Poll of the Day > Is tipping a factor of service, or a factor of gratuity?

(+) Yeah! (+)

If it's a factor of service, then it's easily calculable. If the server is minimum wage and the minimum wage is $10.00/hr and they serve you for your 15 minute stay, that's a $2.50 tip. EZ PZ

If it's a factor of gratuity, then millionaires/billionaires should be tipping hundreds or even thousands of dollars since it's basically pennies to them.
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Service, but quality, not length.

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"Gratuity" just means tip. Unless you go back to the original etymology of the word, in which case it means "gift freely given" (which almost no tips are in this day and age).

Regardless, the net value of the person tipping has no value on the expected value of the tip. Just because someone can easily afford to tip you $100,000 without blinking doesn't mean they should, or that you deserve it.

Ultimately, tips should be a reward for exceptional service and nothing more, but they've effectively evolved into a borderline extortion racket encouraged by wage structure and social culture.
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Your first value is off, unless the server was ONLY serving you and not others and basically there constantly for everything you need.

IF a server is serving 5 tables, then the total per table if you were attempting to pay said server minimum wage between you would be min wage/5 per hour.

So if min wage is $10, and there are 5 tables and you are served for an hour, then that would be a $2 tip.

In reality though I believe tipping should be done a totally different way then it currently is.

Tipping should not be based off the total bill, but based on how long you are there and the service you receive and should max out at about $1 per person being served (per hour).

The resteraunt itself should still be required to pay a full wage (higher based on the quality of the resteraunt and of the servers). In Washington at least min wage is paid outside of tips at least.

But yeah, the current 20% (which I generally pay) is rediculous especially with cost of food getting so high you can't even eat out yourself for less then $20 most often now (heck even fast food can almost be that much).

Your tipping $4+ even for a 20-30 min meal at this point, and the servers are getting tips from multiple tables (and that $4+ is per person, often with multiple people per table).

Half of the people eating at such places make $15 or less an hour as well......seems backwards to me.
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