Ah I remember this show. It was good! Underrated.

There's a chipmunk effect in the audio. I wish youtube would correct for these encoding errors, since sometimes it detracts from the videos.

"Dick tips"

I loled.

It's one of those very annoying things about visiting America.

In most countries tipping is pretty much as he shows it (although not as overt). You give a tip for great service, and don't for none too great service, or if you think the meal is already overpriced for what it is etc.

To have tipping 'built in' to the price is utterly ridiculous and completely detracts from what it is supposed to be. It's supposed to be a reward for doing a great job, not a guaranteed amount you get regardless of how terrible you are at your job.

Of course, the US also has the utterly retarded thing of having tax added onto the price at the till also. So if you're dining at a restaurant, the price on the menu is only the beginning, then you have to work out the tip and tax on top of that.

So, so backwards.

Automatic gratuity is not the norm in the U.S., with the occasional exception. Generally, you tip 15-20% if you thought the service was good, but that's only a recommendation.

Agreed that tax at the till is annoying in USA (I'm from UK btw).

On the topic of tipping, some restaurants in the UK pay the staff under minimum wage, legally, based on their tips putting them back on or over minimum wage. Hard Rock Cafe in London is particularly bad for this, paying less than half minimum wage, although Loch Fyne is also below minimum.

Even worse, if you tip on credit card, the staff don't get it (true at Loch Fyne - I'm not sure about Hard Rock Cafe).

I think some folks who have waited tables (I have not) should chime in here. IMO, if you're tallying points in your head based on each little mistake your waiter/waitress is making, you're a douchebag who can't enjoy dining out. Tip reasonably--half the mistakes that are made in restaurants aren't the server's fault anyway.

A lot depends on how the restaurant treats is servers. Some places are literal slave drivers who pay sub-minimum wage to servers. I've known servers who got at little as $2.95 an hour from the restaurant itself, and it was the tips that gave them the real money. In this case, tips are basically a requirement. But there are other places that pay the servers a decent wage, and the tips are nothing but pure gravy.

As a random customer walking into this relationship, it is impossible to know which side of the coin you are dealing with. Therefore most customers just tip the basic 15% 'just in case' whether the server is particularly good or not. They may give some extra if they get super-spectacular service, but otherwise the server gets 15% as an unstated rule.

I was at a restaurant once with 5 others, all ordering at the same time.
The food arrived for 3 of us, and the other 3 waited for like 10 minutes until we finally asked where their food is. Then the waiter apologized and told us "Sorry, we ran out of those. Would you like to order anything else?".

I used to wait tables for like 6 months. Yes the money sucks, yes your employer can be a dick and pay you "tips + completion to minimum" as is very common in Israel, and yes, you don't have a lot of career opportunity at the time you're waiting tables.

But as a restaurant-goer, I can't help but feel that the tip shouldn't be an obligatory thing, but should be me actually appreciating the waiter's service, and rewarding him for it.

I wish that paying the tax was optional, and i could choose whether or not to give it, based on how well the government is doing. Maybe i could eat out more. lol, eat out...

Tipping isn't usually automatically added to the bill unless you have a party of 8 or more. If your party is 8 or more people, 18% will be added to your bill. You don't really have a choice. Anything other than that, tipping isn't mandatory. I usually leave a tip if I'm satisfied. They don't need to go above and beyond to get my 15%.

Many comments here say 'well, you need to pay the tip because the employers don't pay them enough to live without it'.

Yes, and in civilized countries that's called illegal.

Really, that should NOT be the case. The wage they paid should be sufficient ON IT'S OWN. How you can just accept that restaurants pay their employees next to nothing is beyond me. And it's amazing that it's never been something that's come up in parliament for change.

I've worked as a server for the past four years, and I won't get into the specifics of what's deserved vs. earned, etc., but I will point this out for those who aren't aware...

A percentage of our sales goes to other workers in the restaurant (bartender, food runner, busser, host, etc.), which is roughly around 5% ($5 out of every $100 we sell). So, as an example that nearly had me quit my job, this party left me a $10 tip on a $360 bill. So I had to reach into my coffers to dole out the rest of the tip-share. Working one's ass off for a net loss. It happens.

One more thing: if you're getting free appetizers, desserts, or using coupons, unless it was specifically the server's fault, please remember to include a tip on the assumed full amount. As an example, a party of 10 came in and were underquoted a wait time of over an hour, so we got them a free round of drinks and appetizers. When all was said and done, their bill was $310-$160=$150. They left me a $25 tip. Which is pretty fantastic for a $150 bill, but really crummy for $310 worth of service (that, don't forget, includes bussers, food runners, bartenders, etc.).

Just a general head's up if you care to remain conscientious about something that most people don't really realize.

we dont have tipping in australia (except for some silly places)

But I found this funny.

Tags for this video have been changed from '3rd, rock, from, the, sun, tipping, tip, tips, dick, mary, waitress, john lithgow' to '3rd rock from the sun, tipping, tip, tips, dick, mary, waitress, john lithgow' - edited by BoneRemake

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