American tipping procedure ?
Why do Americans think that a tip (for a waiter) is deserved.
Why do they think that 15% is the minimum tip you should be allowed to give ?
In England a waiter has to earn his tips. See, in England, a waiter starts at a hypothetical £0.00 and works his way up if he's good.
In America, people seem to think the waiter starts at 15% and can only earn more. If he sucks, he gets 15%. If he's good, he gets a little more.
That hardly seems like a capitalistic way to do things.
Isn't there something wrong with this mentality?
Why should a waiter get 15% if he sucks. Where is his incentive to do a good job?
If I were a waiter, I'd see my options in the following way:
1) try really hard and run back and forth refilling customers' drinks for 17%
2) be a lazy bum for 15%
which do you think I'd choose?
In my opinion, for a waiter to be good, he need only do two things:
1. refill my drink when it's empty.
2. not keep coming by and bothering me.
Does that sound hard ?
I don't know how many times I've been in a restaurant where I've been with an empty glass for what seemed like an eternity.
Don't get me wrong, I'm more than willing to give a generous tip if the service is good, but giving 15% to a waiter who is useless is out of the question.
In England, the way you tip a waiter who sucks is by giving him a tip of £0.01. It's the British way of saying "I didn't forget to tip you. I just wanted you to know you suck."
Unfortunately, living in a college town, a large percentage of the people I hang out with have, at one time in their lives, been a waiter/waitress. They seem to be the most vocal on the subject. Maybe they just enjoyed being paid well for a job they sucked at.....
