Tipping

[DCJenn]

I would leave cash for the ladies (20% if they continued to do a good job) but then the company started automatic billing where we had to pay via credit card or paypal the day of service so I told them to add in a 20% tip to the total bill.

Jenn

PS- For food service people I usually tip 20%- better if we're regulars and get extra service as a result. (a mutually beneficial exchange as far as I'm concerned). I don't tip the mail man and wanted but forgot to tip the newspaper delivery people in DC. The delivery people here in SA don't even get out of their car so- there's no way to tip them.

[Vishenka69]

Most of the time I tip not because I thought the service was exceptional but because I know the person performing it doesn't get paid much and relies on my tip for salary.

There was an interesting discussion in NYTimes Diner's Blog how tipping has gotten out of hand. Some people were actually saying that if you're not comfortable leaving 20%, don't go out to eat. If you can afford the dinner and wine, then 20% of that shouldn't be a problem. I totally disagree, but luckily when we go to really fancy places, the service is exceptional and we don't really mind the 20% as much.

Good Lord, $2.13 an hour? No wonder you guys need tips. I worked as a waitress for a number of years too, and even with our exchange rate taken into account, I was making heaps more than that even when I started as a 15 year old (and obviously getting no tips).

Out of interest, I just looked up the award here, and the minimum wage for a full time wait person is $30,521 per annum. The absolute lowest hourly rate a casual worker can be paid is $12.30, although obviously most receive more.

Are there not similar laws protecting workers' rights in the US? I appreciate that tips can inspire good service - although I must say that the service I got while living in Japan was the best in the world, and there is no tipping there - but don't workers need some security? And what about the people who work behind the scenes and don't see customers face-to-face...don't they deserve a little extra too?

Obviously it is a concept which is hard to grasp if you didn't grow up with it!

I'll :! now!

Are there not similar laws protecting workers' rights in the US?

Obviously you're not familiar w/congress. I think our minimum wage is still about $5.50 and it hasn't been raised in 10 years. The $2.13 stuff ends up being applicable to 'service workers' (like waitresses) b/c their income is expected to be supplimented by tips.

My dh made just $2K more than your minimum wage is intern year (1999).

LOL, Jesher, all those people laughing must have taken you ages! I certainly get your point though.

Consider me uneducated, but does this mean that there are no industry or trade unions in the US? (Or if there are, what are they achieving?)

I'm also glad that a price tag here says what it means. It must a hassle to have to constantly add extra on in your mind before you reach the register.

Clearly I belong to a nation of whingers. I think we don't realise how good we've got it. (Or maybe the reason our children are apparently not achieving as well at maths as they should be is that there's no need to calculate anything...?)

sorry - it was pretty funny.

Consider me uneducated, but does this mean that there are no industry or trade unions in the US? (Or if there are, what are they achieving?)

oh sure there are, but they only represent their own. Autoworkers, Grocery Store Cashiers, Nurses, Teachers, lots of others I can't think of ... they are unionized, but nothing to represent the "everyman".

Congress fights any nation-wide minimum wage hikes in 'defense' of big-business. They get more campaign donations from big-business than those earning minimum wage.

[Stella]

Hahahaha... I was making about $12/hr on a pretty GOOD night. We also had to tip out the busboys (those guys in the back, more or less) and the bartenders, each 5-10 percent. AND that doesn't include any medical benefits of any kind. I was uninsured for the 6 months post-surgery because I just couldn't afford it. Awesome, right?

So when you say you had no medical insurance, what would this have meant in the event of an emergency? If you get sick, will the state cover you? People here complain about waiting lists for elective surgery in the public system, but it is all free. If you want things to happen faster, with the doctor of your choice, then you take out private insurance.

(Sorry for hijacking the tipping thread...)

[Stella]

That's right. In the six months that I was uninsured I didn't have a single surgical follow-up, check up, dentist appointment, nada. Part of the reason I took the job I'm in is because the insurance started 30 days in. I still pay around $40/week for it plus copays of around $30. If anything had happened to me during the "off" time, I would have had three options:
1) Suck it up.
2) Wait and take care of it later.
3) Pay out of pocket.

I've always said that there should be an insurance plan for new post-grads. A lot of people don't get on their feet the day after graduation. (My plan on my family's ended on graduation day. Great gift, right?)

[reciprocity]

Congress fights any nation-wide minimum wage hikes in 'defense' of big-business. They get more campaign donations from big-business than those earning minimum wage.

there are plenty of actual, economic arguments against minimum wage laws too, it's not all about who gives the most in campaign donations. (I am personally against minimum wage, and I don't get a dime in campaign donations from big-business!)

Our minimum wage is 7.85 euros

healthcare is free hence severe overcrowding in hospitals (our majors area in the ED has 9 cubicles, i walked in once and there were 19 people squashed into them and out on the floor and 4 of them where waiting for ICU, and everyone decided they were sick and there was me and 1 other nurse and we only got 3 floor nurses and 1 care assistant to help out)

I will reme,ber to tip better when I'm over this time