Some college students were arrested for withholding the mandatory gratuity for a party of eight or more in Bethlehem, PA. This has started a flame war on yelp between people who support the restaurant and others ranting against tipping, also known as cheap bastards.
Normally, I avoid Internet flame wars because there is no benefit to arguing with strangers. However, the anti-tipping rants at Yelp have made my blood boil. So I wrote this:
"The world could be divided into two types of people: those who have waited tables and those who haven't. The latter group sometimes does not realize how awful they can be or how hard the former group works.
Before you quote the dictionary on the definition of the word "gratuity", think about how you are being pedantic and talking to wait staff that didn't invent the pay structure. Most of the compensation structures in this country are defined by tradition, not Webster. "Benefits" are not a perc as that word means, but mandatory for all full-time employees. "Elected withholding" is not elected, it's mandatory or the IRS locks you up. "Suggested donations" at the museum are not suggested, they are expected. Sure, you can march into the museum for a penny and quote the dictionary. But that makes you extremely inconsiderate.
It sounds like this is a fun college pub. Large groups never account for tax, the extra beer they forgot, etc and thus when everyone throws money into the pile, the tip ends up being nothing. That's why restaurants (especially those that get their patrons toasty drunk) have to charge a mandatory service fee. If they didn't, no one would work there. If they switched to a larger salary model, they couldn't have $1 pitchers or wing specials."
