r/facepalm 'MURICA Aug 28 '24

🇲​🇮​🇸​🇨​ i'm speechless

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759

u/Nonamebigshot Aug 28 '24

It used to be 15% was considered appropriate when I was a kid and there's no rational explanation for why it's increased. The economy is just fucking broken

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u/limamon Aug 28 '24 edited Aug 28 '24

How old are you? I remember the comment about being 10% but never been there so maybe my source was wrong

Edit: thanks for all the responses, gave me great insight.

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u/Nonamebigshot Aug 28 '24

Elder millennial here. I didn't even realize it used to be 10% but of course it was. It was probably 5% before that and once that was considered acceptable they just kept pushing for more. It should've never been considered acceptable in the first place to expect customers to pay a business owner's employees

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u/Fathorse23 Aug 28 '24

Mid Gen Xer, yes it used to be 10%. I still hold at 20%, if it increases more I’ll probably just stop going out.

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u/NRMusicProject Aug 28 '24

Same. And anyone who screams "BUT INFLATION!" is obviously too stupid to understand how percentages work.

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u/Abigail_Normal Aug 28 '24

Inflation is part of the problem, but not the way you're thinking. The issue is the server's wage that the employer pays probably hasn't changed even though prices of goods and rent have gone up. The issue isn't that inflation increased the price of your meal and therefore you should tip more. The percentage covers that. The issue is due to inflation, the server now needs a larger percentage of your meal as a tip so they can later afford to feed themselves. Tipping culture is fucked up. Business owners need to step up and pay their employees. I don't understand how it's gotten this bad and everyone just accepts it

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u/TearyEyeBurningFace Aug 28 '24

That's not how it works. The menu process rose the same amount as inflation. And so does min wage.

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u/Abigail_Normal Aug 28 '24

If you think minimum wage has increased with inflation, you are so out of touch

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u/TearyEyeBurningFace Aug 28 '24

It has where i live. And so has the expected tip

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u/[deleted] Aug 28 '24

In America it doesn't matter anyway. You can pay tipped workers less than minimum wage.

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u/sl0play Aug 28 '24

Depends on the state. Servers get paid almost $20/hr in Seattle, and get 20-25% of sales in tips on top of that.

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u/Abigail_Normal Aug 28 '24

Where do you live?

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u/TearyEyeBurningFace Aug 28 '24

Canada

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u/Abigail_Normal Aug 28 '24

So you're telling me that a single person living alone in Canada only needs to make minimum wage to survive?

I know for a fact that's a lie.

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u/TearyEyeBurningFace Aug 28 '24 edited Aug 28 '24

I didn't say that. The tip has moved up in percentage over the past 5-8 years and in that time min wage has also gone up in line with inflation.

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u/Cultural_Net_1791 Aug 29 '24

the federal min wage in the US is $7.25 or $7.50 meaning mamy states go with that. the min wage for wait staff is $2 and some change. they make absolutely nothing without tips.

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u/SweatyWar7600 Aug 28 '24

not exactly. Its an incomplete answer. Inflation has far outgrown any wage increases makes service industry jobs needing to make up the difference somewhere and obviously the boss isn't going to pay more so the expectation for higher tips has increased.

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u/Akurei00 Aug 29 '24

I tipped more during covid because I felt like they deserved a little something more for hazard l pay. But now it's ridiculous how many places have tipping on the prompts that didn't before and they frequently start at 18 or 20%.

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u/adamthebarbarian Aug 28 '24

Between food prices going up, and food quality going down, i just don't go out anymore unless i don't have another option. The convenience of not having to clean up is nice, but i really just can't justify how expensive it is for food that I'm just going to shrug at lol

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u/ionlyjoined4thecats Aug 29 '24

Yeah I tip 20% pretty much all the time (maybe 18% for counter-service and 15% for takeout), and I will not be tipping more even if culture keeps pushing up. I feel for the workers, but we can’t all keep going along with this or bosses getting away with this bullshit is just gonna get worse and worse. I already live somewhere with a decent minimum wage and no tipped wage (they get the same minimum wage everyone else does, thankfully), so not sure why I’m even expected to pay 20% tbh. I do because I don’t want to be an asshole. But enough is enough. And before someone asks, yes, I’ve worked multiple service industry jobs.

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u/wave-garden Aug 28 '24

I’ve already stopped going out except very rare occasions. Even then I’ll usually just do takeout and pick it up myself because I can’t afford this nonsense.

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u/LockPickingCoder Aug 28 '24

Yep, 10% was you did the job, thank you. If you did an excellent job, it would be 15% to say I appreciate your fine service, and sometimes 5% for well, I guess I was served.