I don't give a shit, I tip.
- Thread starter BossAttack
- Start date
In Germany it is customary to pay your employees properly in the first place.
They can't grasp that. There is either America system or Japan system, no in between
We do tip in germany. It's called Trinkgeld. But it's not expected nor is it a huge amount of money. Most of the time it just amounts to 1-3€. So obviously they will accept your generous tip, but they might also think you are weird. The good kind of weird that should come more often to tip.
You can tip in Europe if you want to, no one is stopping you. Other people do too, it's just not semi-obligatory, and definitely not in the 15-20% range that's normal in much of the US. You don't need to pretend like you're special for doing so.
Just repeating what others in this thread have already said, but I literally had a Japanese waitress come running after me because I accidentally left a Y500 coin on the table in a restaurant once.
We don't tip in Turkey unless you smash an expensive dinner / drink your ass out in a classy place. Tipping for a beer in a bar seems the most dumbass thing imaginable to me. I remember when I was living in the UK, I didn't know the customs at first so thought it would be like in the US so I tipped a server in a student bar on my first night out. I think her manager saw me trying to tip her, she came from behind and literally said: "we don't do that here". I said ok didn't want to break anyone's heart :(
I don't know what you expected, tipping is normal in most of Europe. It's less frequent in Skandinavia and Finnland afaik, but I don't think anyone will really care.
In central Europe, not tipping is actually seen as rude too, believe it or not. But 10% is far more common than the usual American 20%.
Try tipping in East Asia though, and you will soon find yourself with waiters running after you to give you back your money. Do that enough times and you're just an asshole who forces these people into awkward situations.
lol, yeah they do. You think waiters make beaucoup bucks anywhere? They don't get poverty wages in Europe but it's not a honey pot. Tip your waiter, wherever you are.
Do you tip the cashier? do you tip the amazon delivery driver? do you tip the retail assistant? They all make the same money.
The tipping thing in the US was because your waitresses in inn's where wildly underpaid. That is not the case today nor it was in Europe. I don't understand why you keep doing it. There is a thing called minimal wage today, you are tipping everybody in minimal wage, are you?
A friend in uni used to work in service industry and she'd laugh at how Americans (and sometimes Canadians) would tip her 10 or even 15 percent. Keep in mind that she was living in a civilized country that paid her a guaranteed minimum wage, so that extra money was free money and not something that she needed to make the minimum wage.
Don't ever do that shit in Japan.
Also you have way too much money. There are also lots of other countries where that is an insult so please inform yourself every single time.
Not everywhere in Europe and also not everywhere in Germany too. I wasn't allowed to take tips and had to immediately give it back every single time. It gave me lots of unnessecary trouble.
Last edited:
I don't tip when I vist the US or Canada, why should I support a broken system?
Maybe those in the less advanced US and Canada should be doing more to ensure those in the service industry don't rely on tips to survive.
I've been a waiter for a long time. It's shitty, hard, often thankless work, for not a lot of money, the amount of emotional labor required is immense, and they're almost always understaffed. You can make your waiter's day by not being a cheapskate and giving a tip. If you can afford to eat out, you can afford to tip.
You're not helping to change the system by not tipping, you're just being an asshole.
Nope, I've spent my entire life not tipping in the UK, Europe and parts of Asia, why should I change my habits just because you live in a broken system?
If the system can't survive paying its workers minimum wage, let it come crashing down. Whatever rises from the ashes will be a better, fairer system.
I have been a waiter as well. Have you ever heard a story from a delivery driver?
THis argument makes no sense. You hate your job, try and change it, don't expect people to pay your extra wages. This shit is borderline begging for fuck sake.
You are really arguing that because the job is hard you deserve tipping? Boo hoo, welcome to the world.
I wouldn't doubt that being the case but the same is true of many professions. Nurses are understaffed, work ridiculous shifts through the night at the detriment of their own health and the emotional requirement is incredibly intense. Putting children into body bags and telling their family is at a level I can't comprehend, yet they do it and handle a myriad of other heartbreaking situations.
You can make the same plea for innumerable jobs but there's zero expectation or guilt association when it comes to not giving them extra than what they're paid for when treated by them. I don't get why restaurant staff are the exception.
I tip in restaurants if the service is good because it's custom and I can afford it, but I don't see why it should be a flat requirement when the system isn't like the US.
Every rime I go to Germany my grandma tells me not to tip. Maybe its different in certain parts but most of Western Germany and Berlin it seems to cause more trouble.
I don't tip (couldn't even if I wanted to as I don't carry any cash) and I don't feel guilty about it, I really don't see why I would in the UK. I understand that minimum wage laws in the US are kind of bad but it's not like that everywhere.
"Let it come crashing down", he said as he took advantage of the system by eating out and not tipping. Wow, you're so progressive. Also I'm not from the US.
I did change my job. I'm just not a cheapskate.
