# One good reason why you should Tip ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 13, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-good-reason-why-you-should-tip/599503 "2011-10-13T04:49:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-good-reason-why-you-should-tip/599503/141 "2011-10-17T22:33:44Z")
> [@Mapache](#): > > They were pretty close. Usually when the master of the house went out, the servants all had to stand in a row, bowing and scraping and muttering “Good morning, sir” while he ignored them. They couldn’t quit, because if the master didn’t choose to write out a reference they’d never get another place. What gets me was how rude the upstairs classes were to the the downsstairs. I was watching a DVD of Jeeves and Wooster the other day; Bertie never says “Please” or “Thank you” to Jeeves, just orders him around, while Jeeves always calls him “Sir.” “Thank You, Jeeves” (1934); “Much Obliged Jeeves” (1971). These are just novel titles. I can’t answer for the actual text. However if you read the books and stories you’ll find that Jeeves is always the one in control. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-good-reason-why-you-should-tip/599503/142 "2011-10-18T02:21:27Z")
> [@George\_Kaplin](#): > > I hope I am. I’d be genuinely interested to learn how much money a busy nightclub barman in America would take home in an average week. I only bartend part time at the moment, but when it used to be my only source of income, I would take home around about $370.00 dollars per week net, and I’d work about 50 hours a week. How does this compare with an American barman? Keep in mind that I had to do as much unpleasant ‘behind-the-scenes’ maintenance work as any American barman. I cleaned up sick and broken glass, broke up fights, kept the bar clean, worked the cellar, the whole lot. I never worked night clubs - either in the UK or the US. I was a pub barman in the UK, and worked both in a neighborhood beer & shots sports bar and in a student type bar, as well as doing a lot of catering party bartending (which sucks). A night club bartender would likely work harder than I did, and earn a little more. It just wouldn’t suit my personality as well, so I never looked for that kind of work. I would work 4 or 5 nights a week, from 7 until 2 am (3 am on Sundays), with often another hour cleaning up time after. For that I got $40 a shift. On top of that I got tips. I earned MUCH more than I did in the UK, obviously. A Friday or Saturday shift would tend to be around $150 on a bad night, to $200 or more on a good night. Out of that I would tip the cook out around $20. The Tuesday/Wednesday shift was much more variable. A very slow night would be $30-$40; on average more likely to be $80-$100. Maybe a little less, thinking about it but this was a while ago (13 years about). > [@George\_Kaplin](#): > > I’ve had a lot of minimum wage jobs in my time, and in terms of difficulty and stress bartending doesn’t rate in the top 3. The worst job I ever had was working in a fish and chip shop. It was unbearably hot, frequently jam-packed with customers, I kept burning myself on the deep fat fryer, came home stinking of cheap cooking oil every day, and earned an absolute pittance. Bartending is hard, no doubt, but it’s not _that_ hard. I’ve certainly done worse jobs. Bartending tends to attract a certain type of personality, and you need to have that personality (if male, other skills help female bartenders) to do well at it over here. > [@George\_Kaplin](#): > > If American bartenders are genuinely annoyed at the fact that bartenders elsewhere get a higher basic salary in exchange for virtually no tips, then they need to check their maths. An Englishman hoping to live comfortably off bar work alone would need to put in a good 80 hours a week. I’d wager that an American bartender working in the same sort of environment as me wouldn’t need to put in anywhere near as many. Frankly, when considering their international counterparts, I doubt American bar staff have time to do anything except laugh at the poor suckers like me who don’t have the opportunity to work for tips. They aren’t. What bartenders do get annoyed by are the people who decide not to tip, using as an excuse that the owners should pay them a higher wage. Because those people don’t actually do anything about it - they don’t boycott the bars, and tell the owners why. Instead, they chose to keep their own money in their pocket, and invent a bullshit excuse for it. Tipping is part of the social contract. If you don’t pay till the end of your tab, and aren’t planning on going back to the place, there isn’t a “benefit” to you for tipping as such. But by not tipping, you are simply free riding on the other customers in the bar, and that is kind of a dickhead thing to do. > [@George\_Kaplin](#): > > As I said to **RickJay** , this is all sour grapes on my part, of course. If American bartenders have found a grift in the system, they should exploit it as much as they can. They’d be foolish if they didn’t. And if American consumers are happy to fork over ten dollars to some stranger for flipping the lids off ten bottles of Bud…well, it’s their money. But in no way are these tips actually _deserved_. It’s an odd little custom that happens to be inordinately beneficial to a small segment of American minimum wage workers. Nothing more. Compared to bartenders everywhere else, as well as a lot of American minimum wage workers in other sectors (such as fast food) American bartenders have it ridiculously good. Certainly bartending is a good job here, but it bartenders here tend to be a LOT better on average than bartenders in the UK. It isn’t surprising. Especially when younger, you can live a good life as a bartender - pay your rent, your bills, and have money in your pocket for your nights off. You just couldn’t do that where I was in the UK (Oxford, late 80s/early 90s). Being a full time bartender was not financially worthwhile, and so a lot of people were working the job for extra cash, after a full day’s work elsewhere (I was after teaching). When tired after a day’s work, you just aren’t going to be as good as the job. US bartenders also tend to serve a much greater variety of drinks. Now you working in a night club would do a lot more cocktails than I ever would in an Oxford pub, but the drinks in