CountHusker

Welcome to the board! I'm glad this topic pissed you off enough to start posting. The same story might be said for many of us here... And thanks for the link! The employer having to pay the difference up to minimum wage is something I hadn't realized. Still. There are a lot of minimum wage jobs that suck less than the crap that waitresses/ waiters have to put up with. If tipping was ended or banned (as it is in some parts of the world) you know as well as I do that servers at restaurants would have to be paid better than minimum wage. And the prices at restaurants would reflect the higher cost of doing business. Back to the BR topic, I think most of us posting here actually agree on the fact that it was OK for him to not tip, dumb of him to post the picture. The thing I really hate is when people who have never worked for tips think that they shouldn't EVER have to tip, unless they get some super-special over-the-top service. Like Mr Pink. I have seen this more with wealthy people than poor, in my experience. Leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Thanks for the welcome. I can't say I've ever worked for tips, but I agree that never tipping is wrong. I understand a lot of people have the mentality that it's the restaurant's responsibility to pay its employees, but that's what will cause prices to increase and service to decline. I personally think that wealthy people are generally more arrogant in the fact that they expect a level of service so when they get it, they just think the server is doing his/her job and doesn't deserve extra pay. Also, I think people who know what it's like to work your butt off and get paid so little are more sympathetic to those in a similar situation, leading to larger tips.

I discovered this board this year and I've been following it as a guest and decided to finally make a profile. I guess this topic is what spurred me to join this craziness. First, I've worked in payroll for years for small restaurants that would outsource their payrolls. No waiter/waitress makes less than minimum wage EVER. They can work 40 hours a week, make no tips, and still get paid minimum wage. It's the employer's responsibility to meet the difference between the $2.13/hr they make and the minimum wage (currently $8/hr but moving to $9/hr soon). Because of this experience, I do not automatically tip no matter how the server performed. I tip 15-18% if the service was what I expected and then go more/less depending on how much better or worse they performed. I agree with the choice that BR didn't provide a tip for someone who insulted him (with the truth). However, I don't believe that he should go bragging on social media about it and he ended up getting his just desserts. Citation for tipped minimum wage law: http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/q-a.htm (read the 2nd Q&A)