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MrScorpio

(73,631 posts)
Wed Mar 12, 2014, 11:40 AM Mar 2014

I'm wondering if this person is for real: Why You Shouldn’t Tip (At All)

MAR. 5, 2014 By NICOLE MULLEN

Recently, a four year old blog post has been getting a lot of attention on social media. Sometime in 2009, a man named Bhagwad Jal Park posted an excoriation on tipping entitled, Five Reasons I Won’t Tip If You’re A Waiter. The responses to the original post were mostly negative, and the article is being shared on Facebook as an example of how shitty people can be.

What disturbs me isn’t that some people don’t tip, it’s the fact that to even criticize tipping is immediately met with such vitriol and hatred that one has to question why we’re so systematically inclined to agree with service industry employees. Doesn’t it alarm anyone that we don’t even question the act of tipping? Doesn’t it bother anyone that no one has taken a step back and looked at the other side of the conversation? Isn’t anyone concerned with the feelings of the customers? After all, it’s the customers that bring money into the restaurants. It’s the customers that pay for the meals, and ultimately, it’s the customers that pay the waiters rent.

I’m going to let you guys in on a secret. I am a customer. I eat out a lot, and sometimes, most of the time really, I don’t tip! It’s not because I can’t afford it, it’s because the waiters can. When I go out on Friday nights to get fucked up and YOLO at Chili’s with my gal pals, the simple act of not tipping is the only form of rebellion I’m allowed as a working mom. It’s the only “fuck you” to the man that I have left.

You see, waiters are already paid. They earn $2.37 an hour, a living wage, and most of the time, they are tipped on top of that. People love to make a point out of being good tippers. The entire industry is built on the pretense of altruism. Not only is someone bringing you food, but you get to act like a hero at the end when you round up to the nearest whole dollar.

http://thoughtcatalog.com/nicole-mullen/2014/03/why-you-shouldnt-tip/?utm_source=disqus_dashboard


Is this parody, or is she really that much of an asshole?
20 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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I'm wondering if this person is for real: Why You Shouldn’t Tip (At All) (Original Post) MrScorpio Mar 2014 OP
That, my friend, Kelvin Mace Mar 2014 #1
Really? Capt. Obvious Mar 2014 #2
Well, she teaches at a "retarded school" her own words. Pholus Mar 2014 #3
Sounds like Mr. Pink. Fantastic Anarchist Mar 2014 #4
Re-reading I am going with parody Kelvin Mace Mar 2014 #5
Of course it is satire. I think the final paragraph makes that clear CBGLuthier Mar 2014 #6
What irritates me PowerToThePeople Mar 2014 #7
This HAS to be "Colbert-esque" in its delivery. bullwinkle428 Mar 2014 #8
Total Parody -"$2.37 an hour, a living wage" & "30 tables an hour = $600,000 a year" were big clues. IdaBriggs Mar 2014 #9
I liked the handy table that she created magical thyme Mar 2014 #13
"$2.37 an hour, a living wage"- pretty sure that's the tell this is sarcasm. KittyWampus Mar 2014 #10
Wait, not so fast. She's not just an asshole... Sarah Ibarruri Mar 2014 #11
Clear parody. If you go to the website, it becomes obvious. magical thyme Mar 2014 #12
Read "Nickel and Dimed"... Bigmack Mar 2014 #14
My husband was a bus boy back in the day, he ALWAYS tips at least 20% if not more. a kennedy Mar 2014 #15
+1 narnian60 Mar 2014 #19
30 tables an hour. Hahahahaha. narnian60 Mar 2014 #16
Satire but based on my own experiences... Phentex Mar 2014 #17
+1 narnian60 Mar 2014 #18
Thought Catalog should really just rename itself shamelesstrollingclickbait.com kcr Mar 2014 #20

Pholus

(4,062 posts)
3. Well, she teaches at a "retarded school" her own words.
Wed Mar 12, 2014, 11:45 AM
Mar 2014

http://thoughtcatalog.com/nicole-mullen/

Parody maybe? Either that or someone I really would never want to meet.
 

Kelvin Mace

(17,469 posts)
5. Re-reading I am going with parody
Wed Mar 12, 2014, 11:49 AM
Mar 2014

Always read the entire article before forming a conclusion

On average, a good waiter who works at a moderately priced diner waits on about 30 tables an hour. At a lower tier establishment, an average meal for two is about 45 dollars. That equates to a gross income of $1350 for the restaurant every hour. A good tip is 20%, and a bad tip is 10%, so working with an average tip of 15%, and excluding outliers, that same waiter is earning $202 an hour. Carry that out to an entire shift, and your same average waiter is walking home with over $1600 a day.

That’s over $600,000 a year.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Nicole, yeah, that seems like a lot of money, but you have to factor in the taxes that come out of that.” Oh do I? Not really–and not just because it hurts my argument. You people are forgetting that tips are untaxable, by law.

And those are just the tips. Last year, Chili’s paid out over 17 billion dollars in bonuses to its top waiters. 17 billion! For doing nothing more than bringing people food. These are the numbers, folks. Math doesn’t lie, and it’s mathematically true that the more money someone makes, the shittier of a person they become. Just look at this chart:


Waiters make $600,000 a year? Untaxed? By waiting on 30 tables an hour? With Chili's paying out $17 billion in bonuses to top waiters?

