Featured Image Credit: TikTok/supermariozelaya
Topics: News, US News, Canada, Food and Drink, Money
Kit Roberts
Topics: News, US News, Canada, Food and Drink, Money
One man has taken to TikTok to share a shocking recent tip request, adding to an increasing feeling that tipping is just a bad system.
After all, what better way to conclude a nice relaxing meal out than by doing math?
Taking to TikTok, Mario Zelaya weighed in on the debate about tipping culture in the US and Canada, offering his take on why tipping has gone too far.
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In the US, if you are a tipped worker then federal law means your employer can pay you as little as $2.13 an hour as long as you make the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour when tips are added.
Except, Mario explained, even when restaurant staff are not classed as 'tipped staff', so are paid the federal minimum, a tip is still expected.
The TikToker also recounted how the practice is also being expanded to other employers, such as baristas.
He said: "Tipping culture is getting out of control, not just in the US, but in Canada as well."
Recalling the restaurant trip, he said: "The bill was a total of $250. The first prompt was an 18 percent tip when I was about to pay. And it shocked me because the number right away is you see, it's almost $50."
A quick bit of math shows that 18 percent of $250 means a $45 tip.
He continued: "The taxes is $282 plus a $50 tip, it's over $300. So 1/3 of my bill is in taxes and tips.
"But the craziest part of it all was the fact that there was a 25 percent option, so you're going in increments.
"It was really shocking to see, because 25 plus 13 is 38 percent. So almost 40 percent of what you're paying for is in taxes and a tip."
The experience got him thinking about how prevalent tipping culture has become in the US.
He said: "I thought to myself is tipping getting out of hand, and a lot of Americans actually think that tipping culture is actually getting out of control and that workers should simply be paid more."
There's certainly something to be said for it, as tipping makes for a worse experience for diners who have to do math at the end of a meal.
Meanwhile, servers have to worry about securing the tips to make ends meet.
When you factor in that tipping has expanded far beyond its origins in waiting on, with people documenting increasingly ludicrous scenarios where they are asked to tip.
ABC even reported that some self-checkouts were prompting customers to tip.