Tipping, or adding gratuity onto a service beyond the actual price, is commonplace in the U.S. and an understood part of going out.
Whether you are going to a restaurant, a nail salon or a tattoo parlor, the tip you leave says a lot about the kind of person you are in today’s society.
Here in the U.S., tipping has changed from a measure of the service to a more cultural obligation on how you want to be perceived by the staff and those around you.
People are praised for “tipping well”; this is typically at a rate of 20 percent or higher on the total of untaxed product, and if someone should tip less than 20 percent they are seen as rude, ungrateful, stingy or they make the server feel as though they are inadequate.
This problem of valuing worth and credit is, for the most part, strictly an issue in the U.S. The federal minimum wage and the usual pay for a person in a job where they can be tipped is $2.13. This pay is mostly pulled out in taxes on each paycheck. A server who is working part-time sometimes has to pay in on a paycheck should they go over time.
Many service industries are focused on their living wages, which are their tips. If they have a rough day or serve people who disagree with tipping, then they could potentially struggle for a lengthy period of time since their paycheck alone is not something they can really rely on.
In other countries, however, tipping is not seen as a necessity and is shocking if one was to do so. If a group decides to have dinner in a restaurant, a fee or cover-charge, is automatically applied to the table. Since this fee is applied upon sitting down, it covers the time you would spend in the restaurant and sometimes covers the water as well.
Servers in other countries see their job as a necessity and if one is to tip them, it is only for exceptional service and is a surprise and a reward.
Tipping in the U.S. is no longer about good service or bad service, it is all about the perception of the person being waited on and the person providing the service.
If you want to feel better about yourself and have someone else like you, then tip well no matter what.
If you do not care what people think and want to tip based on the type of service, stick to the rule of thumb that 10 percent is never preferred, but it is better than not tipping at all.
