Tipping - the basis of all that is wrong in the US

[SamDiamond]

wow you love that you cannot get alcohol until u r 21 but you can be called to a war? you love that your health care system (not obamacare, the one you pay for on ur insurance is 46th in a list of 48 countries? You love that Americans live far less than Europeans on average? You love that you dont get vacations by law?

r u serious??? or a masochist?

Oh the irony. A guy living in Denmark bitching about our health care system.

Hey moron.

The life expectancy in the United States is higher than Denmark you fuking retard.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy

[SamDiamond]

Right now, I'm wondering if Burki feels as dumb as we think he is.

He's yapping about the US life expectancy, but lives in a country that has a lower life expectancy.

Holy shit. That's a new level of stupidity.

[Burkina2008]

Right now, I'm wondering if Burki feels as dumb as we think he is.

He's yapping about the US life expectancy, but lives in a country that has a lower life expectancy.

Holy shit. That's a new level of stupidity.

Thats why I live in Germany...but with you I already understood, I guess that being mentally challanged and living in a trailer park is ur way, the US way...

Dude try to cross your county border and then we can talk

[Burkina2008]

And what exactly is Denmark's contribution to the world?

This guy bitching about the United States lives in a country that has half the populace of Manhattan.

Get the fuk out of here.

wow by that amazing argument, you cannot criticize China, they just became a bigger economy than the US...so everything must be perfect there...slave labour, more pollution while being on the street then smoking a cigarettes...true paradise on earth

but like I said, for a white trash trailer park mentally challenge living on tips retard like you, just the fact that you know how to use wikipedia is an achievement by itself

[Burkina2008]

Burkina what do you like about the US?

I do like some stuff here:

- I like basketball and going to the Madison Square Garden
- I like some of the american food (mostly down in Texas)
- I like walking in Tribeca or Greenwich Village
- Some national parks here are really cool and the fact that you have so much diversity from east to west, north to south is also nice
- I also like to shop here, some stuff is cheaper than in Europe

I am sure that there are other things but I cannot remember...I mean living in Manhattan, San Francisco or some parts of Florida, but most of the US is fuking sad...so much poverty, i find it hard to believe that such a country can have so many hobos and people living on trailerparks and cardboard houses...

[SamDiamond]

wow by that amazing argument, you cannot criticize China, they just became a bigger economy than the US...so everything must be perfect there...slave labour, more pollution while being on the street then smoking a cigarettes...true paradise on earth

but like I said, for a white trash trailer park mentally challenge living on tips retard like you, just the fact that you know how to use wikipedia is an achievement by itself

So, you don't have an answer for a single thing Denmark contributes to the world?

Anything? Just give me one thing.

[ACoochy]

Here is a good text on tipping:

Tipping

While it’s a perk for most of you, for me it was terribly annoying to be in restaurants and having a waitress interrupt me every 3 minutes asking me if everything is OK. I’d have to feign a smile (it’s the American way – see above!) and thumbs up to make her go away since my mouth was always full. I really don’t see the point – if you’ve given me the wrong order or if I suddenly realise I’m dying from an allergic reaction to your food, you’ll know it long before those 3 minutes are up.
Eating out is always an annoying experience because of this. In the rest of the world we call the server over when we need something. If this was genuine interest, or if the person was trying to be friendly that would be cool, but that’s not what it’s about. In fact, it’s all down to “subtle” reminders that this person wants you to tip them.
This drove me crazy – I really think tipping as a means of waitresses and others earning the vast majority of their living is ridiculous. If I have to pay, say 15% anyway, then include it in the bill! It’s not a bloody tip if it’s mandatory!!!
Once again, one huge complaint I hear in other countries is how rude waitresses are, and Americans claim it’s because they aren’t tipped. Instead of getting tipped they earn a wage like everyone else, and do their job and if they do it bad enough they’ll get fired. But apparently not pestering you every minute and not smiling like you are in a Ms. World competition means you are “rude”.
I think the basic concept of tipping is nice – but all explanations I’ve heard about it as a must-domake no sense when you really talk it out. You can paint waitresses/waiters as hard workers who earn those tips, and need a chance for a higher wage than if they got minimum wage… but what about teachers and nurses? Why not tip them? Why not tip everyone who you interact with in some way – bus drivers, or leave money on your trash can for the garbage man? It’s inconsistent, and waiters, hairdressers and taximen should just charge us what needs to be charged.
See more of my confusion on tipping here.
Some people ludicrously suggest that it makes it cheaper that the restaurant doesn’t have to charge more, but you’re paying the difference anyway. What it does contribute to is clear though:
False prices on everything

