Tipping. Something so simple, yet something so controversial. Well ok, I’m probably the only one who finds this controversial. And I must say, I didn’t realize how unconventional my opinion was until I started talking about it with friends and had them look at me sideways like I had 2 heads.
So anyways, I personally don’t believe tipping should be necessary. Almost anywhere. I am of the opinion that a server’s job is to serve. Their job is to make sure I am looked after. And while I certainly appreciate the service, at the end of the day that is their JOB. It’s what they’re expected paid to do. If I feel like offering them a small extra sum because of outstanding service, I will do so. But for normal service which is expected by every patron, wherever they go to eat, I don’t feel I should be expected to tip.
That said, there are places where refusing to tip will all but get you expelled. Like fancy restaurants and when in other countries. In such instances, I don’t hesitate to tip. But I don’t go overboard either.
Another part of my reluctance to tip is due to the nature of my own job. My job is Stock Coordinator at Bombay, a home furniture store. Under normal business conditions, my job is primarily to assemble furniture, place it on the floor, receive shipments, maintain the back room, assist customers in receiving their merchandise, and help out on the sales floor. When customers come to pick up furniture they’ve purchased or ordered, I assist them in getting the box(es) to, and sometimes in, their vehicles. I do this because it’s a) good customer service, and b) part of my job. Having worked at Bombay for 6 months now, I have loaded over 150 vehicles with furniture. Sometimes in strong wind, sometimes in rain/snow, sometimes with heavy loads, sometimes getting cuts and scrapes in the process. In the course of these 6 months and counting, I have received a grand total of $0.00 in tips from appreciative customers. Why? Because this is my job. It’s what I’m expected to do. So with this as my background experience, it is difficult for me to understand the necessity or obligation to tip a server simply for serving.
Recently, in the face of mounting opposition, I have begun tipping regularly, though not up to some people’s standards, and not out of gratitude. My strategy now is basically to round up to the next dollar. To be 100% real, it’s not for the service, it’s so everyone with me at the time can shut the heck up. That’s my brutal honesty for today.
Should anyone feel so inclined, I welcome feedback, even debate, on this issue. I know very well that not everyone agrees with me on this topic.
-Bernier
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3 comments:
I bascially agree with you.
Oh and you'll be happy to know..there's no tipping people in Japan.
Bernier,
Why are you so cheap? Just based on the very fact that you feel like you are not obligated to tip and just so we sop bugging you is an atrocious slap in the face to all those..........yeah
Yours truly,
Joe & Matt
So I found my way to your blog and actually found it rather interesting and insightful (You now officially have 5 readers of your blog. Lol!)… that was until I read this post. I just started working as a waitress and I now get why ppl should tip. First of all, servers do a lot more work than I would have thought (and have to deal with crazy people in the front and the back of the restaurant). But I guess there are other jobs where you work hard and deal with grumpy people too so I won’t focus on that. So why tip your waitress? Well first of all if you don’t tip you actually cost us money. That’s right, regardless of whether or not you tip us we have to take a percentage of our total sales (not tips but actual cost of the food you bought) out of our pockets and give it to the kitchen staff and to food runners. That means if you didn’t tip us, we have to use the tip money someone else gave us to give to the kitchen. So I’m not sure why people in some jobs get tipped while others don’t (I personally would have thought gas attendants should be tipped… however most are not allowed to accept tips) but I do know that if people are expected to tip that means employers are allowed to pay you less. Thank goodness in Manitoba we still get min. wage but in other provinces and in the states employers are allowed to pay less than min. wage to servers (In the US min. wage for servers is just over $2/hour). I guess this would be great for restaurant managers… you have people pretty much work for free and then just have the public pay them. Anyways, beyond stingy managers I’m proud that when me and my friends go out to eat we try and tip way over the minimum expected. Enough people think badly of teenagers or won’t give us good service because they expect us to be cheap. Anyways, seeing as you don’t believe in tipping please don’t come eat wings at the Montana’s where I work. But yikes, this comment is pretty much as long as your blog! Haha sorry for pretty much taking all my frustrations about non-tipping ppl on you! Maybe I helped change your mind tho?
- Jennifer
(yr badminton partner from 7 years ago lol)
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