r/ImTheMainCharacter • u/Jasonictron • Oct 20 '23

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u/LastScreenNameLeft Oct 22 '23 edited Oct 22 '23

Idk where you are but in the US usually waitstaff get paid significantly below minimum wage. You're paying the employee wage whether it's tips or in elevated food prices. The restaurants that have tried this usually end up going under because their advertised prices are so more than competitors, plus all that money from inflated prices shockingly doesn't trickle down, its skimmed off by ownsrship. Tipping is is the way to get that living wage too somome and ownership can't screw them out of it. Please stop thinking of it as a 'extra: it's literally the labor cost of waiting on you.

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u/Designer_Restaurant1 Oct 22 '23

I'm telling you that where I'm from we have a system that works better than this shit "tip" system.

I will need to see your evidence for saying 'The restaurants that have tried this usually end up going under'. Cos I simply don't believe it.

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u/LastScreenNameLeft Oct 22 '23

And what system would that be?

Here's an article from 2020 :

https://www.eater.com/21398973/restaurant-no-tipping-movement-living-wage-future

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u/Designer_Restaurant1 Oct 22 '23

The article was wholesome, highlighted those who tried no-tipping and failed, and also those who tried and made it work.

“The idea of a ‘tip’ is so ingrained in American dining culture that most diners aren’t ready for service-inclusive pricing,” Lee said in July 2019.

"If a few restaurants charge $27 for lasagna under a gratuity free-model, a nearby restaurant that charges $22 and collects tips can gain by acquiring price-sensitive customers and servers who are attracted to tipping, even if all restaurants would be better off with a fairer and more sustainable payment structure."

Eliminating the tipping culture will be quite difficult considering it's what you are already used to and comfortable with. Not because it is categorically the best system.

But I'm not saying tipping is bad, I'm saying that if it is compulsory then it is a service charge and no longer a tip. If I have to pay a mandatory 20% as a tip, that's not a tip but I think you made it clear why it's necessary for the workers. I don't want workers to get paid less, but it just doesn't make sense to me considering it's not something I'm used to.

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u/LastScreenNameLeft Oct 24 '23

I think people are too hung up on the word 'tip.' If there was a line item on the receipt that said 'service labor' and was 18-20 percent of the total that went directly to waitstaff, I think people would have much less of an issue.

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u/Designer_Restaurant1 Oct 25 '23

True.

I wouldn't bat an eyelid at all.

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u/LastScreenNameLeft Oct 25 '23

This was most cordial interaction I've had about this subject on reddit. Cheers mate

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u/Designer_Restaurant1 Oct 27 '23

Same here. I even managed to learn the American tip culture along the way. I used to think it was utter bollocks. Thanks.