Wesley Joyce on Tipping Culture in the United States
Wesley Joyce
Tipping Culture in the United States
Claims and stances
Transcript
- 0:00 Carl, I think that's a great point, and um something that I've come to know recently.
- 0:06 I've been valet parking this semester working for tips, um trying to help pay the rent and whatnot, and um something I've come to realize, and and valet is also you know, at first we 100% of um the company's revenue was tip base, and recently we readjusted to a five-dollar flat rate fee, and then tips on top of that were completely ours to keep.
- 0:36 And you know, at first I thought, oh, people are spending a $5 flat fee, they're gonna be inclined to tip more, and we'd be making more because we were already making a percentage of the tips before based on what the company made, and it was pretty strange algorithm that was pretty unclear to us.
- 0:53 And something that I've come to realize um since we've made the readjustment is that tips also you know, they they keep the workers paid less, and the workers make less and the company owners make more.
- 1:10 And you know, when when people that dine in or people that whose car I pull around, you know, they look at me and they're like, oh, this poor kid is working for only tips, and nobody's tipping him anything, like I need to tip.
- 1:23 Like, I feel bad, you know.
- 1:24 I I don't pressure people to give me tips because I don't tip entirely well.
- 1:28 I'm broke, like I can't, and then it's just I'm in a weird position because I'm fighting to make you know the best I can and make the most of my time making money, but at the same point in time, it's like the company is not paying me anything, making more money, and people are expected to tip more.
- 1:49 So I think in a lot of ways, um, not only is tipping bad on the customer because it's you know expected, um, even when they don't give exceptional service, you know, they give a baseline service, it's still accept expected, but it also feels like a cop out for these owners and these employers who you know when people complain about not making enough, they can say, Oh, you're not getting tips, like do better.
- 2:16 And that's just not how it should be, you know, like uh great service should be the standard.
- 2:21 And you know, they'll say, Oh, if it is, they'll tip you, but they shouldn't need to tip, they should know that they can come to your restaurant or have their car valet parked and get exceptional service, and it should be your responsibility to pay your employees, you know, for the services they provide.
- 2:39 Um, I think tipping culture is completely out of hand, and I even you know, I work for tips, and I I hate it.
- 2:46 Like, I don't like working for tips, so there definitely needs to be a solution.
- 2:51 And the fact that you know America's known for it being such an issue and it's not addressed is is still frustrating.