A Tip For All of Us
“Tip or die” may very well be the motto of nearly all American restaurants. When we receive a lukewarm dinner accompanied with an unhelpful server, we tip, however meagerly, because we believe it’s the right thing to do. When we have exceptional service, not to mention delicious food, we feel good tipping a little bit more than usual because we believe it’s the right thing to do. If your server thinks you’re going to need a nudge, they’ll be sure to remind you on the check, etching their name in at the top followed by two O’s with a U underneath regardless of how it’s spelt.
Most say that tipping provides a reliable litmus test of the quality of service provided. The amount of tips a server makes can distinguish their service, although we would be remiss to overlook Hooters and the like. Psychological and economic evidence suggest that there is little to no link between the quality of service provided and the amount the server receives -- or earns, depending on your views. In fact, the restaurant industry would serve waiters and waitresses justice if they were paid a livable wage rather than relying on the generosity of restaurant goers.
Before we move on though, it’s important to understand how and why tipping came here to America. Originating in Europe, the practice was a means of establishing a pecking order; if one could afford to spare extra money on wage earners, then they could do so without giving much thought at all (although nowadays everyone thinks it’s a no-brainer). In The New Yorker, financial reporter James Surowiecki draws on the history of tipping in “Check, Please” to demonstrate how the practice has reached its peak popularity, noting that “[t]ipping didn’t take hold here until after the Ci...
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...Times did in 1899, when he concluded ‘there is no escape’ and half-jokingly recommended that ‘over every restaurant might be emblazoned: ‘Prepare to tip all ye who enter here.’” And that very well may be true, generally speaking. In reality, however, American dining etiquette is already being turned on it’s head.
Let’s take a look at the paragon of a restaurant without gratuity: the NYC sushi restaurant Sushi Yasuda. In an effort to import Japanese dining culture, owner Scott Rosenberg has eliminated tipping altogether while providing his employees with livable wages. And get this -- all tips left on the table are immediately returned to the diners by the staff. The check reads: “Following the custom in Japan, Sushi Yasuda’s service staff are fully compensated by their salary. Therefore gratuities are not accepted. Thank you.”
It’s about time the tables have turned.
Dave Thomas an American restaurateur and a philanthropist once said, “It all comes back to the basic. Serve customers the best-tasting food at a good value in a clean, comfortable restaurant, and they'll keep coming back.” (thomas). Everyone can agree on Dave Thomas, but I have a couple more criteria to add to his idea of a great successful restaurant. If I go out to eat I might as well pick a place that, though may be expensive, has scrumptious food because why bother going to spend money on food you can make yourself? A great restaurant has to meet three of my criteria’s: the Décor and atmosphere, impeccable service and cleanliness, and most importantly the food.
The idea of tipping has always been normal to myself, as I was a kid and still now I see my parents leaving tips for the waiter/waitress when we go out to eat. It never occurred to me until I got older that it was hard for these workers to get by as their salary depended upon their tips. Once I read Saru Jayaraman’s article on “Why Tipping is Wrong” I was unsure of what I was getting myself into. However, it brought light and told how we should be getting rid of tips and giving the workers a fair and decent salary.
All in all, beggars can’t be choosers. From the Percenters to the Whale Tippers, all tips are appreciated. Regardless of what category you fall in, every time you tip a server, you leave an impression. Everytime you dine out, you have a chance to change your category.
Let’s be honest, we all have faced the dilemma of what is the right thing to do when it comes down to tipping. Should I tip or not? If yes, how much? Did I tip less or more? Was I better off not tipping at all? This dilemma ends up creating an aloof relationship between a consumer and a service provider. Not only that, but tipping in itself is a wrong approach to show gratitude for the service provided because more often than not, “sense of guilt” comes into play since we are bounded by the social norms for tipping. Tipping should be abolished from the society because tipping doesn’t reflect the quality of service provided, it hinders social relationship, and furthermore it encourages tax evasion.
