From this thread it's pretty clear that the situation regarding tipping is very different between the UK and the US and that rightly or wrongly it's a very real, and necessary, part of a living wage in the US whereas in the UK it is not. Basically in the UK, minimum wage is a fair wage - personally I've only ever had minimum wage jobs and been perfectly happy with the amount - probably in part because of the NHS. The NHS, as well as other welfare benefits - like the state pension - is still paid for by 'National Insurance' but it's clearly not the same thing, nor anywhere near as expensive as health insurance in the US, though I don't know exactly how it's handled in the US, having never experienced it. In the UK, the current rate of National Insurance is 12% of earnings between £162 and £892 a week and 2% of earnings beyond £892 a week. And that... your 'NI contributions' ... is calculated/taken at source on income alongside your tax calculations.

So what I'm saying is if I was in America, with that different system, I'd probably see tipping in a very different light and see it as much more necessary. But here in the UK I see it, in that arbitrary form, as rather superfluous, and thus as I said I just see it as a strange and arbitrary custom rather than the merit-based essence of tipping I think it should be. From that perspective I agree with RR... that it's never made sense to me any rational reason why it should be a percentage of the bill; just as I disagree for similar reasons with Amazon or eBay taking a percentage of the sale price from sellers, as if such a commission has any bearing whatsoever on the administrative costs/work done on their end to process a sale. I guess I just disagree with commission in principle when it is arbitrary and doesn't relate to work done. But as I said I understand from this thread that it's a whole different situation in the US, due to an insufficient minimum wage (in and of itself and/or as a result of additional healthcare costs etc), so in that situation I would see that sort of arbitrary percentage tipping in a much more necessary light as a very real part of a living wage.

(September 29, 2018 at 3:31 am)vulcanlogician Wrote:

(September 28, 2018 at 10:17 pm)RoadRunner79 Wrote: I’ll may get flak for this, but I don’t necessarily tip based on percentage.  I don’t see that the price of what I ordered has any reflection on what was done. I look at what was ordered (how many courses or if I’m drinking beer), how good the service was (there when I needed something) and weigh it against how busy they are. Someone who is working their ass off, may get a better tip, then another whom I happened to order something more expensive from. Or if they are really busy, and I still get great service, then I will often tip more.

Many places encourage their servers to sell food. In addition, servers are taxed based on their end-of-night ticket. I see where you are coming from, RR, but if you pay a lot of money for a meal, you ought to consider tipping higher too because your server is getting taxed based on what you spend.

What.... wait.... are you in the US. This sounds kind of crazy. I think here, they are taxed on their earnings, the owner, is getting taxed off of what I spent (actually profit from it), but not the server.

Im from.the UK, the only time I've tipped is telling the taxi driver he can keep the change.

(September 29, 2018 at 8:42 am)paulpablo Wrote: Im from.the UK, the only time I've tipped is telling the taxi driver he can keep the change.

Yeah, I forgot about that... I say 'keep the change' a lot too. But outside of that, and outside of individual tips given to individuals, the only places I've seen with any customary expectation of tips has been restaurants... but I don't go to restaurants enough to know whether that's a general thing across the board. Ie I generally only go to restaurants if I'm invited as part of some event, but don't 'eat out' of my own accord very often... seeing it as expensive enough without tips let alone with tips. So I really don't know how widespread that sort of tipping culture is in the UK. I know they did it in a Frankie and Benny's I went to once, but since I think that's an American franchise, that doesn't necessarily help in determining the UK culture for it, since it could just be, in that case, an imported/borrowed American tradition. I know there have been other places as well though, but as I said, haven't had enough exposure to them to know how and where it applies in general.

I'll say keep the change to the food delivery guy. However, I always tip $3.00 regardless of how much my bill is. I look at the distance between myself and the take out place and figure if I'm less than five miles away, that's more than enough of a tip.

Arguing that tipping is cultural because it's the same in the U.S. and Canada ignores the fact that the two are not particularly culturally similar.

(September 29, 2018 at 9:40 am)Joods Wrote: I'll say keep the change to the food delivery guy. However, I always tip $3.00 regardless of how much my bill is. I look at the distance between myself and the take out place and figure if I'm less than five miles away, that's more than enough of a tip.

I usually tip $2 for delivery.   Anymore, they add a $2 dollar delivery charge to the order.

(September 29, 2018 at 10:53 am)RoadRunner79 Wrote:

(September 29, 2018 at 9:40 am)Joods Wrote: I'll say keep the change to the food delivery guy. However, I always tip $3.00 regardless of how much my bill is. I look at the distance between myself and the take out place and figure if I'm less than five miles away, that's more than enough of a tip.

I usually tip $2 for delivery.   Anymore, they add a $2 dollar delivery charge to the order.

The driver never sees that delivery charge. It says so right on the receipt or in menus.

God, Roadie, you are a cheapskate. I guess you get it from all that talk about charity in the bible.

(September 29, 2018 at 8:29 am)RoadRunner79 Wrote:

(September 29, 2018 at 3:31 am)vulcanlogician Wrote: Many places encourage their servers to sell food. In addition, servers are taxed based on their end-of-night ticket. I see where you are coming from, RR, but if you pay a lot of money for a meal, you ought to consider tipping higher too because your server is getting taxed based on what you spend.

What.... wait.... are you in the US. This sounds kind of crazy.   I think here, they are taxed on their earnings, the owner, is getting taxed off of what I spent (actually profit from it), but not the server.

I live in the US.

They are taxed on their earnings   . But how are their earnings calculated? In Maryland (when I was a server) the federal gov't taxed 7% of my sales each night. It might be higher now. IDK. You are SUPPOSED to report all your tips. But nobody does. If you enter in 7% of your sales each night as earnings, the gov't won't come asking questions.

---

And no shit, RR! Listen to Jor. You need to tip more, man. The service industry sucks worse than you think.

You think being a waitress is just bringing food out to the table? Fuck no! There is a ton of prep work involved. And when shit hits the fan, you have to multitask: remind the cooks to have your order ready, maybe prepare salads, get drinks, all the while being bitched out by the owner (a bleach blond, half drunken 40 something with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth) every time you go back to the kitchen.