This is just whataboutism. We're not talking about other jobs. People can care about multiple things. And however it came to be, waitstaff ARE the exception. Even in most European countries. Most people tip. Not a lot, but that's okay, because we don't make starvation wages. But we don't make a lot of money either, so tips are nice. A lot of small tips add up and can make you feel good about busting your ass for 10-12 hours on a hot day. So if you're on the few people who don't tip, you stand out. You can choose not to, I'm just giving my perspective on why I think people should. Again, if you can afford to eat out, you can afford a few euros tip. It's just etiquette.
My girlfriend is from Western Germany, and we just came back from there, and tipping is totally normal when you're eating out, getting a drink, getting a cab or whatever.
And by tipping you also aren't changing the problem, you're just keeping it alive.
No, it's a discussion about why restaurant staff are the exception and a counter to your point of..
..where you qualified that as being part of the reason as to why restaurant staff should be given additional money to their wage. When you're discussing why something should be distinct from other things it's natural to discuss those other things. The question of "why should this remain the exception" is valid.
Taking advantage of the system?
Nope. I already pay a premium to eat in restaurant over eating at home, so the suggestion I'm taking advantage of anything is ludicrous, but I guess it's easier to shift blame onto the customer than it is to accept the system is broken.
You are a cheapskate, just not with waiters. Everybody else minimum wage? who cares. Difficult jobs? who cares. Is that a restaurant ???
OH BOY TIME TO PAY EXTRA, POOR WAITERS
Exactly.
The US has done an incredible job of indoctrinating people into thinking tips are mandatory. The OP and other should be angry their system is broken and direct that anger towards fixing it.
I'm not saying that? I'm just talking about the situation as it is now. Nurses recently went on strike for better working conditions and I support them. Waitstaff aren't organized in that way. Yeah I think they should make more money and tipping shouldn't be a thing anymore.
Yeah you got me, I totally only care about waiters, which you inferred from??? Anyway you're a shitty troll, you're on my ignore list.
No, what I find ludicrous is that you're presenting your position of not tipping as somehow progressive, as if you're helping the system to change while eating out and not tipping. Come off it, you're just cheap, don't use excuses. It's shitty moral grandstanding.
I need to put this thread on ignore, this is the worst.
that is 100% bullshit
its absolutely common
of course there are some cheap people who dont do it, but probably like 90% tip
You don't think tipping should be a thing anymore? How do you arrive there while actively providing the crutch that supports the system? It's a difficult question for the US, and one I can appreciate. Applying it to places where the issue isn't tips being added to meet minimum wage muddies it because the argument is implicitly different.
I agree with you that tipping is a nice gesture, which is why I do it when the service has been good (not great, not exceptional). I can count on one hand the number of times I haven't tipped in a restaurant.
Despite that I still question why it is the exception outside of circumstances like the US because, as said, working hard in a tough job is everywhere you look - yet I couldn't afford them the same consistent courtesy that I extend waitstaff. I'd tip my hairdresser if he allowed it and I usually round up on cab fares. I think the latter is an instance of where slight tips are common, but there's less of an expectation. In the same way that I might buy a box of something nice for the hospital staff.
Nope, what you're doing is refusing to accept that it's not the customers job to both pay a premium for a sit down meal and top up the waitstaffs wages through a tip because the owner doesn't want to pay minimum wage.
I don't believe my position is progressive, I refuse to support a system that guilt trips its customers into propping up a broken system.
And why are waitstaff in restaurants the only ones who deserve a tip? What about those in McDs who take your order and then bring you your food? Why don't they deserve a tip too? Isn't their work just as hard as those who work in a restaurant?
So you're bragging that you voluntarily spend more money than you should at any given opportunity. Huh. Americans I guess
Don't know what to tell you, I never tipped while in Germany and it was never made known that it was common.
Somehow trying to uphold an honest business transaction is crazier than passing to consumers the responsibility of paying livable wages to employees?
Tipping is great in theory, but in practice a lot of it is just employers exploiting customers' goodwill.
I'm not entirely against tipping. I'd tip if I got better-than-usual service, not if you were just doing a normal job.
Do you tip your barista? It makes me very happy when people tip me but it's not expected at all. A bit of pleasant conversation and a few thank yous shows me you're a nice person compared to half the population.
This has devolved into a different argument.
I think tipping is stupid and am glad I live in Japan. However, when I'm back in Canada I tip because it's the custom. I would try to change the custom by advocating laws top/down. It's not a grassroots sort of issue.
I take issue with people refusing to believe that in some cultures you don't tip. I thought I was in the majority, but it looks like most people are talking about something else
I think tipping is stupid and am glad I live in Japan. However, when I'm back in Canada I tip because it's the custom. I would try to change the custom by advocating laws top/down. It's not a grassroots sort of issue.
I take issue with people refusing to believe that in some cultures you don't tip. I thought I was in the majority, but it looks like most people are talking about something else