The US made it legal to pay tipped employees basically no wage (like pennies an hour). Tipping is stupid but if you don't do it the employee is basically unpaid.
I'd split the difference by just paying them based on my estimation of the time and effort they spent. The cost of the thing I bought should have no bearing. This notion that the tip should be 15/18/20% or whatever of your final bill is idiotic.
The US made it legal to pay tipped employees basically no wage
Not everywhere anymore, California made that shit illegal a year ago and it's fucking great to slap that in the face of every fucking cunt trying to clap me an asshole for not tipping 20% on an $80 bill for someone who couldn't keep my drink filled
I feel like that's what the percentage was meant to approximate. Because more people in a party are likely to have a larger bill and will definitely be more work. Of course there are more variables and one constant percentage won't always result in the same reasonable wage for their work.
I like how all stores even the shady ones like dollar general now want you to give money to some 'charity' at check out. Like I'm going to help them with some tax dodging scam they are running. I no longer tip anywhere I go. I don't go to the places that force a tip on you.
Except I read a article that said they did get to use it as a tax dodge in certain cases. That article had a list of companies that used it that way and dollar general was on that list. At some point you have to accept that the whole system is rotten and for every responsible entity just trying to do a good thing there are ten others that define whats good by whats good for them and only them.
The peer pressure based donation for enabling corporate tax evasion is BS. It should be disallowed because all it’s doing is letting big corps not pay their due taxes
on the one hand, tipping is toxic and enables exploitation
on the other hand, i respect the grind and understand life is hard out there for people just trying to get by
I'll usually tip 20% for delivery drivers because going literal MILES to bring me my food is objectively more daunting than crossing a room.
, i respect the grind and understand life is hard out there for people just trying to get by
Exactly, if appropriate I would tip someone even if they’re adequately paid by their employer. Though I think it would make more sense if the minimum wage is raised instead. I also get why some cultures dislike tipping, so I just treat it on a case by case basis
Yes, tipping culture is out of control and needs to be abolished. But screwing over the wait staff or delivery driver currently providing you service will never have any impact on the big wigs that made the decision to play them less than minimum wage.
Why is this so difficult for people?
Pay reasonable tips for reasonable service people paid under minimum wage. Also work with your local politicians to eliminate tipping. Do not withold tips from people working under minimum wage unless you just want to be part of the boot stepping on them.
I always saw tipping mostly as a way to avoid dealing with change, so now that I pay with card almost everywhere and change is no longer relevant, I like to round it up to neat numbers like 333 or 456 to make it tiny bit easier to enter on the terminal.
For me it’s do the 10% quick math then double. I never tip less than 20% even if someone is not great just because people have shit days in customer service (my field). If they’re great I go up from there and leave a nice message of appreciation. They never hear praise enough.
Plus if you end up going back they won’t forget stellar tips and you will get priority/better seating/treated more like a friend which is always nice. Ex. For work we frequent a great local BBQ place that also serves a rotating selection of local brews. One waitress is amazing and always treats us well. Can’t say the good tips we leave are the reason but I’m sure it doesn’t hurt.
People tip pizza guys a dollar? Man, we were tipping $5 back in the 90's. I tip $10-$12 now. The dude just drove to my house and brought me pizza, he deserves some compensation.
compensation... for doing the job he is paid to do... right.
look, if you live at the end of a long shitty dirt road, or maybe the last apartment on the top floor of a 6 story walk up - then they're going above and beyond. Hell yeah, tip more.
Tip to be nice, because times are tough and you have some extra cash.
But don't tip because someone did the bare minimum that they get paid to do anyway.
Don't tip because it's expected. Don't tip if you can't afford it.
you, by simply spending what little you have and can, are helping pay their wage already. You're doing your part. That is: don't feel guilty if you can't or don't tip.
Do feel warm and fuzzy if you can and do tip, though. it's still nice to do :)
Not that I agree with it, but in no time in the 90s did I know of pizza delivery that wasn’t tips-dependent, like restaurants in places. No gas reimbursement or anything at minimum. And this was in Canada where tip culture is dampened compared to the US.
At Domino's about 7 years ago, we got paid minimum wage, plus I think a dollar per delivery item, (multiple houses on some trips when we were busy counted each order) and then tips on top. That per order bonus I think has gone up since then.
They charged the customer a $3.50 delivery fee though.
There was also a class action suit that showed that the per delivery bonus didn't cover the wear and tear and gas for the delivery, and could push the driver under minimum wage if they didn't get tips.
They usually get paid minimum wage, and people delivering pizzas for a living typically don't have a whole lot of choices for what they do to make ends meet.
Agreed, people got mad at me for suggesting literally the same hah ¯_ (ツ)_/¯
Edit: in their defense, I think they objected more to the idea that a delivery person should avoid anyone who doesn’t tip. I get why they’d feel that way, it’s understandable
Tipping culture aside, how is the US so behind the times on payment systems? Everywhere else you tap on a machine, and if tip is needed you can enter the percent or dollar amount. What is this paper signing bull shit from the 60s?
This is mostly the same in the us. It's less common for drivers though, because you typically pay when you place the order and the driver just has you sign the paper as acknowledgement that you got the order.
This way the driver doesn't need to carry around a card machine everywhere they go, instead the slip can go right with the receipt on the hot bag, this also means the driver doesn't need to futz around with figuring out which order the tip goes to since they may have 3 or 4 orders on their run.
I delivered pizzas for a long time, there was about a six month period where we switched to square and it was horrible, people out in the country with no service meant I couldn't run their card, also since the order wasnt processed already, people would argue about the price when we got there, even though they accepted the price on the phone, trying to get a deal since we already drove all the way out.
Signing a slip of paper is the absolute fastest method for a delivery driver and there is no obligation to fill in the 'total' part, you can just put the tip value on the tip line and a line through the total, no math.
Write the number 5 on a piece of paper and that's it, faster than any machine, no hiccups with cell service, no batteries to keep charged, no greasy fingerprints on the screen. No worry about dropping it down 15 stories of stairs at a hotel, etc.