US bars tend to be more complex generally. Free pouring is also a skill you have to develop - I’ve never worked with optics or jiggers over here. I remember a couple of months ago being genuinely surprised that a local bartender (in a sports bar, not a fancy type of place) couldn’t make a good Manhattan. Turns out she was usually a waitress and was just filling in, but every regular bartender should be able to make one without question. When I worked in a pub back home, a Bloody Mary was vodka from the optic and a bottle of premade tomato juice cocktail, with maybe some extra Worcester Sauce if the punter wanted it. Over here, when I worked Sunday brunch, it was a far more in depth process (I would bring in fresh horseradish to grate myself, etc). I also never once got asked for a Martini in a British pub. Bartenders do have it good here. But in return, they provide service (in general) way higher than you get in British pubs. Same in restaurants, though I agree with a later poster saying that it can at times get too in your face. Generally I find, though, when I say something, the waiter backs off. Except in crappy chain places, but you tend to get worse waiters and over-involved management there. Hence I don’t tend to go to those places. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-good-reason-why-you-should-tip/599503/143 "2011-10-18T02:48:41Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The Steve Buscemi Rule: > > Anything a character played by Steve Buscemi does in a movie or TV show, do the opposite. Mr. Pink caved to peer pressure and pitched in for the tip. ---
**Author:** ![sportscrazed2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@sportscrazed2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sportscrazed2)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-good-reason-why-you-should-tip/599503/144 "2011-10-18T03:18:02Z")
I tend to agree with the original poster. If all you are doing is pulling a handle or cracking open a bottle of beer and handing it too me is that really worth $1 in effort? I wish I could get paid $1 just for opening a beer and handing it to someone. But for some reason restaurants are immune from paying minimum wage and it’s expected. I think the real debate is why should restaurants be immune from a law everyone else has to abide by? Yes it’s dumb but, I’m not going to deny someone their wage. But, I tend to avoid bars because even the crap beer is expensive. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-good-reason-why-you-should-tip/599503/145 "2011-10-18T03:27:34Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > Mr. Pink caved to peer pressure and pitched in for the tip. No, he didn’t. He was told by Joe Cabot to throw in his buck because Joe had paid for his breakfast, and Mr. Pink conceded that he should throw in given that Joe had picked up the check. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-good-reason-why-you-should-tip/599503/146 "2011-10-18T03:42:34Z")
That’s what I said! > [@](#): > > He was told The pressure. > [@](#): > > by Joe Cabot The peer. > [@](#): > > Mr. Pink conceded The cave. > [@](#): > > he should throw in And the pitch. ---
**Author:** ![nonentity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eada6e/32.png) [@nonentity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonentity)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-good-reason-why-you-should-tip/599503/147 "2011-10-21T07:24:16Z")
I tip only because of fear for getting listeria or other food poisoning. I hardly ever go out to eat at a restaurant because I can get the same nutrition at home for 1/4th the price. But whenever I go to a restaurant I get harassed by the waiter asking if “is everything ok?” No, it is not ok if you keep harassing me while I eat dinner. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-good-reason-why-you-should-tip/599503/148 "2011-10-21T10:50:40Z")
> [@nonentity](#): > > I tip only because of fear for getting listeria or other food poisoning. > > I hardly ever go out to eat at a restaurant because I can get the same nutrition at home for 1/4th the price. > > But whenever I go to a restaurant I get harassed by the waiter asking if “is everything ok?” > No, it is not ok if you keep harassing me while I eat dinner. How are you going to get food poisoning if you don’t tip? By the time you tip, your meal is done. ---
**Author:** ![Sea\_Creature\_Turner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@Sea\_Creature\_Turner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sea_Creature_Turner)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-good-reason-why-you-should-tip/599503/149 "2011-10-21T11:16:56Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > You’re right. People who serve me should work for free. I somehow doubt that that was his or her intended meaning. As I’m sure you knew. ---
**Author:** ![Sea\_Creature\_Turner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@Sea\_Creature\_Turner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sea_Creature_Turner)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-good-reason-why-you-should-tip/599503/150 "2011-10-21T11:17:57Z")
> [@heathen\_earthling](#): > > Well, the concept of service itself is kind of dumb. It would be of practically no inconvenience for me to get the beer out of the fridge and open it myself. But of course the bar owner isn’t going to trust me to do that, so I’ll just drink at home. Then again, I could be completely wrong. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Sea\_Creature\_Turner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@Sea\_Creature\_Turner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sea_Creature_Turner)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-good-reason-why-you-should-tip/599503/151 "2011-10-21T11:22:41Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > You should consider the cost of your meal to be +15% before you go to eat. The tip should be considered part of the cost ahead of time. Of course, many others who share your former profession scoff at the 15% base gratuity rate and insist that 20%, or even 25% should be the base rate, the very arbitrary nature of such thereby engendering much enmity and discontent. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-good-reason-why-you-should-tip/599503.md?page=7)