On the subject of tipping:
But the real answer is abolition, so restaurants are forced to pay proper wages.
So, because uppermiddle class lefties are uncomfortable with the idea of actually paying for service (good grief! they\’ll be insisting that teachers get paid on performance next, if waiters are!) they suggest that it should be against the law for you to proffer a tenner to whoever you might wish to.
Or would it be only waiters? Could you still give a £10 note to a random man on the street, but not to the person who served you dinner?
If the tip was for service, then surely it would be less variable with respect to the price of the meal?
Perhaps if waiters in this country were actually any good we’d tip them more…
I tip for good service.
The other thing is that those places which put a ‘voluntary service charge’ on the bill often earn less for their waiters, especially from small bills. Often I’d leave a large tip than the service charge, but they only get the charge if its levied.
I’ll tip for good restaurant service, but why do people tip in Starbucks? No-one comes to take your order or brings your drink to you.
” why do people tip in Starbucks?”
Why don’t people tip their dentist?
When I see my dentist I literally don’t have any money left with which to tip.
I tip 10-20%, sometimes as much as 50%. I know it goes to the staff. I make something like 30× minimum wage, so a comparatively inexpensive gesture on my part can make a big difference.
But the basic point is still true. Why can’t these prod-nosed, holier-than-thou, Jacobin Guardian tossers just FUCK OFF AND DIE AND LEAVE ME ALONE?
Well I like tipping. I tip my hairdresser, taxi drivers, and I tip waiters. I wouldn’t give them anything if their service, or attitudes, were crap. But by and large they are cheerful, helpful, and a pleasure to do business with. And places with a compulsory service charge don’t get my custom.
Being free to do this is one of my few remaining treasured liberties. They get to make a fuss of me, and I get to show my thanks and appreciation to them. Given that it doesn’t upset either of the parties to the arrangement, why should anyone else be raising objections?
Does it, perchance, offend some lefty notion of entitlement?
I always tip good service in Russia with a hundred dollar bill.
It’s still in my wallet.
I forgot to add: waiting and bar staff have memories like elephants. A hefty tip on your first trip to an establishment (as long as it is merited) is not so much as a reward for good service this time but an assurance of it the next.