A tip is meant to be “Here’s an extra $10, I know you’re already getting paid a living wage, but you went above and beyond and were the star show the show, you deserve it.” That’s not what we have in the USA, we have some broken tipped minimum wage that makes it feel like an obligation. It’s broken.

America has entered the smug European fucking over the locals phase of being a third world country

If you don’t like tipping culture, don’t screw the worker while inconveniencing the restaurant not at all. Boycott the restaurants unless they pay fair wages. Go to the grocery store. Plenty of good meals to be found there.

Fun fact: These states require tippable workers to be paid the full minimum wage:

• Alaska
• California
• Guam
• Minnesota
• Nevada
• Oregon

Source: Department of Labor - Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees

Don’t hurt fellow workers unless you’re a capitalist.

There’s lots to unpack here.

1. In at least the west coast states, tipped workers do not make a lower wage.
2. I’m not aware of any successful restaurants in the U.S. who have higher prices eliminating tipping and pay their staff a salary. Every instance I’ve seen of this fails.
3. Servers make more money under a tipping culture over a set wage. They’d rather have tipping.

I’m not defending tipping as the way it should be, only that this is the way it is. Any one coming over to the US and not tipping to “make a statement” isn’t hurting the restaurants, they’re hurting the workers. And while we rightly expect US tourists to respect the customs of countries to which they travel, we should also expect the same of tourists to the US, at least those customs that affect the workers.

These tourists will “make a statement” for these couple of weeks, giving business/money to the restaurants but none to the staff, then leave and nothing will have changed except the bank account balances of the staff. If they wanted to make a statement, they’d seek out restaurants which already more closely aligned with their position.

Will never happen. All this will do is fuck service workers over.

I appreciate america-dunking as much as everyone but are we really going to pretend that there is no exploitation in the service industry in Europe?

EDIT: PS, if you want to actually do something beyond smugly complaining, put your money where your mouth is:

• https://secure.actblue.com/donate/unite-here / https://unitehere.org/
• https://sbworkersunited.org/ upper right, button for donation: https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/5AFGEN89WKKCN

I’m surprised europeans even go to USA… with ICE arresting anyone who looks at them funny…

Also - I think people should do what they want in this specific matter. USA is supposedly “land of the free” so as long as there is no official government-mandated tip amount, tipping 0$ is as good as any tip amount. Tipping is as much of a cultural thing as the tax level, that is - none.

and they call themselves a first world country…

Do waiters in Europe get paid a living wage and live comfortably? Serious question

Man europe hates Americans as much as they hate Romani people

When I went to Japan I didn’t tip because it was rude.

If I’ll go to USA I won’t tip unless I want to because expecting tips is rude.

Wow keep it up

• Not tipping
• Demanding a living wage for workers

I wonder which of these the euros have been more successful at?