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In the United States, it’s expected that one leaves a tip of at least 15% when dining out at a restaurant.
While this may frustrate diners, who wish to enjoy their meal without an added 15 to 25% charge, it’s often essential. Tipped wages in the United States are significantly lower than non-tipped wages. In short, unlike other industries, workers in restaurants often rely directly on customers to pay their wages rather than their employer.
All that said, tipping is technically optional. Though that doesn’t mean that one will be able to not tip without incident, as Reddit user applecalyptic recently learned.
What Went Wrong at This Bar In Miami, Florida?
In a post on Reddit’s r/EndTipping, Redditor applecalyptic recounts how he “Got (Really) Shamed by a Waitress for Not Tipping.”
According to the Redditor, he visited a Miami, Florida bar with some friends. He says in the post that he visits this bar “every couple of weeks to eat or have a drink,” noting in a comment that he is originally from Argentina.
This time around, he says he simply ate something small, requested the bill, and then went outside to meet his friends. He says he forgot to leave a tip while doing so, which he chalks up to being distracted by the basketball game he was watching.
Soon, however, he would become aware of his failure to tip—and so would everyone else in the area.
“This woman (our waitress) came after me yelling that I ‘never tip’ and that ‘tips are the only money she makes.’ She also said, ‘You’re not from this country, you should know the culture and tip me,’” the Redditor says. “She was shouting, everyone saw it, and I was in shock.”
According to applecalyptic, his friends tried to support him by reiterating that he’s not from the country.
“What an awful situation. I honestly hope no tourist or visitor has to go through something like this,” he concludes.
Are You Always Required To Tip?
Tipping is expected in most cities in the U.S. However, some regional legislation that has improved tipped wages has led some to question whether they still need to tip.
For example, in Miami, where this story took place, the minimum wage is presently $13 per hour. Though, it is set to increase to $14 per hour in September. In contrast, the tipped minimum wage is $9.98—lower than the standard minimum wage but significantly higher than the federal minimum of $2.13 per hour.
Author Tim Carman examined the question of whether one should still tip wage-hiked tipped workers for the Washington Post in 2019. In the end, he comes to the conclusion that one should still tip not only to reward good service and not only because we already tip other service industry workers like hairstylists, but because tipping can benefit workers in the back-of-house, too, through tip pooling. Additionally, Carman argues that failing to tip servers can risk punishing them, as many high-end servers with years of experience still rely on tips to meet their deserved wage.
However, some may disagree with this assessment—especially the commenters on this Reddit thread. They argued that not only was the server in the wrong for following the diner out of the restaurant, but also that he shouldn’t have felt obligated to tip in the first place.
Commenters Are Enraged
In the comments section, users offered their views on the Redditor’s specific situation and tipping in general.
“Waitress is an a——,” wrote one user. “A tip is not a fee; it’s a voluntary reward for good service. The waitress is acting as if it’s a fee owed her. It is not.”
“That server should be unemployed, at the very least. She will be lucky if she doesn’t follow the wrong person into the parking lot one day,” detailed another. “Very dangerous game she’s playing.”
“If you felt comfortable you should complain to management, that person should face repercussions,” offered a third.
They added in another comment. “You didn’t do anything wrong and they’re driving away regular business and humiliating paying customers. You should be able to go there with your friends without having that sort of experience.”
BroBible reached out to applecalyptic via Reddit chat.
Content shared from brobible.com.