At 26, I've been tipping people for about ten years now here in the US. I tip just about all the time, and I've traveled a little outside the States, granted NOT A LOT, but this statement:
"The tipping culture in North America means that the service is superior to other places in the world where tipping is unheard of."
I do not believe for one second this is even remotely true for us here. The tipping culture here just means that the majority of the people in the service/hospitality industries EXPECT a tip upon doing their service...JUST FOR DOING IT. That is a reality, regardless of the service QUALITY...this becomes more of an afterthought for most (not in all situations such as "luxury setting, but lets be realistic and speak in "everyday America" for a moment
. If the additional quality of service is there, well then the expectations continue to rise. My point is, the consumer does not start with the option of paying nothing, "0" in this sense. We are now expected to start at "1", and then increase upon the quality of service, but somehow we should be looked down upon for not wanting to tip certain people AT ALL? I tip, but lets not kid ourselves and say that it is 100% because we are "insuring promptness". We are tipping because it is just the nice thing to do and I'm sure many here truly don't want to come off as a cheap-ass. That is why we tip in America, societal expectations on the consumer and self-consciousness.
Once again, I just don't think it is right to set additional expectations up for the consumer, especially in scenarios where they pay good money to enjoy their time/food without worrying about whether they have appropriately divided and distributed additional money that is the business owners/American society believes CERTAIN people in CERTAIN industries need.
Honestly, some service industry employees literally just make me UNCOMFORTABLE in the sense that they know WE KNOW these expectations are FIRMLY in place. To me, I'd rather pay a few bucks extra total on my bill than spend additional time "playing the owner" when I am trying to eat out or go on vacation with my family, etc.
I guess Pizza is one thing, and similar to another poster, with a college roomate managing a dominoes and pizza hut over the years, I've had enough free pizzas for a lifetime, so I always tip. My friends motto was always "dude tip AT LEAST two dollars everytime, they need it, etc"
Saying that though, it is ridiculous that we now live in this type of culture where if we DON'T do something that we should have every right NOT to do, we should/can be punished somehow. Often times through people messing with and putting bodily fluids in our food? Fuck that, I'm sorry, but I just don't think they worry about that in a lot of other developed nations. ie "gee if I don't tip this person they might start fucking with my food"...THAT is the tipping culture here in America that most people battle with in their heads probably at least a few times a month here. Maybe I am completely off-base, that is why I love speaking to wf'ers in other areas of the world.
"The tipping culture in North America means that the service is superior to other places in the world where tipping is unheard of."
I do not believe for one second this is even remotely true for us here. The tipping culture here just means that the majority of the people in the service/hospitality industries EXPECT a tip upon doing their service...JUST FOR DOING IT. That is a reality, regardless of the service QUALITY...this becomes more of an afterthought for most (not in all situations such as "luxury setting, but lets be realistic and speak in "everyday America" for a moment
. If the additional quality of service is there, well then the expectations continue to rise. My point is, the consumer does not start with the option of paying nothing, "0" in this sense. We are now expected to start at "1", and then increase upon the quality of service, but somehow we should be looked down upon for not wanting to tip certain people AT ALL? I tip, but lets not kid ourselves and say that it is 100% because we are "insuring promptness". We are tipping because it is just the nice thing to do and I'm sure many here truly don't want to come off as a cheap-ass. That is why we tip in America, societal expectations on the consumer and self-consciousness.
Once again, I just don't think it is right to set additional expectations up for the consumer, especially in scenarios where they pay good money to enjoy their time/food without worrying about whether they have appropriately divided and distributed additional money that is the business owners/American society believes CERTAIN people in CERTAIN industries need.
Honestly, some service industry employees literally just make me UNCOMFORTABLE in the sense that they know WE KNOW these expectations are FIRMLY in place. To me, I'd rather pay a few bucks extra total on my bill than spend additional time "playing the owner" when I am trying to eat out or go on vacation with my family, etc.
I guess Pizza is one thing, and similar to another poster, with a college roomate managing a dominoes and pizza hut over the years, I've had enough free pizzas for a lifetime, so I always tip. My friends motto was always "dude tip AT LEAST two dollars everytime, they need it, etc"
Saying that though, it is ridiculous that we now live in this type of culture where if we DON'T do something that we should have every right NOT to do, we should/can be punished somehow. Often times through people messing with and putting bodily fluids in our food? Fuck that, I'm sorry, but I just don't think they worry about that in a lot of other developed nations. ie "gee if I don't tip this person they might start fucking with my food"...THAT is the tipping culture here in America that most people battle with in their heads probably at least a few times a month here. Maybe I am completely off-base, that is why I love speaking to wf'ers in other areas of the world.
