Okay, sure. I’ll be sure to say, “Hey, dude, the extra buck I’m planning on giving you is a tip for getting me a beer—it’s not about you bringing out that bowl of nachos to the couple in the corner, or you keeping track of how bright the lighting is.” Satisfied?
I’ve worked in the service industry far longer than necessary to determine that most often the amount of a tip says far more about the customer than the service.
I bet you liked sitting down to a clean bar.
Maintaining a clean bar would not be a reason for tipping, that’s a given, maintaining a clean bar is his/her job.
But giving you service is his job too, for which he/she gets a wage. People are saying that this wage is typically lower than minimum wage. Is that legal? A poster specifically pointed out that serving staff must get paid minimum wage in some places like California. In that case, why should someone leave a tip in California unless they’re happy with their service? Would pro-tipping posters be ok with not people not leaving a tip in California? Why not? Waiters/waitresses are doing a job, and getting paid a wage for that job, same as any other job. Why are they entitled to more than that wage, especially if it meets minimum wage standards which are applicable to everybody?
Oh, it’s pure sour grapes, of course. I know that what I should really do is move to the U.S. so I can get paid ten times as much money for the same work I’m doing right now. On reflection, I suppose I’m not really annoyed with the perks of American bartending per se as much as I am with the fatuous insistence of some that these tips are somehow deserved. They’re not. And American bartenders should thank their lucky stars every single day that they’re blessed enough to be allowed to work in a big tipping culture. While bartending is, on the whole, a difficult and tiring job, it’s not that difficult, or that tiring, and it’s really no harder than any other minimum wage occupation. And pouring a beer is the easiest thing in the world. You could train a monkey to do it in a day.
Frankly, the biggest problem I’d have bartending in America is overcoming the guilt I’d feel accepting their exorbitant tips.
Even if someone made that claim, it would be up to them to demonstrate that it is true. But, it appears to be trivially easy to show that it is false: There are millions of businesses that are profitable even though the employees don’t get tips.
Now, if you can identify some unique quality of the restaurant business that makes tipping a necessarily condition of financial viability, you’ve got something. What is that something? And, why doesn’t it apply to restaurants in Japan, where tipping is considered rude?
I don’t take taxis, but I spend time (more than I should) in bars. I’m friendly with many bartenders and find them to be cool people. Based on my observations, be comforted by knowing that they do not like you either.
I figure that at this point, no one on the SDMB is going to ever have his or her opinions changed about this tipping thing one way or another, but I’ll throw in my two cents:
Restaurant tipping:
My biggest gripe about restaurants is that the cost of their product is 30% higher than advertised (after adding tip and tax). Not only does this make splitting the bill a giant chore (I can’t tell if some of my friends are bad at math, or just hope that the rest of us are bad at math), but I always feel a little lied to after paying the bill. What, it was $30 dollars? No, it’s $40! Well damn! It’s kind of like any industry (cell phones, airlines, etc) that has expected but not explicitly stated fees. I know they’re there, I know I have to pay them, but I feel like they’re trying to pull one over on me when I end up paying more than the advertised price.
Bar tipping is another issue altogether that I don’t feel like arguing about. But, my general wish would be that, if waitpersons really deserve 18-20% on a bill, and bartenders really deserve a dollar tip on every 3-5 dollar drink I order, then establishments would raise their prices accordingly, put that money directly into payroll, and not leave us with this minefield of social/ethical/financial issues every time we go out to eat (except for fast food or counter service places, of course, unless there’s a tip jar, of course), get our hair-cut, or whatever.
Nobody is claiming any of those things. That was my point. It’s a classic strawman.
I think you’re under some misapprehension as to how many bartenders are rolling in tip money. There’s a reason I have no plans to quit my job to tend bar.
Yup. I think you and I are the only ones that actually likes the tipping culture.
Hell, I tip my haircutter $5 a pop.
One tips not only to not be an a-hole and to show class…but to get preferential treatment. I tip very well at my local haunts but then I expect something out of it. If I don’t get it, the tip goes down to the customary 15%.
