“I don’t tip” Mr Pink utters in the iconic tipping scene at the opening of Reservoir Dogs “No I don’t believe in it.” Choosing not to tip is something society looks down upon. Being a non-tipper lies somewhere between smoking and having a mullet in the social scale of societal acceptability.
But why is this the case?
In America they operate by a system where the employee earns a basic wage which is less than the minimum wage, the theory is that through constant tips from customers the amount of money the waiter or bartender earns is above the minimum wage. In effect the customer is paying the wages of the employee. To counter the extra expense the price of food and drink does not factor in the higher wages of the employees and is therefore cheaper.
What of the UK though? Here employees are paid at least minimum wage and any tips we give are additional. On top of this we are already paying the wages of the employee as it is factored into the prices. Based on this simple principle, I, generally speaking, do not tip.
In first year at university I could not find a job and was in debt. At the time I was only just managing to keep my overall balance of my bank account above my overdraft and I was being careful with my money. However it was soon one of my hall-mates birthdays and to celebrate we all went to a restaurant to celebrate. I factored the prices up on the menu by choosing one of the cheaper options and sticking to water. I also divided the price of the birthday boy’s meal and bottle of wine by the number of guests at the table so I knew exactly how much money I would hand over.
To my surprise this was not enough for my fellow students. One of them asked me for my contribution towards the tip. I refused and about half of the table reacted angrily and shocked. One used the excellent logical argument which went along the lines of “I used to be a waitress and I hated it when people didn’t tip!” I stated my case. I was a student, without a job who was only eating a meal to celebrate my friend’s birthday. Why should I, someone with very little money and no income, give some of that limited amount of money to someone who does have a job?
On that occasion it turned out about half the table agreed with my point and most of us did not pay a tip. I still think a couple of them harbour ill-feelings about that incident though.
I do not think it is simply due to being selfish. The whole idea of tipping seems wrong to me, why do hairdressers and waiters and waitresses get tips whilst other people on the minimum wage (like myself) do not get tips? There have been reports that in Cuba at a time when all people were paid exactly the same amount that Doctors were quitting their jobs in hospitals and local practices to become Waiting staff as the tips from tourists meant they were paid considerably more.
My last problem with tipping is that I do not understand why we use a percentage system. What does the percentage of the cost of the meal have to do with the merits or demerits of the waiting staff?
Let me use this example, you go in and you buy three cokes and a burger. The waitress has to come to take your order (1) come back with your first coke (2) come back with your meal (3) comes back to give you the second coke (4) then comes back to clear your plate (5) then comes back with your third coke (6) then gives you the bill (7).
That bill may come to (for example) £15. Society deems 10% of the total bill an acceptable tip. Therefore the tip you give comes to £1.50.
Now picture another scenario. You decide to order the Lobster meal and a bottle of nice white wine.
The waitress has to come to take your order (1) to get you your bottle of wine (2) to get you your meal (3) to clear your meal (4) and then to present you with the bill (5).
Now this is a lobster and a bottle of wine, considerably more expensive than a burger and a few glasses of coke, so lets say the bill this time comes to £45. 10% of that is £4.50 so you give a tip which is three times as good as you gave to the previous waitress even though this waitress only assisted you only five times. That means that the waitress who worked harder and assisted you more often gets a worse tip, simply because of using a weird percentage system.
There are certain occasions where I do tip, but generally speaking I do not. I think it is strange that we have arbitrary destinations between which jobs deserve tips and which do not. I do not like the percentage system which has nothing to do with the difficulty of the job or effort of the employee. In a country where the employees are paid at least the minimum wage by their employer I do not feel it is my duty, as a fellow minimum wage earner, to pay them additional wages. That is why I do not tip.