Tipping is just the peak of the iceberg.
It’s all one big marketing scam to make people feel like they are paying less. The price you see on a menu is nothing compared to what you’ll actually pay. Apart from tipping, you have to of course pay taxes.
Now taxes are things that you simply have to pay on items you purchase – it’s how governments work all around the world. So why hide it from us? It boggles my mind that places refuse to include the tax in prices. The price they state is pretty much useless. It’s just saying “this is how much we get from what you pay, but you’ll actually pay more”.
I don’t give a flying toss how much YOU get, I want to know how much I have to pay! How much money… do you want me… to hand to you? Do I really have to spell this out?
The most laughable of all of these is the “dollar store”. If you have a single dollar, you will be turned away from a “dollar” store! It’s a dollar… that they earn not that you pay. Do you follow? The only thing that matters is the business’s perspective.
I’ve been told that this is because taxing is different in each state. I shed a tear for the poor giant corporations selling widgets in different states who can’t possibly print out a label for millions of people because it inconveniences the corporation/seller ever so slightly. We have the same product sold across many European countries (in many cases in the same multilingual packaging) and somehow someone in the company found the time to punch numbers into a $1 calculator in advance to tell people how much they are actually paying.
It’s nothing but a large scale marketing scam. Make the price seem cheaper, which is lying to people. One great way to get people in more debt is to make them feel like they are spending less, but add the rest when it comes time to hand over the cash.

Agree.

Have been to a couple of tippping restaurants before and i gotta say having the waitress come over every few minutes was discomforting, annoying and detracted from what was otherwise a nice meal.

If i want your service il simply ask for it instead of feeling like im being pestered. I dont understand why thats such a difficult concept to grasp.

[SamDiamond]

Thats why I live in Germany...but with you I already understood, I guess that being mentally challanged and living in a trailer park is ur way, the US way...

Dude try to cross your county border and then we can talk

The life expectancy for a German male is 78.5, and the life expectancy for a male in the USA is 77.4 Real big fuking difference.......

[ACoochy]

I agree here.
Our system works fine here (and as I mentioned before, if you liked it you are leaving tip as well, 5-10%!) and your system seems to work for you. End of story.

Have you not noticed the continually widening disparity between the haves and have nots?

Yeah, its working real well

[SamDiamond]

I do like some stuff here:

- I like basketball and going to the Madison Square Garden
- I like some of the american food (mostly down in Texas)
- I like walking in Tribeca or Greenwich Village
- Some national parks here are really cool and the fact that you have so much diversity from east to west, north to south is also nice
- I also like to shop here, some stuff is cheaper than in Europe

I am sure that there are other things but I cannot remember...I mean living in Manhattan, San Francisco or some parts of Florida, but most of the US is fuking sad...so much poverty, i find it hard to believe that such a country can have so many hobos and people living on trailerparks and cardboard houses...

According to the report, poverty in Germany has “reached a sad record high”. Entire cities and regions have been plunged into ever deeper economic and social crisis. “The social and regional centrifugal forces, as measured by the spread of incomes, have increased dramatically in Germany since 2006,” it says. Germany faces “a test to breaking point.”

You were saying?

[SamDiamond]

I do like some stuff here:

- I like basketball and going to the Madison Square Garden
- I like some of the american food (mostly down in Texas)
- I like walking in Tribeca or Greenwich Village
- Some national parks here are really cool and the fact that you have so much diversity from east to west, north to south is also nice
- I also like to shop here, some stuff is cheaper than in Europe

I am sure that there are other things but I cannot remember...I mean living in Manhattan, San Francisco or some parts of Florida, but most of the US is fuking sad...so much poverty, i find it hard to believe that such a country can have so many hobos and people living on trailerparks and cardboard houses...

Oh, this one is a gem.

Guess which country has a higher percentage of their population living below the poverty line? The United State or Germany?

I'll give you a hint.

It's not the United States.

Germany comes in at 15.5%, the United States at 15.1%.

