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47282847today at 8:25 AM6 repliesview on HN

Did you ever work a job or were friends with people who did where tipping is a big part of the income?

You make it sound like a general rule, but I don’t see how it is that “simple”. There are few things if any that you have to do in life. It’s all a decision and a tradeoff. Nobody forces you to breathe. Or to be friendly with your neighbors. Or a stranger.


Replies

sensanatytoday at 8:36 AM

I worked in the service industry for a while and have literally never cared about tips, in the sense that the default expectation in 99% of cases is no tip and the rare time I got a tip it was a few euros extra at most. Of course, I didn't care because it actually paid an actual wage, vs the weird shit you yanks are up to.

Hell, I know some people who have been working at restaurants as waiters for a long time now, and they live perfectly comfortably with 0 expectations around tips.

I still don't tip, basically ever, my only exception is the rare time I get food delivered, because unlike a regular service job the apps don't pay a livable wage and the cut they take is gargantuan compared to what the drivers get.

trositoday at 8:35 AM

The "tips as compensation for your low salary" system exists only in the US and neighboring countries (Canada, Mexico) as far as I know.

Now that they have started abusing it, it's even less defensible.

djvdqtoday at 11:16 AM

> Did you ever work a job or were friends with people who did where tipping is a big part of the income?

In the EU people are paid fair salaries for their work, they don't have to beg for money from clients

kergonathtoday at 8:29 AM

> Did you ever work a job or were friends with people who did where tipping is a big part of the income?

The friends of mine who worked in bars were paid living wage without tips. So no, no need.

ikornaselurtoday at 9:06 AM

Most of my friends worked restaurants or bars when I was younger, tips were something some tourists would sometimes do and it would generally go into a pot for throwing a party for the staff few times a year. I have never tipped or seen a local tip in my home country.

Tips weren't a part of my friends income. The restaurant/bar paid them a salary.

anal_reactortoday at 9:46 AM

Your point is valid because waiters earn more money when they have low salary and big tips than high salary but no tips. The problem is though, I simply don't care about how much waiters earn, just like waiters don't care about how much I earn. I will start tipping the day waiters start honestly caring about the software job market collapse.