none of that "percentage of your bill BS" and I only do it for jobs that are already expected to be tipped. You might get a bonus if I feel bad but 95% of the time it's the same amount regardless. I only don't tip if I see them being bigoted or some other awful shit.
$1-2 per beer minimum, $5 minimum for to-go, $10 minimum for table service, and percentage (30%+) for a big party.
If you're in the US most places only have to pay service staff like $2.15/hr unless there was a local change recently.
Tips are basically 100% of wages for waitstaff and hosts because that $2.15 only covers taxes (if that).
Delivery drivers are also responsible for maintaining their own vehicle and paying for gas, so they need decent tips to just break even.
I mean yeah but I'm also only one of a couple tables. I'm not gonna skimp, but I'm not made of money either I'm barely going out to a restaurant at all as is and ordering delivery is not happening.
I'm just stating what is considered good tipping practice, the whole point of the system is that it offloads the burden of wages onto the patrons which is bullshit.
Any decent establishment also usually implements tip sharing where the tips are put into a pool and divided amongst the staff according to hours worked which is better, but still dumb because it's the employer's job to provide a living wage.
Restaurant servers get 20%, bartenders and baristas get the change or a dollar usually.
They get paid better, have a better job, and get tipped more frequently than servers. Even if I'm paying more than ten dollars a drink, it's probably not something that's taking more than a couple minutes. Drinks are expensive to begin with and I'm already tipping 20+% for you to pour a beer.
They don't get paid better and it's actually a very difficult job
as someone outside the us, i would like if everyone who responds to this also posts their ballpark annual pay
just to see, you know?that seems like a good idea. I guess I should mention then that I make about 19k a year but don't pay rent. Im also currently unemployed
i live somewhere without a tipping culture (uk) and make ~8k per year (converted to usd), do pay rent, also currently unemployed
It's mad to me that you are able to live on that! I am a cover teacher and make that much in about 10 full weeks before taxes. and but I have lower-than-average rent for my area and its more than $8k a year :(
a more expanded answer is that i cook all my own food, buy only supermarket own brand stuff, live in social housing, and have very cheap tastes
the current massive inflation does mean i'm increasingly fucked with every month that passes
I make about that much right now and also don't pay rent. I tip delivery-people and waitstaff, $5 or 15% whichever is more.
i appreciate it, but that tells me nothing lol
you could live in bumfuck no-where alabama, or silicon valley
I will for restaurants and bars specifically. coffeeshops if it's like a bougie one, not dunkies or starbucks.
i dont do delivery but i always tip when I do.
all of these are cash, unless for some reason i dont have any with me (but i usually do if i know im going out).
anything where someone just hands me something, no, sorry.
This is a good rule of thumb.
If you're getting service (waiter/tress, barista, bartender, delivery driver), then tip. Especially if it's a state where the tip wage is under minimum wage. 20%.
If you're just receiving goods, especially if you don't have extra cash to splash, don't sweat it.
Also, if you just get black coffee from a giant reservoir, no need to tip more than spare change for that(i.e. throw a quarter in the collective jar)
There's no tipped wage at all in my state which makes it confusing how the amount of things with tips have increased in the last few years
I just press the leftmost option on those tablet things and am sometimes deceived by dark patterns. Never get things delivered
I know to tip food service workers, but I'm never sure if I should tip other service workers. Like should I have tipped the electrician who fixed the wiring in my house?
The electrician worked for himself, I don't know if he was incorporated or just doing side work. I've had other repairs done by tradesmen who worked for corporations. In all of these situations I just paid the bill, although one time I had a coupon for a corporation.
In the US, we have low sales tax, but end up paying up to the European VAT percentage in tips. And then the worker gets taxed on the tip earnings if they declare them.
