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So far, the argument that I see is that tipping is an incentive to work harder. But, if that were true, so would the following:
=> People with jobs that are not tipped, and thus have no incentive to work well, wouldn't do an up-to-par job. That is not true. If people get paid well, even if it is flat-rate, they are generally happy and generally do an up-to-par job. So pay servers well for the work that they do, and they'll generally do a good job like the rest of us. A high flat-rate pay is as much incentive to walk around with a smile as is getting tips.
Because of external factors (quality of food, performance of kitchen staff) that servers have no control over, people who tip 15% regardless of service, cheap people who tip 5% even if you worked your ass off, generous people, and people who tip based on attractiveness; all that more than offsets people like Floorwhore who religiously tip properly based on the actual service, so on average you getyour 15% tips regardless of how well you worked today. And this amkes the tipping system as inefficient as the flat rate system.
My gripe is not with tipping when you get great service. My gripe is with feeling obligated to tip when I received up-to-par service.
In non-tipping positions, people who excel at their jobs also get rewarded - raises, promotions, etc. People who are up-to-par stay in the same place. People who aren't, eventually either quit or get fired. I don't see why a manager in a restaurant can't do the same with their employees.
Oh, and the argument "we work hard so we should get tipped" is completely bogus - if you work hard, you should be paid more, if you don't like it, quit. Free-market forces work well enough that if everybody suddenly stopped paying the mandatory tips, restaurant wages and prices would rise to the point where there would be a pool of workers willing to do the job well at the market wage.
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I'm the trouble starter, fuckin' instigator.
I'm the fear-addicted, danger illustrated.
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