I'm annoyed with places like dunkin donuts that have a tip cup at the counter. I don't get the point of that. They really aren't doing anything other than what they are paid to do. Hand me a donut, take my money. I suppose if a person ever had a job where they recieved tips, these people are tippers. Personally I tip everybody. I tip my auto mechanic, paper boy, postal carrier, homeless guy, etc. I really don't donate to organized charity, I'd rather tip to the unorganized charity cases I interact with in my life.
The US system of tipping at restaurants and bars is fundamentally perverse . Staff have an incentive to retaliate for ex. by being slow or favoring customers tipping well to the detriment of those who tip average or very little. This is not good customer service. When I was in the US I found most bartenders rude and arrogant as if they were somehow entitled to a special treatment . People say you have to tip with largesse for social acceptance and I think it's idiotic, I also find the practice of giving very large or outrageous tips very arrogant and distasteful, on top of being absolutely completey idiotic. Lert's face it people who do that do it more for themselves than for the staff. Bottomline give what you want according to your budget and your experience and without showing off your money which is crass, and yes that can mean giving NOTHING !
A restaurant makes most of its profits from one or two hours out of a day. The rest of the time the staff is standing around. It could not survive if it had to pay regular wages for a regular work week. Why not have the waiter negotiate the cost of the meal with the customer, then he keeps more if he can get a better price. Let the waiter take all the risk.
You guys are all cheapskate, spoiled little twats. The restaurant industry is hard enough as it is, tipping is implied if you eat out. Think of it as in the bill already. Count it out you little twats, it can't be more than 15% of a few thousand dollars a year. If I pick up food from somewhere I don't tip, if I eat out and the waiter is beeing timely, fillin my drinks, I'll tip 15-20%. I tip 5 or 10 when the waiter is absolutely horrible. You get what you pay for in other countries around the world, having to get thier atten all the time. In Europe its like you are there for them, and in America they cater to you. I mean come on, you're not gonna put an extra 5 or 10 dollars on a meal you go out for. If this is a concern for you, and you need that extra 5 or 10 bucks, you shouldn't be on this forum, and you shouldn't be trading. Cheapskates.
In ¤ost restaurants the servers must subsidize the busboys' and the bartenders" tip earnings. The servers pay a percentage of the overall sales to the busser and bartender. In essence if the tip is bad enough the server must pay out of his pocket for the patrons to eat there. Blacks are bad but latinos are the worst. They are high maintenance and believe that 10% is a great tip.