Tipping in America

From AlterNet:

What is surprising is that, among the factors that determine how much money a server makes, quality of service is fairly insignificant. The Center for Hospitality Research at Cornell University, where Lynn works, found in a 20-year study that level of service explained only a miniscule two percent of the variation between tips. "Literally how sunny it is outside has the same impact on a tip as good service does," says Lynn. "The relationship between tips and service is weak enough that you have to really question the incentive for servers to give good service."

The Center for Hospitality Research lists a number of other factors that affect your tip, many of which are completely out of a server's control. Good weather, good moods and a piece of candy with the check are all important tip boosters. For the server, being attractive improves your tip, being a woman improves your tip, and being an attractive woman exponentially increases it.

In fact, Lynn goes so far as to question the legality of tipping in America. According to Lynn, there is conclusive evidence that being white and/or female has a positive effect on a tip. "Tipping as it is currently practiced is probably unlawful. It is against the law to discriminate on the basis of sex and skin color. The Civil Rights Act states that any time race, sex or age has a dispirited impact on the employee, the job is unlawful. If I was the owner of a large restaurant, I would be afraid of a class action suit."

Click here for the rest.

I've waited tables before, and, odds are, I'm going to be doing it again when I get out of grad school. And one big thing I learned when I was toiling away for chump change is that the whole tipping system is fucking bogus. Sure, some waiters at some restaurants do exceedingly well--the article mentions one New York restaurant whose servers make 100k plus a year. However, that's a complete rarity. Most waiters barely make enough to cover rent, while business-friendly state legislatures responding to the restaurant lobby long ago passed laws exempting the industry from minimum wage requirements: waiters pretty much make their living from tips alone, which most customers don't realize. In other words, it's a big fucking scam, and labor loses. In a just society, things wouldn't be this way. Of course, I'm not really seeing that utopia on the horizon, so, in the meantime, just make sure to give your server at least 20%, after tax. Unless, of course, he's a big dick, in which case, I wholeheartedly approve of stiffing.

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