I didn't know it existed until tonight. I didn't start eating at restaurants until a few years ago and didn't know gratuity tipping was a thing.

Why is it so widespread and popular? I've read up on the origins of it, but it doesn't seem like a good system if a good portion of your income (depending on the restaurant) is reliant on people's hood graces.

I'll start leaving tips now, mostly to avoid being called an "uptight racist." and also because it is the right thing to do.

Edit: Fixed a SwiftKey mistake.

it's culturally dependent. In many places, tipping isn't done. The reason it's done in the US is because back in the day someone thought it would be a nice gesture and it caught on. Then restaurant owners got nice exceptions made in wage payment laws that would allow them to pay their workers less since they get tipped and so now servers need the tips just to make a decent wage, much to the restaurant owner's pleasure.

As was discussed at length http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1478127-do-you-tip-the-pizza-guy/ tipping is very common in some countries but also never done in other countries.

In some economies and/or cultures, people rely on their tips as part of their income.

Depends on the country. In Finland, the price of everything in a restaurant is higher, and thus the "tip" is already included there.

I guess it originates from the fact that its cheaper for restaurants that way, if the waiters get paid mostly from tips. But then again, I'm not sure what happens with the tips. Do they go straight into the waiters pockets, or into the giant machine which is the restaurant?

I suppose it does encourage workers to do their best at all times, with the fear of losing the tip, and the promise of a reward in form of a tip if they don't screw up. But deliberately not doing your job well would get you fired here in Finland, so I'm really not sure if it's needed or not.

Overall seems like a pretty pointless custom.

Fixed a SwiftKey mistake with the quote.

I always tip and normally tip quite a bit especially if the service was good also even if it wasn't. I've worked [censored] jobs before where we didn't get the option of tips, so I feel for the common server.

It is stupid that a business can say that if a job gets tips then they can pay them less. I know friends who work their ass off as all people in the food service industry do and only get $2.50 an hour plus tips. Some nights this is good and after an 8 hour shift they can walk out with 100+ but when business is slow or people who don't tip ([censored]s)I've had friends work for 5 hours and only get $16.50. Which is absolute [censored] because minimum wage is $7.20 and if they get 16.50 over the course of five hours then someone else is making double their money in the same amount of time.

I try not to eat at places with mandatory tipping. Tips are a privilege, not a right. I won't pay some dike 20 bucks for being slow, discourteous or otherwise poor service just because the bill demands it. I don't care how miserable your day is, if you're going to treat customers like another face in a monotonous day, expect no tips. If you're having a bad day but still carrying on like a trooper and putting on a kind face for customers, you deserve a tip.

I don't normally tip people by giving them a set amount (like 10% of whatever I bought). If I'm dealing in cash and the change isn't more than a few pounds then I'll let them keep it.

I once tipped a taxi driver ￡12 because I was drunk and thought I gave him ￡10 instead of ￡20