The Bizarre Rise of American Tipping Culture

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Have you noticed the rise of iPads with the tipping option in almost every store nowadays? Tipping has always been a huge point of contention, especially in North America. Some call it tipflation, I call it nobody knows what the heck is going on and we need a manual so everyone is on the same page. What started off as a 10% gratuity to show someone you appreciate the service they just provided you for the last hour slowly started to creep up over the years. It's not only in restaurants anymore but in places that never had the option to tip decades ago. Social media and tiktok have a lot to say about this issue. Maybe I should start asking for a 20% tip when someone asks to pet my dog. The Bizarre Rise of American Tipping Culture #edvasian

[kokiiaa]

i think that the whole idea of “should we tip or should we not tip?” is just more infighting between people. it’s distracting us from the fact that the working class doesn’t get paid enough, and rather than fighting among ourselves, we should be pushing for change in the system so that we can make more than a barely livable wage.

[lindalily]

American companies in Australia in recent years are trying to change the Australian culture with tipping that lowers people's wages while making Austtalians very angry. America trying to force other countries to tip is very infuriating. Tipping should not be a thing. Companies should pay decent wages instead.

[JW-vinh]

I hate tipping culture. I worked as a server in a super crappy little local restaurant in high school, around 2002. I made $2.13 an hour "plus tips." The majority of people who came in left nothing. I distinctly remember spending over 2 hours waiting on a table of 8 and they left me a dime, a nickel and 3 pennies as a tip. I went in the back and cried.

But the big problem with this restaurant-- something I didn't even realize until I was older-- was that they were forcing us to be complicit in lying about our own wages

Every night after the restaurant closed, they'd have us print out a slip with all our sales totaled up on it. We then had this old office calculator we had to use to multiply that total by 0.15, then go get our time card and write that amount down under the "tips" section. Most nights I would leave work with less than $5 in my pocket for a 7+ hour shift, but on my time card I would have written down that I made $80-$100+ in tips. All so these sleazebags could say that I had made "at least $5.15 an hour with tips." If I'd been allowed to write down that I'd worked 4pm-11:30pm and made $5 in tips, they would have been forced to pay me the difference to equal out to $5.15 an hour.

Thankfully they went out of business very soon after I quit. Good riddance.

[StarGirl]

Oh God, I had a pizza delivery guy drop that same line, on me, "Nice house for a 5$ tip" and I don't even live in a nice house. I rent a house with two roomates that's a mile or so away from a really nice neighborhood, but not actually very nice itself and I'm poor af. It made me feel really bad, since spending money for a door delivery was already kind of a guilty expenditure on a day I felt too tired and depressed to go out to the grocery store and cook my own food.

[casperlovely]

Me knowing you are willing to eat someone's food because they tipped you $1 does not make me want to tip you more....
I was a waitress for 2 years and we NEVER messed with a customer's food regardless of what they were like or how they were tipping

[_doodles]

I think tipping really should be a personal choice that does not take food off of anyone's table. It should just be an extra bonus from someone who thought you did a really good job today, they're just being nice, whatever. It's 100% on businesses to pay their employees livable wages.

[HBoyle]

Im American and yes. We hate this too.

Tipping is a scam used by restaurants to legally pay their employees less. It's infuriating and terrifying. I like being able to pay my bills

[rd_]

It’s disgusting how companies are getting away with paying their workers low wages by making the customers tip… Like that just shows how greedy and irresponsible they are.

[hgdoesthings]

Tipping culture in the US is insane! I was flying through the Chicago Airport and got a bagel from a little stand. They just put the bagel in a bag and I paid. The lady at the till asked me to tip her in cash. I told her I didn't have any US dollars in cash. She rolled her eyes at me and I left. I still think about how awkward it was.

[antenna.]

"It's almost as if these rich businesses are pitting civilians against each other so they don't know who the real enemy is" is a brilliantly insightful comment 6:56

[cinnamoonbuns]

As a Brit I’ve always found American tipping culture insane, like it should be an act of good will and an extra boost to the employee rather than literally making their wage 💀 I work in a cafe and have never received nor asked for a tip bc I get payed fairly, America be wild

[oxiw.]

"if you don't tip, don't go out" doesn't work anymore because EVERY business wants you to tip. it's like saying "stay at home forever"

[dyskelia]

Companies should pay a fair wage instead of passing on their HR costs to the already broke consumer by pressuring us to tip for everything.

[percevalmahpouyas]

That's a very USAmerican problem, but it slowly creeps up in Europe too. I absolutely understand the importance of tips in their wages (since companies are somehow unable to pay them a regular living wage for x, y or z bull reason), but on the other hand, guilt-tripping someone into tipping you? That gives me the ick.

[shamienwow]

Over 6 years of being a waitress to me felt like social prostitution. The reason why tipping is so prevalent is so that restaurant owners can get away with barely paying their staff

[tetsupannn]

I heavily dislike the people that say "if tipping is too much money for you, you probably shouldn't be dining out"

[jillyschneider]

I am an American working at Starbucks in New Jersey. Every time the tip screen comes up, I always walk away and do something else so the customer doesn’t feel pressure to give a tip. I never expect anyone to tip, even if it’s a big or complicated order. One time a girl tipped me for only giving her a warmed up croissant and I felt so bad and kept thinking she didn’t have to tip me for that. Literally anyone could do that

[M_Ghst]

I was at Starbucks and reloading my digital gift card that’s on the app. I did not order a drink and they turned the screen around which asked for a tip. I said no to tipping and asked for my receipt. The barista started throwing a fit, “really girl no tip, you just put $50 on your app”. I’m sorry, but they did nothing but scan the app. Made me never go back to that location😅

[terciasouto]

It's so crazy to me that American employers count on tips to pay employees and nobody bats an eye, guys c'mon, tips are a nice little "thank you" you wanna give the server when you like how they treated you, not an obligation 🤡

[sammyb]

What I don’t understand is why tipping has moved to almost every industry. For example, if I’m getting a massage or my nails done, where the provider sets their own rates and prices, why am I made to be the asshole if I don’t tip 20+% when I’m already paying so much to get the service done. Those prices were SET BY THE PROVIDER??