[Burkina2008]

So, you don't have an answer for a single thing Denmark contributes to the world?

Anything? Just give me one thing.

just for your information because i know how ignorant you are, for the 5 million people we have, denmark has the largest container ship operator in the world (Maersk), you know anything that gets to the US by ship there is a 40-45% chance it was carried by a danish ship; if you have diabetes, a danish company called Novo Nordisk is the biggest producer in the world of penincilin... and of course something maybe a little closer to home for you, Denmark has one of the 4 biggest brewery companies in the world, you probably already drank Carlsberg, right? Its just one of the 500 brands of the Carlsberg Group

Btw just another fact, we have some of the biggest reserves of unexplored gas and oil in the world, because Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and the size of around 25% of the US

Of course I could tell you many other facts about us, historic facts, like that we were the first ones that reached North America by sea, but I understand that your concept of history starts in the XVIII century (I hope that you can read roman numbers...)

[Burkina2008]

Oh, this one is a gem.

Guess which country has a higher percentage of their population living below the poverty line? The United State or Germany?

I'll give you a hint.

It's not the United States.

Germany comes in at 15.5%, the United States at 15.1%.

can you be any more oblivious in interpreting stats...you do know that poverty lines are different from country to country right? In the states is for a family of 4 is below 22,350 per year, while in Germany for a family of 4 is below 39,000 euros...and in Germany if you recieve that you can get a free home...

just check this an inform yourself, a united nations comparison of poverty in the developed countries http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Poverty_Index

US fares third to last...

[Burkina2008]

Sorry a typo there in Germany is 29,000 euros, not 39,000 euros...still the poverty line is almost 50% over the US one!

[SamDiamond]

can you be any more oblivious in interpreting stats...you do know that poverty lines are different from country to country right? In the states is for a family of 4 is below 22,350 per year, while in Germany for a family of 4 is below 39,000 euros...and in Germany if you recieve that you can get a free home...

just check this an inform yourself, a united nations comparison of poverty in the developed countries http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Poverty_Index

US fares third to last...

And this is where I bury you.

Since you like United Nations numbers, let's take a look the UN's Human Development Index.

Which not only uses your metric for kids it also uses things like standard of living, education, literacy, life expectancy and quality of life.

Guess who is ranked 3rd? Yeah.. The United States. The only 2 countries that rank higher, Australia and Norway.

Is Germany ranked ahead of the US? Nope

Is Denmark ranked ahead of the US? Nope

France? Nope

England? Nope

See where I'm going with this? I am getting tired of educating you, but then again.. considering you're from Europe, I guess I shouldn't be surprised you didn't receive a good education.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index

[Burkina2008]

And this is where I bury you.

Since you like United Nations numbers, let's take a look the UN's Human Development Index.

Which not only uses your metric for kids it also uses things like standard of living, education, literacy, life expectancy and quality of life.

Guess who is ranked 3rd? Yeah.. The United States. The only 2 countries that rank higher, Australia and Norway.

Is Germany ranked ahead of the US? Nope

Is Denmark ranked ahead of the US? Nope

France? Nope

England? Nope

See where I'm going with this? I am getting tired of educating you, but then again.. considering you're from Europe, I guess I shouldn't be surprised you didn't receive a good education.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...elopment_Index

Again gotcha on that...but I see you are making an effort, since the HDI by itself has too much of GDP per capita in the equation, which is not the a good measure (the economists say), because it is not the avarage salary, but the total valued produced in acountry divided by the number of active population, noawadays after doing the HDI, we do the inequality-adjusted HDI measure of the average level of human development of people in a society once inequality is taken into account."

Here is the link and the list for you buddy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inequal...elopment_Index

1. Norway 0.894
2. Australia 0.864
3. Sweden 0.859
4. Netherlands 0.857
5. Germany 0.856
6. Ireland 0.850
7. Switzerland 0.849
8. Iceland 0.848
9. Denmark 0.845
10. Slovenia 0.840
11. Finland 0.839
12. Austria 0.837
13. Canada 0.832
14. Czech Republic 0.826
15. Belgium 0.825
16. United States 0.821

And yes, you are very stupid...in fact the double masters degree that I have from Copenhagen Business School (which by the way is free tuition for europeans) is among the top100 in the world just there with your Ivy leagues and business school (that are also very good)

So I get proposals to work all over the world, many in the US, from a University that is as good as the best american business school and I did not have to go into debt for it... keep doing things right USA!!!

