What Is Up With The Recent “War On Tipping?”

There are reasons to be angry about tipping, but it requires some context too.

People definitely feel broke, even if they’re not broke, and I understand that, as I feel the same way often myself. Since August 4th, I’ve mostly been working in the service industry as a bartender, with a few flighty white-collar things here and there. At the same time, I’ve seen (mostly) conservative media talk about how “ridiculous” tipping has gotten, usually using examples from a self-service kiosk proposing a 15% tip. I almost now long for the days where Tucker Carlson fired up the exurb dads in recliners about critical race theory, because we don’t need to be coming for tipping right now.

Here is the basic deal: because a lot of people don’t really understand economics or how to cost-run a business (self often included), it should probably be stated upfront that most restaurants and bars operate at a slim margin and cannot afford to pay their people a living wage. In the USA, most servers and bartenders get $2.13/hour as base, far below even minimum wage. Honestly, general managers of multi-million dollar bars often make $65,000/year max. There is not a lot of money flowing in these worlds, except for those who own the places.