Tipping mandatory
By Aparna Sen
@Dreamerby (8617)
Calcutta, India
June 20, 2025 12:51pm CST
I watch several vlog channels in youtube and I came across this particular vlog of a housewife living in California. I found out through her vlogs that tipping is expected and often pushed by waiters and restaurants, sometimes even added automatically to bills. This stems from low base wages for servers. In contrast, many other countries pay waiters fair salaries, making tipping optional and less pressured, leading to a more relaxed dining experience.
Here in India, we may or may not tip if we want.
In your country, do you "have" to tip waiters?
9 people like this
10 responses
@snowy22315 (191317)
• United States
15h
Pretty much, if you didn't they would think you were a horrible person.
2 people like this
@Ineeddentures (5108)
•
12h
So what!!
Let them think what they want.
I never tip , why the hell should I give someone extra just for doing their job.
Not even if they do it well.
That's their job,
3 people like this
@Dreamerby (8617)
• Calcutta, India
5h
It is the waiter's job to bring out the food. If I am going out alone and having a sandwich, I wouldn't want to tip at all.
@star_disgate (790)
• Phoenix, Arizona
17h
I am actually in Arizona which is by California. We do have tipping. Servers, from what I remember, are paid below minimum wage. So much has changed since I last researched though. It is common to tip out here. The "TIP" option is coming up on almost everything now.
2 people like this
@Dreamerby (8617)
• Calcutta, India
6h
Tipping should be done voluntarily. It is the waiter's job to bring out the food. If I am going out alone and having a sandwich, I wouldn't want to tip at all. Tipping is almost like begging.
@AmbiePam (99515)
• United States
14h
You don’t have to usually, but people would think you are terribly rude. Because like you said, they get paid less here for most food service positions. Knowing that, I’m not going to let someone wait on me and not tip them. If a party is like 10 or more sometimes a tip is automatically added to the bill so people won’t get away with not tipping at all.
It’s better to tip as someone in the United States because if we didn’t have to tip, employees salaries would rightly go up, and the cost of meals at restaurants would skyrocket.
Congress just passed a bill, I believe, that exempts tips from being taxed. That’s a win for those hardworking people who get stiffed at their job.
1 person likes this
@AmbiePam (99515)
• United States
3h
@Dreamerby They don’t make enough without it. It’s everyone’s fault here, but theirs. In theory I totally agree with you. But it’s such a low paying job that they cannot make a living without it. It’s not enough to live on.
@Dreamerby (8617)
• Calcutta, India
6h
They have a tip box like everywhere. Isn't tipping indirectly begging? Why can't they just do their job?
Here in India, nobody asks for tips. Some of us do tip voluntarily if they are polite.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (151339)
• United States
12h
No, we don't HAVE to tip waiters or waitresses if their service doesn't deserve a tip. A restaurant can add it to the bill but you can tell them you're not paying it and they have to remove it. I choose whether the waitstaff deserves a tip and how much that tip will be.
And I agree, the restaurants here need to pay minimum wages to their waitstaff and let customers decide if the service was worth tipping.
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (151339)
• United States
4h
@Dreamerby You can tell the restaurant to remove the tip from the charges, not ask.
I think about how good the service is when I tell them to remove the tip from the charges. Ignore judgmental looks. The restaurant doesn't control your wallet.
@Dreamerby (8617)
• Calcutta, India
6h
Oh, I see. So one can ask the restaurant to remove it from the bill. Then it's fine. I would be thinking more about the judgmental looks from them once I ask them to remove it
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (117866)
• Marion, Ohio
12h
If I see it added to my bill I will tell them to remove it. I tip when I feel the service I got was worth it
2 people like this
@Dreamerby (8617)
• Calcutta, India
5h
I'd be more worried about getting judgmental looks if I asked them to remove it.
@Ineeddentures (5108)
•
12h
Quite right Eva.
I don't even tip when the service is good, because at the very least it should be excellent.
1 person likes this
@Rimps85 (2637)
• India
46m
@Dreamerby and Indians are known to ape western culture without using brains...
@Deepizzaguy (110955)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
11h
In America, it is the law to tip waiters for the service they provide in restaurants.
1 person likes this
@Dreamerby (8617)
• Calcutta, India
6h
Tipping should be done voluntarily. It is the waiter's job to bring out the food. If I am going out alone and having a sandwich, I wouldn't want to tip at all.
@Ineeddentures (5108)
•
12h
Don't they have a minimum wage in California.
Here in Scotland a server is going to be paid at least themminimum wage which is about £12 per hour for an adult.
They don't need to be tipped just for doing their job. I never got tipped for doing my job.
I would not tip anywhere.
I would not eat in an establishment where tipping is expected or begged for.
So in Scotland we do not have to tip anyone
1 person likes this
@Dreamerby (8617)
• Calcutta, India
6h
That's a good rule. Here in India, too, nobody asks for tips. Tipping is almost like begging. Why not just do the job?
