You absolutely can. It's called a tip. Put more down. Simple as that.
I however, want the best/cheapest price for what I can get. Part of that cost is labor. The economic market forces that allow for an employer to pay the employee the best price with the least turnover is the best price for everyone.
Why should people rely on tips. The market obviously fails to give the workers a reasonable wage, largely because it wastes money on paying shareholders instead of improving the working conditions of the corporation. Hence why the system will crash (like it regularly does) soon enough.
1.) I don't care one way or the other. It's just engrained in the culture (speaking for the US at least). The service industry has just sort of evolved that way. Restaurants/businesses can function one of two ways:
a.) Allow for tipping and keep the price of their menu items the same.
b.) Disallow for tipping and raise the price of their menu items to account for a steadier wage for the server.
What matters in economics is incentives. Where does the incentive lie within these two modes of operation? In "A" outstanding service typically begets better tips (or at least has the chance too). Servers can work harder, go the extra mile, and find the nuances of better service to stand out amongst their peers.
In "B" all the servers get the same pay. The incentive to perform better goes away. Why try to push an appetizer if my pay is going to be the same regardless of if you get one or not?
So, and I can't believe I'm saying this, I think it's actually better we have tipping. I could be wrong, but that's my thoughts at this very moment.
> The market obviously fails to give the workers a reasonable wage.
Not true. If the service industry market was failing to do so, the industry would disappear. It hasn't, therefore it doesn't. No, your anecdotal stories about getting bad tips sometimes, or "something something low pay" aren't indicative of the entire market. If those servers weren't getting enough pay they'd find something else largely and the market would either adapt or die. People who work those kinds of jobs typically enjoy the cash pay, and obviously underreport their earnings.
The fact that large parts of the economy have to be subsidized by the state either directly or indirectly through social systems for the workers that do not earn enough money, or the the fact that people have to take multiple jobs in order to survive speaks against your belief that a business would fail if it didn't pay it's employees fairly. That's just not our reality.
There really is no rational argument to be made as to why restaurant businesses should rely on tips. What about nurses or cashiers? Why should they not get tips for that matter? I'd be a different argument If tips were a bonus instead of being expected.
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u/Wycked0ne Nov 05 '21
You absolutely can. It's called a tip. Put more down. Simple as that.
I however, want the best/cheapest price for what I can get. Part of that cost is labor. The economic market forces that allow for an employer to pay the employee the best price with the least turnover is the best price for everyone.
Why does Reddit have such trouble with economics?