Commenters were divided after a diner shared an Atlanta restaurant’s tipping policy, which says customers who can’t afford to tip should stay home.
The Original Poster (OP), known as u/Eltsoh, posted a photo of the menu on Reddit’s Mildly Infuriating forum, where it received nearly 55,300 upvotes and 7,800 comments. You can find the post here.
tipping culture
While tipping isn’t common in all countries, servers in America make the majority of their money from tipping customers rather than their hourly wages.
In other countries, restaurants charge service fees and waiters do not expect tips for regular service.
JackF/iStock
As Robin DiPietro, the director of the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management at the University of South Carolina, said news week“Tipping is definitely more of a US thing.”
DiPietro explained that servers in many locations across America are paid less than minimum hourly wage because their employers top up the wages with their tips.
“I think it’s important to remember that for most servers, tipping is a real part of the reward for their work, it’s not just some sort of ‘bonus,'” DiPietro said.
Although restaurants cannot tip, the average tip is between 15 and 20 percent of the bill, with exceptional service sometimes receiving more than 20 percent.
“The proper way to tip is to tip the amount of the bill before tax, a lot of people forget that,” she said. “Another thing to remember is that you don’t have to tip for the price of a whole bottle of wine — it’s nice, but tipping $20 for a $100 bottle of wine isn’t mandatory.” . Service, the right wine involves service and pouring should be rewarded, but a 10-15 percent tip on alcohol is appropriate.”
‘Stay at home’
In the post, the OP shared a picture of an Atlanta bar’s menu with the words “tip or die” in bold.
“What I found on the back of a menu,” the post read.
The menu reads in bold, “Tip or Die – or drag your cheap a** too [sic] Mickey D’s.”
In smaller type, the policy states that tipping is customary at this restaurant and how waiters and bartenders make a living.
“If you think tipping is cheating, then you should probably stay home, microwave dinner on TV, and watch your favorite reality show,” the menu reads. “Because if you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to eat at a full service restaurant either. So life is.”
Redditor reactions
More than 5,600 users commented on the post, many criticizing the restaurant’s aggressive language, others applauding the policy.
“The truth is I can’t afford to eat at a full service restaurant so I literally eat a lot at Mcds. Also with the app codes,” commented one user.
“‘We’re too cheap to pay a decent wage, so we blame the customers for subsidizing our employees,'” commented another. “In the past, tips were given for services that went above and beyond. They were a ‘bonus’ for good work.
“As someone who always tips, that would make me leave and go elsewhere,” commented another.
“Okay, I get tips at a full service restaurant… but I think we’ve gotten to the point where you’re expected to tip pretty much everywhere,” commented another user.
“AKA we underpay our staff so you better lean on our mistakes,” commented another.
“No tipping in Australia (yet). F**k tipping culture,” commented one user.
“If you cannot afford to pay your employees a fair and reasonable wage. Rely on generosity. You can’t afford to be in business. Just say,” read one comment. “Not cheap. I tip. But fuck those signs.”
“As someone who has worked in the service industry down south for years ($2.13/hr baby), I can tell you that tipping is absolutely our survival,” commented another. “Usually we get checks for $0 since they deduct taxes from what they call hourly wages. Tipping, especially in the South, is typically 100% of a server’s earnings.”
news week asked u/Eltsoh for a comment.
