Anonymous wrote:
It's not a bribe, it's merely a variable price increase above and beyond the price of whatever you're buying. It's still unpalatable, however.
How would you know how much to tip if you don't know the quality of the service?
It's no longer something provided for quality service. It's a price multiplier applied to people who don't resist paying more than the asking price for something. To that extent, the quality of the service is irrelevant to the tip, which is not associated with service at all. It's just a second, optional, layer of pricing. Viewed that way, it's unfathomable why anyone would voluntarily pay it. Some people do, obviously, probably out of charitable sentiments towards food service workers who are presumed to be underpaid by their employers. That, however, is arguably a matter for resolution directly between employee and employer, not for the customer to adjudicate and remedy in the employer's place.