Yeah, satire. The graph kind of clinches it:

?w=584&h=398

CBGLuthier

(12,723 posts)
6. Of course it is satire. I think the final paragraph makes that clear
Wed Mar 12, 2014, 11:49 AM
Mar 2014

So make sure that the next time you go out, don’t tip. Because it’s definitely the waiters who are the greedy, entitled pieces of shit fucking up the world for the rest of us.


I can not imagine anyone saying those words without enough sarcasm dripping from their voices that they get their pants wet.

 

PowerToThePeople

(9,610 posts)
7. What irritates me
Wed Mar 12, 2014, 11:52 AM
Mar 2014

Is that a decent chunk of your "tip" actually goes to the fat cat employer in the form of subsidizing a living wage for their workers, at least in state that allow that scam. Luckily my State has equal minimum wage for both tipped and non-tipped employees.

 

IdaBriggs

(10,559 posts)
9. Total Parody -"$2.37 an hour, a living wage" & "30 tables an hour = $600,000 a year" were big clues.
Wed Mar 12, 2014, 11:55 AM
Mar 2014

"They earn $2.37 an hour, a living wage, and most of the time, they are tipped on top of that. People love to make a point out of being good tippers. The entire industry is built on the pretense of altruism. Not only is someone bringing you food, but you get to act like a hero at the end when you round up to the nearest whole dollar.

But, that money is better spent on charities that need it. Waiters already make a killing–let’s just take a quick look at some raw numbers.

On average, a good waiter who works at a moderately priced diner waits on about 30 tables an hour. At a lower tier establishment, an average meal for two is about 45 dollars. That equates to a gross income of $1350 for the restaurant every hour. A good tip is 20%, and a bad tip is 10%, so working with an average tip of 15%, and excluding outliers, that same waiter is earning $202 an hour. Carry that out to an entire shift, and your same average waiter is walking home with over $1600 a day.

That’s over $600,000 a year."

The sarcasm burns...

Sarah Ibarruri

(21,043 posts)
11. Wait, not so fast. She's not just an asshole...
Wed Mar 12, 2014, 12:08 PM
Mar 2014

Here's what I got off her blog page:

Just a fun mom and a teacher at a retarded school. I like recipes and my kids.

From how she writes and the thoughts she expresses, she's either a person on the brink of madness, or incredibly ignorant.

 

magical thyme

(14,881 posts)
12. Clear parody. If you go to the website, it becomes obvious.
Wed Mar 12, 2014, 12:16 PM
Mar 2014

$2.37/hour a living wage
Average waiter makes $600,000/year
The powerful waiter's lobby was one of Obama's biggest contributors in 2008
The powerful waiter's lobby instituted segregation in the dining industry



"It’s just another way that the 1% is sheltered by politicians.

The American people have been under the thumb of the waiting lobby for well over a century now. It was the waiters who instituted segregation in dining establishments in the first half of the century. It took mass social unrest, and the Civil Rights Movement, also known as Blackupy White Street, to get them to change their policies. How is it that only half a century later, we’re right back to defending these tyrants at the drop of a hat? How is it that the waiters have pulled the wool over our eyes once again, and convinced the world that it is they who are the victims? They! The jet-set fatcats of Bennigan’s and Denny’s!

So make sure that the next time you go out, don’t tip. Because it’s definitely the waiters who are the greedy, entitled pieces of shit fucking up the world for the rest of us"

 

Bigmack

(8,020 posts)
14. Read "Nickel and Dimed"...
Wed Mar 12, 2014, 12:31 PM
Mar 2014

by Barbara Eherenreich.

I tip 20% after reading it.

Talked to a waitress at a famous pea-soup restaurant a week ago. Big party came in for dinner and drinks... $475 tab..... $15 tip.

My guess is that they are Republican.

a kennedy

(29,672 posts)
15. My husband was a bus boy back in the day, he ALWAYS tips at least 20% if not more.
Wed Mar 12, 2014, 12:41 PM
Mar 2014

He's always been a big tipper to a fault I think. Couple of 3.00 beers, leaves 5.00 tip. If he sees a new round of bartenders come on, he'll leave money for the new people even if they don't serve us. Oh yah, he's a big tipper. He told me when he was a bus boy, the waitresses had to share their tip money with the bus boys, and he hardly ever got the money....so he's just been a big tipper to all wait staff or bartenders.

narnian60

(3,510 posts)
16. 30 tables an hour. Hahahahaha.
Wed Mar 12, 2014, 12:44 PM
Mar 2014

Break it down. Typical station--5 tables. You would have to turn these tables 6x an hour. 5 hr. shift equals 150 tables--I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Phentex

(16,334 posts)
17. Satire but based on my own experiences...
Wed Mar 12, 2014, 12:46 PM
Mar 2014

I think many people DO think others will tip well and this frees them from being generous. Even in the group I'm with, I over tip to make up for those who deliberately under tip.

kcr

(15,317 posts)
20. Thought Catalog should really just rename itself shamelesstrollingclickbait.com
Wed Mar 12, 2014, 12:51 PM
Mar 2014

Although she probably really is that much of an asshole. It's a particular brand of shameless trolling click bait. ETA it looks like it's satire. But based on stuff I've seen from that site it could have easily gone the other way.

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