9 Comments

1. 

   cloudia on October 18, 2011 at 7:42 pm

   Tipping shows you a LOT about a person’s values. I lose respect for someone who devalues others with chintzy tips.

   Aloha from Waikiki;

   Comfort Spiral

   >

   Reply
2. 

   Waiterrant Fan on October 19, 2011 at 4:23 am

   How ironic that in a post decrying one person’s internet boo-boo and those who all-too-quickly jumped onto the bandwagon Steve gets caught with a hoax tipping story!
   I still love your work mate.

   Reply
3. 

   guru on October 19, 2011 at 12:08 pm

   Yeah, I got suckered too. Sweet irony.

   Reply
4. 

   Mike on October 19, 2011 at 12:16 pm

   “So much for journalistic fact-checking.”

   Reply
5. 

   Bruno on October 19, 2011 at 11:06 pm

   How ironic that in a post decrying one person’s internet boo-boo and those who all-too-quickly jumped onto the bandwagon Steve gets caught with a hoax tipping story!
   I still love your work mate.
   +1

   Reply
6. 

   Ben on November 20, 2011 at 4:23 pm

   There is an awesome NPR Planet Money podcast on the psychology/history of tipping.

   http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/06/24/137346289/why-we-tip

   Reply
7. 

   lawrie taylor on December 6, 2011 at 7:45 pm

   Instead of tipping, I think waiters should be paid a more than living wage (for now, let’s call it an “honorable” wage) for their efforts, that could be equal to 15-20% of the cost of the meal, especially at high end places. I wrote a similar comment on your site some months ago.
   Restaurants would just have to restructure their pricing structure. The cost is always passed on to the customers.
   Just think of all the service staff in various other sectors who receive a wage without a tip and must act courteously and professionally to their customers.
   I worked as a temp proofreader at many of the biggest law firms in NYC, mostly the night shift. I had to have a college degree and an excellent knowledge of spelling, punctuation and grammar.
   Occasionally I check the NYTimes Jobs section and see that temp proofreaders in the city are now making an average of only $1.00 more per hour than when I left that line of work, and that was in 1995. I think the cost of living has risen by more than that in the past 16+ years.

   Reply
8. 

   rwturney on January 9, 2012 at 10:55 pm

   I think businesses are in a better position to assess the market value of a waiter than a customer is. By relying a tips versus a wage, waiters are likely in the position of having their labor devalued.

   Let customers decide if a restaurant is worth the cost. Let businesses decide how much to pay its employers. If a waiter stinks, the boss knows, tips aren’t needed to send a signal.

   But of course, that’s not the way it is, so ya gotta tip. It’s expected. But 15% is the custom for service that meets expectations.

   Reply
9. 

   Trina Schoonmaker on December 31, 2013 at 11:43 am

   In much of the world – Australia, Europe and other first world nations – tipping is minimal. Waiters there receive normal wages, and diners only leave small change. Tipping has become unique in America as representing the majority of waitstaff income.

   Reply