[Burkina2008]

Oh and now you can go cry in your trailer park house bed and smile at every moron you have to serve coffee to tomorrow, so that you can get your 2$ tip....

[NrmlCurvSurfr]

Dude, where are all of these trailer parks? I hate to break it to you but most people don't live in trailer parks lol. You would be more accurate saying McMansions or cookie cutter houses. Both of which I consider exceptable forms of shelter, although they tend to lack the level of architecture that I prefer.

[Burkina2008]

Dude, where are all of these trailer parks? I hate to break it to you but most people don't live in trailer parks lol. You would be more accurate saying McMansions or cookie cutter houses. Both of which I consider exceptable forms of shelter, although they tend to lack the level of architecture that I prefer.

http://www.statemaster.com/graph/hou_per_of_hou_uni_tha_are_mob_hom-housing-percent-units-mobile-homes

8% of the US population live in trailer parks...thats just a disaster...
yap McMansions or cookie cutter houses are more prevalent and also pretty bad cheap construction, still better than trailerparks

[Bankroll First]

In my opinion, I like to give tips depending if the service is adequate or not. You are already providing returning revenue for the business. The server realizes that he/she is in the business of hospitality. After your given service, depending on the experience, you can choose whether or not you should tip, and the amount you should give to him/her.

[NrmlCurvSurfr]

Not all mobile homes are in trailer parks. In fact, I would guess most aren't. Also sometimes people will put a mobile home on property that they use as a vacation spot or hunting etc. That is not the number of people living in trailer parks...nice try

[Burkina2008]

Not all mobile homes are in trailer parks. In fact, I would guess most aren't. Also sometimes people will put a mobile home on property that they use as a vacation spot or hunting etc. That is not the number of people living in trailer parks...nice try

its just something we barely have in Europe...people have houses and if they cant afford for housing the state provides one for them...and thats a good way of avoiding poverty and crime

[NrmlCurvSurfr]

its just something we barely have in Europe...people have houses and if they cant afford for housing the state provides one for them...and thats a good way of avoiding poverty and crime

Some people are happy living in a mobile home on some county property. Doesn't make them criminals, and it doesn't even mean they couldn't afford a house. Yeah trailer parks can be bad and it's not a great style of living but most Americans have no clue what it's like to live in a trailer park so your shit talking is way off base. Along with your opinion on tipping. Heres a tip, don't talk shit about something of which you have no clue. You're welcome.

[Burkina2008]

Some people are happy living in a mobile home on some county property. Doesn't make them criminals, and it doesn't even mean they couldn't afford a house. Yeah trailer parks can be bad and it's not a great style of living but most Americans have no clue what it's like to live in a trailer park so your shit talking is way off base. Along with your opinion on tipping. Heres a tip, don't talk shit about something of which you have no clue. You're welcome.

Tipping is a practice that is only good for the business owner. Its bad for the "server" because he should be paid accordingly by the employeer and bad to the consumer who sees the price of products inflated.

Normally when one country does one thing and the rest of the world does it the other way, is the "alone" country that is wrong and not the other way around...

[gauchojake]

What the hell do penicillin and diabetes have to do with one another? Good luck with Greenland. You'll be paying American companies to extract all that liquid gold.

[NrmlCurvSurfr]

Tipping is a practice that is only good for the business owner. Its bad for the "server" because he should be paid accordingly by the employeer and bad to the consumer who sees the price of products inflated.

Normally when one country does one thing and the rest of the world does it the other way, is the "alone" country that is wrong and not the other way around...

This is great, so you are saying the majority is correct, well guess what? The majority in this thread think you are ridiculous...duped by you're own logic. Good luck in your quest to raise awareness about the downfalls of tipping. It's quite a noble mission.

[Burkina2008]

Ill give a nice example because I normally order pizza when I am tired both at home or when I am travelling, does not matter if in the states or any other country.

In Munich you go to pizza.de and order for 12 euros (16$) a Medium pizza (the same as a 14'' in the states) and a 1,5l bottle of diet coke. The bill is normally 11,30 or something like that so I round it up to 12 euros like many people do, some even ask for change back.

