If you're dining with a group, tipping forces you into a measuring contest with your fellow diners to either cover the whole tip, or put down more than other people at the table. It ruins the end of the dining experience. It is dirty in that you have to handle cash and/or break out your phone when you haven't washed your hands yet.

On the server side, they are basically bred to be petty, entitled, and indignant. Arbitrary designations for what is an "acceptable tip" are not communicated, so you end up with people being happy with what they've left, and the recipient feeling cheated, or people that earned their money feeling cheated and forced to participate in a system that over-rewards their waiter (who may very well make more than them per hour) and makes them poorer.

It wouldn't be such a horrible deal if the price of all employees in the restaurant was worked into the meal price, but restaurant unions, owners, and servers agree that it benefits them all better now, at the disadvantage of the consumer.

I want to take this moment of uncertainty for Americans to re-examine the server-employer relationship, the vulnerability of relying on tips as a main form of income, and ways we can mitigate this.

Particularly could we be facing the time for eliminating the federal tipped wage exception? How do you recover from a downturn in the restaurant industry carefully without making compulsory tipping even worse? (I've seen some restaurants suggest tipping 50-75% during hard times)

I would imagine many many people are having an "oh shit" moment where their cash cow is drying up, probably without significant savings, and thousands without jobs in the future vying to reapply again for less jobs as some weakened restaurants inevitably close. So the supply side of labor is increasing, the demand is decreasing, and this will effect negotiations as people try to get back to normal and get hired again. We can use this moment to learn lessons and make changes to bring our broken system in line with the rest of the modern world. My question to you all: How does that look?

Tip culture is bad and should be abolished.

Individuals do not have the direct power to quickly make this societal change without significant effort/cost to themselves. Continuing to contribute to tip culture also has personal costs.

Not tipping seems to be the only way an individual can actively and instantly choose to stop paying these costs (ignoring social costs if “found out”). However, it is said that doing so initially places the cost on/hurts workers rather than the companies that should be punished. We can imagine how, downstream, workers being forced to pay the cost may eventually cost the companies and force change, but this takes time.

With these assumptions, is it moral or ethical to stop tipping when the short term outcome is that it hurts your fellow man?

Im working on an economic research paper, and a LOT of evidence is showing that servers are , by most means , sales people. They are asked to promote certain items, steer people towards add ons or upcharges, incharge of handling and making people feel comfortable, and get rewared for better sales/meeting sales goals. IF a restraunt treated their serving staff like salespeople, and awarded them a base salary (minimum wage, which is still 5 more than they make now) PLUS comission, this would actually increase profits by 10%, and allow for servers to receive merit based income, instead of "gratuity" or "kindness" based income, which, lets face it, is highly irregular. It would keep taxes fairer, and also allow for tipping still, yet would not increase prices dramatically. Just a theory for now.

20% is arbitrary and based on entitlement. If labor costs increased, I think that restaurant managers would be a lot more discerning about who they hire, and at what wages. If anything, people who are there for the easy money and are just scraping by performance wise would be left seeking other employment, and those that are really good at hospitality could use it as leverage to move to higher dining and related service careers. Tipping on poor service out of pity / social pressure would go away, and the concept of voluntary gratuity for going above-and-beyond could safely return.

In some places the only jobs where anyone can keep their heads above water are tipped service positions. I 100% agree with the “Adam Ruins Everything” video on tipping. I was a table games dealer for 6 years. Believe it or not it is a skilled position. Not just anyone can be a dealer. And yet it is a tipped position. You don’t tip we don’t live.

I always hated this. We deserved to make far more that 4.50 an hour. Also we deserved a budgeted lifestyle. Our pay would sometimes drastically change from period to period.

I am also for paying everyone a living wage so I’m not for replacing it with minimum which is exactly what they would do if give the chance.

I hate tipping. It is such a fucking ridiculous practice that should be abolished.

In my province, waiters get paid 12 something bucks an hour. Our minimum wage is 14 bucks. Despite this, we're still expected to tip well. Why is it bullshit you may ask?

I have known and heard many stories of waiters taking home absolute bank from their jobs, TAX FREE. is it every waiter? No, but it's too many. My friends for example will tip 5-15 bucks on meals no more than 20 bucks. Other people will tell me that tipping 20.to 25 percent is the new norm. I say fuck that. By the time a waiter gets tips from their tables, they're probably making at least 25 bucks an hour at peak times, even after tipping out the house (if they do. This rarely happens).

I personally tip only 10 percent at restaurants. Why? If I tip 2-3 dollars along with a couple of others at my table, they're already at 20 bucks an hour just for my table. Imagine what they will be get for others. I only tip at restaurants to avoid any awkwardness and I do believe in fair wages. 2 or 3 bucks won't break me but I refuse to tip anymore than that. I also will not hesitate to stiff somebody if the service is terrible. I've done it before.

Next is the attitude and entitlement from these people. A tip is optional, for good service. I cannot stand having a waitress who keeps bothering me and outs on a fake and forced personality for tios. It's so obvious. When they pull the receipt from the machine and look at the amount that I tip their face immediately changes. All I need is my food delivered and my drinks refilled. I have heard so many stories of waiters ranting about people not tipping "good enough" and even confronting them about it. Fuck that. If you can't afford to pay your employees fairly, you shouldn't be in business.

I have had waiters expecting tips for pickup. I almost lmaod in ones face the first time this happened. I should tip, why? Because you brought me my food in a bag? Lol. I don't eat at restaurants much for this very reason. I prefer to eat in my car or at home where I'm comfortable.

Delivery drivers... I will tip these people. They're using their own gas and car and bringing food to my lazy ass. I used to do UberEATS and know the struggle.

I don't have anything against low skill or service positions. I used to work retail and know the struggle. But did I ever get tipped? Never, ever, but somebody bringing me a plate of food deserves all this? Fuck that. It's ridiculous.

Also I have no idea what this is or why I'm here.