When I was dating my future wife, I took her to Vegas. A favorite comedian of hers was there at this time. The casino that had the show didn’t have assigned seating. I was used to this…what you do is offer a tip to host and he would direct the seater to a certain area. When you got about half way down, the seater would stop and do something (can’t remember what) but that was the signal to tip again. Doing so both times got you close to the front.
I would hear many people bitching about why THOSE PEOPLE got to go down while THEY were sat away from the stage.
Well, I hadn’t been to Vegas for a few years but I did my old thing. The host appeared SHOCKED when I offered $10. He got all agitated and told the seater to sit me in the front row. This was unlike the past in which he did it quietly and there was no ‘half way down’ step. I snuck out to go to the bathroom and actually asked the host why so different. He told me that the casino had banned tipping because of all the complaints and they were about to implement an assigned seat method. 
In short, by tipping I was able to get my wife into the first row of her favorite comedian while in VEGAS. I had this option which I would NEVER have had without tipping. The host also made me look good in front of my girl. It was a great evening.
Now, I know that many will think this is unfair. You may be right. However, all I know is that if tipping wasn’t available at that place then I would have paid more for the tickets to get in front and that they would probably not even been available. Someone would have gotten the money. With tipping, the workers at least got the money and my date and I got front row seats.
I like the tipping culture. You all can not tip all you want. 
It’s not a strawman. It’s a real argument I’ve heard many times, and even here on The SD. It’s almost impossible for me to search for people’s quotes that essentially said the same thing, because people use different words to describe the same effect.
But here’s something:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=369009&highlight=Tipping
I started a thread on this a while back (I’ll try to find it later).
The consensus was that it is an odd system*, but wages / prices are set around tipping in the US, so you should tip (if you’re there).
- For example, no-one could give a good argument why people serving in fast food restaurants don’t deserve tips but bar staff do
I enjoy the tipping system. I tip well, and I always get great service. My glass stays full, the TV goes on the channel that I want, cabbies pick me up exactly when I want them to, etc.
Most of those jobs are pretty tough, I see no reason why the people should make minimum wage. I also agree with the view that it makes it seem less like your bossing someone around and more like your asking them to help out and then showing your appreciation.
This one’s easy:
Fast food is generally self-service: you fill and re-fill your own drinks, fetch your own condiments, seat yourself, clean up after your meal and discard your trash. Also, fast food employees are paid regular wages.
Count me in as another who is happy to tip. Someone brings hot food prepared to my specifications and cold drinks with ingredients I did not have to shop for or cook. They keep my drink topped off, fetch any condiments or extras I might request, package up my leftovers, then clean the dishes, napkins, tablecoths… and generally treat me and my guests like royalty. Waitstaff work the hours most of us devote to leisure time, they maneuver through a fast-paced environment while carrying heavy, unbalanced loads of dishes and full glasses, place the correct drink and meal in front of each guest as requested, and generally do so with a pleasant, accomodating attitude. I love eating out and consider each restaurant meal a mini-vacation.
In fact, I assess the character of my friends and co-workers based on how each treats service workers and this includes whether or not they leave a fair tip.The fact that some guests feel that service workers are beneath them makes me feel ill; anyone with such an attitude ought to have the white collar job and income to support such disdain, and therefore should have a few extra coins with which to tip.
Why in the world would anyone visit a social environment such as a bar or restaurant then fume instead of enjoying the experience of imbibing a cold, delicious social lubricant? You needn’t tip. You can buy beer at the grocery, save a couple bucks and be sullen, miserable, and asocial at home.
So, pretty much the same as everywhere else then?
I love that people are trying to intellectually justify their cheapness (to themselves, if nobody else). Good stuff.
Try it in London.
And said American barstaff find it baffling and irritating that you get paid a higher wage than they do and don’t have to appease people to earn the tips to get paid the same as you. Basically, you just get the optional tip addition automatically added onto the prices by your boss and then given to you as part of your wage packet. They get a smaller wage packet, because the service bit isn’t compulsory.