Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/03/20/hollingsworth-hound-caught-in.html
Tom the Dancing Bug, IN WHICH News of the Times reports on Hollingsworth Hound’s illegal bribe to get his son into an elite university
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That’s a funny cartoon. Dogs can’t talk!
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No Lucky Ducky being arrested for saying their child lives with a relative so they can go to a school that isn’t as bad as the local one?
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Accurate.
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IDK exactly what kind of joke that line about tipping was meant to be. But as a (soon-to-be-involuntarily-dispossessed) European, my reaction to the tipping mania in the US is indeed “why do I need to bribe you to serve me a drink at a bar when your sole job is to serve drinks at a bar?”
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It’s not a bribe. Though it’s called a tip, it’s technically salary, since servers in most states are taxed on what they are expected to bring in via “tips.”
I’m not going to suggest it makes sense, since paying the server a living wage would obviate the need for tips, but I live in one of the few states which disallows servers from being paid less than minimum wage.
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Because the owner of the bar can’t be bothered to pay them enough to live without your tips.
Still, when I used to work in a pub, we used to love it when US tourists came in. Even if they’ve learnt that we don’t tip bar staff, they’d still tip like 20% on every meal.
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You could say exactly the same about bribes to police or health inspectors, if it were legal; it’s just another way of saying that bribing bartenders is legal (and socially encouraged).
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The logic is also that tips make the server act more gracious and friendly, earning the tip, and a rude server would get nothing. But then rude customers can abuse this, and may not tip no matter how servile and overly friendly the waitress/waiter is. I agree with you though, tipping in the US has gotten out of hand, I’m most annoyed with tip jars at counters and take out places, trying to guilt me into giving extra (when the fact that I’m eating there means I’m being frugal in the first place.)
Honestly, tipping is done because you have empathy for the plight of your fellow human being. It is legal to pay what are considered slavery wages to someone if they serve drinks or food for a living. These unfortunate souls are paid at rates well below the poverty line.
For me, the question isn’t so much “why do Americans tip?” as much as it is “Why do Americans tolerate wage slavery?”
Either way, tip your servers in the U.S. They work hard and deserve to be able to eat.
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Not in America, you couldn’t.
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