Pretty much this haha. It just cycles over and over again.
My only contention is that its not necessarily always a pro tipper that is making that argument(it really should just be anyone with common sense) though often times it is.
Id like to add an observation though. And this is not a defense of the shady practices in the OP but about what I see in every tipping thread. It continually shocks me that in a country plagued by millions upon millions of underpaid workers in jobs that provide a substandard wage, which continues to widen a larger and larger wealth gap, that there continues to perpetuate from some an almost vitriolic hatred toward the beneficiaries(servers, bartenders, delivery drivers) of the one low education profession -outside of the dwindling blue collar industry - that consistently manages to buck the ultra low wage trend and provide their workers with wages that often times slightly exceeds the typical wage one would find outside of that industry. Pay that seemingly more aligns itself with what a lot of concerned Americans and recent economists suggest should be the amount the least among us should receive in terms of a living wage.
Are they getting paid too much? In my experience servers and bartenders tend to average out over the course of a shift for a week anywhere from $8 - $20 plus an hour. The low and highs being EXTREME exceptions to the rule. I'd say most here in louisiana average around 10-13 an hour over the course of a week. 10-13 dollars an hours, Which if you have any sense of the cost of living, is just enough to afford most basic necessities and little else in New Orleans or Baton Rouge.
The problem with those saying just pay servers a regular wage, it's more fair to me the consumer, is that it will look a lot more like a wal mart salary of 8-9 dollars an hour given americas wage enviorenment and a lot less like it does today where servers can possibly make a decent bit more. Both scenarios have their negatives but only one scenario, with no other changes to the law, would significantly hurt a servers take home wage.
As i said, It's the one consistent industry left in this country where if you can't find a blue collar job you can manage to make a modest living or in my case help pay your way through college.
Personally I think all this hatred toward service industry workers for their higher pay over other jobs like retail should be channeled at raising the minimum wage to more align itself with what servers make, which is a more appropriate low end living wage. Then we can talk about eliminating the tipping culture. But I think without that first step, going to the second step is just a cruel assault on service industry workers that will only stand to single out and hurt them.
