[shiitake]

You make good points. I wish your posts had a bit more visibility to the folks who hate tipping.

Tipping not only produces different outcomes for employees but it also impacts employers and customers. Even if you raise prices 15% it still won't be enough for most restaurants to keep their entire floor staff. Restaurants will be forced to cut hours and/or staff - this will lead to worse service and more unhappy customers.

And this has been my experience when visiting countries that don't have tipping (primarily the UK). Most of the restaurants are understaffed - there would be a single server covering 10+ tables. And because of that the service was really slow. And slow service is not only frustrating for customers but it is also bad for restaurants (fewer customers = less items sold).

I always get the feeling that the people who hate tipping the most have never actually worked in an actual restaurant.

[luckydata]

That's complete nonsense. It makes no mathematical sense and if your business relies on the public's largesse to pay your own employees then your business is not sustainable.

The intellectual backflips people perform to justify this abhorrent, classist performative display of daily piety are a sight to behold.

[luckydata]

I forgot to add: wages are tax deductible for the employer.