Last month the debate raged on Fat City whether 15 percent was still an adequate tip, but now the question is whether the concept of tips should even exist. In a recent essay, columnist David Mitchell of The Observer tries to explain why he feels tips are outmoded:
If you're going to a restaurant to be served and eat a meal, why is the price of the delivery open to negotiation but not that of the food itself, the ambiance, music, heating or use of the furniture? All of these things can disappoint or delight. It's illogical to fix the price of one element but not the others.It would be a fair question if servers were salaried employees -- similar to the chefs, designers, plumbers and electricians who create those elements Mitchell describes. But the current salary structure requires waiters to receive tips if they are to make a living wage. Although it's a point that Mitchell is willing to concede, he still can't get past the awkwardness of judging another person:
But when you're expected to estimate a fee yourself -- to look someone in the eye and say what you think their efforts are worth -- any right-minded person (by which I mean socially awkward Briton) is going to feel embarrassed and stressed.In an effort to avoid these encounters, Mitchell sings the praises of fixed pricing that includes gratuity. And while that's certainly simpler, is it really necessary? Is Mitchell too sensitive to dining tradition or should we restructure the way that servers are compensated?
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One of two problems exsist here.
1. In order to pay good servers what they make in tips by the hour, your food would cost so much you wouldn't pay for it.
or
2. Restaurants wouldn't pay much and the service would be lousy, but at least you wouldn't have to tip.
so cut out the middle man and go to some crappy chain restaurant, where the service staff already sucks and the service is already lousy and you can already keep your tip and eat some lousy food and go home and be happy.
The fixed price idea bugs the shit out of me. The fact remains that the server is the salesperson of the restaurant. They work for tips because it is not only their job to serve you, but to sell you on what you're ordering. You don't go into the kitchen to ask the chef, "Hey, what d'you think about the french dip? Is it better than the smoked turkey cobb? Or should I just get a burger, and call it a day?" Yeah, some places are more sales-ish than others, but that's the deal. The server is the presenter, if you will, and they should be compensated accordingly.
It's like people who work on commission. I dare Mitchell to try to find a good loan officer/real estate agent that has a fixed salary. Not possible. At least we, as diners, have more control over the "commission" rate that gets paid, and can basically comment on performance through the tipping medium, you know?
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