In Chicago and in Miami in this last month, the same kind of pizza costed together with 2l bottle of diet coke, around 20$-22$ bucks with delivery charge. On top of that you have to tip the delivery guy thats another 3-5$, so total cost is around 25$

Thats around 50% more expensive than in Munich a city where salaries are higher on average than Chicago and Miami and where gas price are more than double...so what does this mean? That the restaurant owners make more almost the double in profit...if you had the same model as in Germany your pizza would be cheaper and your employees would get fixed good salary.

[ACoochy]

This is great, so you are saying the majority is correct, well guess what? The majority in this thread think you are ridiculous...duped by you're own logic. Good luck in your quest to raise awareness about the downfalls of tipping. It's quite a noble mission.

Lol hes in a american forum so ur majority is skewed
..

[Burkina2008]

What the hell do penicillin and diabetes have to do with one another? Good luck with Greenland. You'll be paying American companies to extract all that liquid gold.

You do know that nowadays US only has 2 of the top 10 oil companies in the world, being the biggest one ExxonMobil in 4th, and that Statoil (just the 26th largest company by profit in the world) from the scandinavian union (mainly owned by norwegian state but also partially by denmark) has all the rights for the next 100 years on the whole Danish kingdom soil...

Oh and guess what? Since they are more than 2/3 state owned, the majority of the profits go for pension funds for the people and for social security, instead of ur companies where profits go to the rich...like i said US is perfect in every way

[gauchojake]

Good job supporting people who don't work for their fair share. You are officially Venezuela North.

The thing you don't realize is that we pay people here based on merit. Now whether that comes through taxes, tipping, or commissions, it doesn't matter. It is still a merit based system. Do people expect tips? Of course. People always value themselves higher than what they are really worth. Shit you probably think you're a good poster. Get over it.


Also it's 3/10 on American companies in the top ten oil and gas producers by revenue, more than any other country.

[Da Manster!]

I do like some stuff here:

- I like basketball and going to the Madison Square Garden
- I like some of the american food (mostly down in Texas)
- I like walking in Tribeca or Greenwich Village
- Some national parks here are really cool and the fact that you have so much diversity from east to west, north to south is also nice
- I also like to shop here, some stuff is cheaper than in Europe

I am sure that there are other things but I cannot remember...I mean living in Manhattan, San Francisco or some parts of Florida, but most of the US is fuking sad...so much poverty, i find it hard to believe that such a country can have so many hobos and people living on trailerparks and cardboard houses...

you forgot to mention the Ghostbusters studio!...

[boeing power]

its just something we barely have in Europe...people have houses and if they cant afford for housing the state provides one for them...and thats a good way of avoiding poverty and crime

Most people live in cramped apartments in Europe.....nice try though.

[Burkina2008]

Good job supporting people who don't work for their fair share. You are officially Venezuela North.

The thing you don't realize is that we pay people here based on merit. Now whether that comes through taxes, tipping, or commissions, it doesn't matter. It is still a merit based system. Do people expect tips? Of course. People always value themselves higher than what they are really worth. Shit you probably think you're a good poster. Get over it.


Also it's 3/10 on American companies in the top ten oil and gas producers by revenue, more than any other country.

how is paying less to the employees and making the consumer pay more, while keeping a bigger share of the profit a merit based system? damm people are beyond fullish...

Yeah they used to be 8/10 now 2/10 in profit and barrels per day, the same as china or 3/10 in revenue...

You are already the second largest economy of the world, third if you put the EU as a block and you are owned by the chinese and the saudis...in a state that is constantly on a verge of not being able to make payments...ur way of living seems to be working just fine

Also this Venezuela speech is just from someone who never even got out of their republican dumb state

No, i dont think that i am a good poster, but thats the difference between a way of thinking, i am open to opinions but nobody could yet explain why tipping is better than giving the person a well deserved salary besides than the boss making more money...

[Burkina2008]

you forgot to mention the Ghostbusters studio!...

Haha...17 year old? are u even allowed to gamble?

[Burkina2008]

Most people live in cramped apartments in Europe.....nice try though.

well the difference is that a cramped appartment 1 bedroom apartment in Munich, if I wanted to sell it, I could get 2 huge houses in Dallas

appartments in Europe are not more cramped than in Manhattan, but of course if you like to live in the suburbs or on a redneck midwest shithole, than Europe is not for you...get ur pick up truck and go get some milk...