r/facepalm 'MURICA Aug 28 '24

🇲​🇮​🇸​🇨​ i'm speechless

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25.9k Upvotes

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17.6k

u/EmeraldDream123 Aug 28 '24

Suggested Tips 20-25%?

Is this normal in the US?

763

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

249

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.

203

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

93

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.

82

u/NRMusicProject Aug 28 '24

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

3

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

-2

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.

9

u/Abigail_Normal Aug 28 '24

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

-1

u/TearyEyeBurningFace Aug 28 '24

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

3

u/[deleted] Aug 28 '24

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

3

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.

1

u/Abigail_Normal Aug 28 '24

Where do you live?

-1

u/TearyEyeBurningFace Aug 28 '24

Canada

1

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.

1

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.

3

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%.

2

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

2

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.

3

u/[deleted] 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.

3

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.

14

u/KnockItTheFuckOff Aug 28 '24

It increased during COVID when the service industry took the biggest hit. This was their livelihood and people were being laid off left and right and we as a society rallied around small business.

It just never went back down again.

16

u/Nonamebigshot Aug 28 '24

The prices of so many things skyrocketed during covid and never went back down and I assume it's because once the powers that be realized they could get away with charging that much they just decided to keep doing it.

7

u/CanAlwaysBeBetter Aug 28 '24

No. It was 20% long before Covid and still is

9

u/KnockItTheFuckOff Aug 28 '24

It was 10%, 15%, and 20% where I am. 20% was the max just before COVID. Now, it's bare minimum.

2

u/BanditoDeTreato Aug 28 '24

It's been 20% since at least the 1990s. Even when 15% was considered the "minimum" it was still considered kind of stingy.

Source have been eating out since the 1970s

2

u/CanAlwaysBeBetter Aug 28 '24

It might open your eyes to how important a 20 percent tip could be.

Today, it’s customary for most Americans to tip between 15 percent and 20 percent

Waiters should be tipped 15%-20%, though at higher-end restaurants, a solid 20% is more the norm.

The range now is between 15 percent and 20 percent. This is for average to good service.

  • From 2004 (also this is an article complaining about how to many people expect tips these days... aka 20 years ago)

Waiters should get 15-20 percent of your pretax check

waiters/waitresses should receive 15-20 percent. Is this still correct, or has it gone up to 20 percent?

1

u/CanAlwaysBeBetter Aug 28 '24

And one more find, a quote from 1957 a writer back in 2011 dug up:

Remember that 10 percent is no longer sufficient for a waiter. He ought to get 15 to 20 percent.

-2

u/IdioticPost Aug 28 '24 edited Aug 28 '24

Be the change you want to see. I've upped my tips to 12% but nothing beyond that.

edit: waiters out in full force today 🤣

6

u/KnockItTheFuckOff Aug 28 '24

I've compromised. I know for the time being that servers truly are reliant on tips. I have limited eating out quite a bit because 20% of the bill additionally just doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

That said, I absolutely do not tip for take-out that I pick up or anywhere that requests one when I am walking into the establishment and not staying.

Not the bagel shop, not the sandwich shop, not corporate coffee shops, not drive-thru's.

1

u/BanditoDeTreato Aug 28 '24

You should not eat in restaurants

2

u/CanAlwaysBeBetter Aug 28 '24

Remember that 10 percent is no longer sufficient for a waiter. He ought to get 15 to 20 percent.

  • A quote from 1957 a writer dug up in 2011 when people were still complaining about tips

-2

u/Nonamebigshot Aug 28 '24 edited Aug 28 '24

That's super neat but every restaurant bill I used to get fifteen years ago requested an average tip rate of 10%-15% and now it's 20%-25% so you're not about to gaslight me with that dumbass quote 🤣You're literally attempting to disprove actual life experiences with an archived "Chicago Reader's magazine" article this is so fucking Reddit

1

u/CanAlwaysBeBetter Aug 28 '24

-2

u/Nonamebigshot Aug 28 '24

So 15-20? And that would be less than 20-25 right? So the percentage has raised then?

2

u/[deleted] Aug 28 '24

[deleted]

1

u/BanditoDeTreato Aug 28 '24

No it wasn't. Your parents were just skinflints. Also Gen X.

1

u/STUPIDNEWCOMMENTS Aug 28 '24 edited Sep 08 '24

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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

1

u/BanditoDeTreato Aug 28 '24

Your parents were just cheap.

2

u/marvsup Aug 28 '24

Well it started with racism, surprise surprise, so that people could pay black porters less.

3

u/Nonamebigshot Aug 28 '24

Racism plus unchecked Capitalism couldn't be more American could it?

1

u/limamon Aug 28 '24

Elder millennial too, thanks for the context!

1

u/CoconutMochi Aug 28 '24 edited Aug 28 '24

California doesn't hold an exception to minimum wage (IIRC here in LA county it's $20) for servers but the tipping culture here isn't any different. Even if you order food to-go from someone at a point-of-sale they still ask for tips.

Not to mention everyone prefers cash tips so they can commit tax fraud

1

u/el_bentzo Aug 28 '24

Tipping system was basically created so restaurant employers could pay black waiters less than minimum wage. So it was created out of racism

1

u/Wardman66 Aug 28 '24

It’s a sliding scale economy goes nuts prices skyrocket but hourly rate stays the same, tip % grows along with how bad the economy is

1

u/Routine-Function7891 Aug 29 '24

If everywhere is operating under the rules of the same system then you’re not ‘paying the employees for the business owner’ - if you weren’t tipping do you think food prices would stay the same? No, of course they wouldn’t because the employee cost would be factored into the prices.

1

u/mistletoebeltbuckle_ Aug 28 '24

really old fuck here.... yes!, 10% AND... even that was not an expected give unless you got over and above service.

Now, the service industry system is set up to victimize the servers and vilify the customers

[ I know, I know... bread used to be 15 cents :\ ]

0

u/MomDontReadThisShit Aug 28 '24

I just don’t tip any more.

4

u/seragrey Aug 28 '24

tHeN yOu cAnT aFfOrD tO gO oUt To EaT

1

u/Nonamebigshot Aug 28 '24

I mean in this economy who can?😆

0

u/TheMcBrizzle Aug 28 '24 edited Aug 28 '24

I think it's regional, because I'm same general age and it's always been 10% is mediocre, 15% for good and 20% for anything better than good.

*Why would this be downvoted? Lol.

-1

u/Links_Wrong_Wiki Aug 28 '24 edited Aug 28 '24

33 years old here. Growing up I was always taught 10% for standard, 15% for good service.

I refuse to tip above 15%, it scales with inflation so 15% will always be 15%

2

u/BanditoDeTreato Aug 28 '24

Your parents were just cheap and so are you. 20 percent has been standard since at least the 90's. There's a guy in this thread that's got 15-20% quotes going back to the 50s.