Tips are generally a small amount of money given to a person as gratitude for a service that has been provided. There are many times throughout our everyday lives in which we are put in a position to leave a gratuity. Whether it be dining at a restaurant, getting your hair cut at the salon, or having a few drinks with friends at a bar. In each case there was a service provided to you, now you have a decision to make, how much of a tip is considered acceptable and should you tip everyone that provides a service to you? There are many guidelines for consumers to follow. With modern technology there are convenient tip calculators available as features on most new cellular phones. When deciding on the tip amount the service is one of the major determining factors along with whether or not you plan on visiting the establishment again , and how the tip will play a role in your further dealings with said business. Michael Lewis explores a few interesting reasons why tipping is getting out of hand in a recent essay. I strongly agree with many points and examples he provides.
Also, servers themselves know that certain things affect tips that aren’t usually included in most research on tipping influences. For instance many servers believe that gas prices affect the amount they are tipped or how busy the restaurant is. The thought is that the higher the gas prices the smaller the tip and vise versa. All the theories similar to this are why many servers and others alike believe that tips are too inconsistent of a form of payment to be able to live of...
While extra value meals may save us some change at the counter, they’re costing us
The book two dollars a day by Kathryn Edin is a book that highlights a spiraling poverty in America. One thing I feel contributed to the poverty talked about in the book is some types of American political culture. People in America who are in need of welfare often won’t take it until they have become so impoverished there is no other option due to the stigmas that come with welfare. American political culture also creates a persona for poor people it often paints them as lazy minorities that don’t want to work though they would be capable if they tried too. The pull yourself up by the boot straps mantra only creates more detestation for the poor and impoverished that already don’t seem to fit into the American dream.
Clincher: As Robin Williams would say, have a good night and be sure to tip your waitresses.
FASB Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts (CON) 5, Recognition and Measurement in Financial Statements of Business Enterprises, set forth the historic guiding principle to revenue recognition. Pursuant to paragraph 83, for revenue to be recognized it must be (a) realized or realizable and (b) earned. Revenues are “realized” when products, goods, services, or other assets are exchanged for cash or claims to cash. They are “realizable” when related assets received or held are readily convertible to known amounts of cash or claims of cash. Revenue is “earned” when an entity has “substantially accomplished what it must do to be entitled to the benefits represented by the revenues.” SEC Staff Accounting Bulleting (SAB) 104, Revenue Recognition issued in December 2003 provided additional guidance to when revenue is realized or realizable and earned setting forth four basic criteria: (1) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, (2) delivery has occurred or services have been rendered, (3) the seller’s price to the buyer is fixed or determinable, and (4) collectibility is reasonable assured.
Gold is one of the most popular metals as investment. Because of its high and consistent value, it is considered one of the safest commodities to invest in. There are several ways of using gold as an investment. Gold can be physically bough in the form of bullion bars or bullion coins. Gold exchange products can be traded in major stock exchanges in the same manner as shares. These include closed-end products or CEFs, exchange-traded notes or ETNs, and exchange-traded funds or ETFs. Gold accounts can be availed from banks and their management greatly depends on whether it is an unallocated or an allocated gold account. Gold certificates used to circulate as money until the United States restricted private gold ownership in 1933. Buying shares in gold mining companies comes with structural, management, and political risks but investing in the right company at the right time can increase share prices to as much as 20%.
For the past three decades minimum wage has been seen to rise several times. Only helping some but more than anything harming most. So who are the ones feeling the effects? Certainly not the wealthy, it never is them, mainly it would be the working poor, unskilled and teenagers. Raising minimum wage would cripple the public even more than what it would actually help.
When entering a restaurant, I usually expect to leave full, satisfied, and wanting to come back again. I believe that many people expect the same thing. The way people react to service can be very different from person to person. Depending on the way the customers are feeling, or the way that the server is feeling can be a big factor for the way service comes across. Service is an important part of everyone’s lives because majority of the jobs that people preform are service related. Poor service is an unfortunate part of life that everyone comes across. The way that I react to the poor service I receive is important and can change in the blink of an eye. Whether I react in an outspoken way, by getting loud and voicing my opinion. Or if I react in a quiet or apologetic way, it can affect my server, and the people around me, and myself.
Crowdfunding is an intermediate platform which uses social media, bigdata and cloud technologies to significantly fund small and medium scale industries to start up the industries.
We all know that everyone gets excited when going out to eat at different restaurants are fun but have you ever thought about the effects of it. Eating out is always a treat for plenty of families and have become a natural routine for many people. That’s why limiting your dining out experience can change your life in many ways; such as saving money, time, nutritional value, even bringing your family together.