Nate Armbruster
In many parts of the world, tipping isn’t a normal thing. In some places, it’s even considered rude to tip. In the U.S. however, it’s been the way things work for decades. Tipping was first “codified as part of The New Deal” in 1938, and servers and bartenders rely almost entirely on tips to make a living.
There are still folks who feel that tipping is a “suggestion” and not an obligation. TikToker @africanbarb recently said in a video: “Nobody is obligated to tip no-f***ing body.”
Another TikToker named Büeli, who goes by @buelistic, agrees with her and shared a story to elaborate.
@buelistic #stitch with @africanbarb 🏁 What makes you leave a nice tip? do you feel obligated?🏁 #ShowOffLandOFrost #MessFreeHero #GenshinImpact #AmazonVirtualTryon #altblackgirl
Büeli explains in response, “This girl is absolutely gorgeous and she’s absolutely correct. Now I am a tattoo artist and I definitely encourage all of my clients to tip their tattoo artists. Especially since I’m a make a living offa that s**t but I definitely acknowledge that it is not a requirement and if I do get just my price then I should be fine with that as well.”
She continued, “But I recognize that a lot of other people do not feel the same way. Let me give you a little story time. So yesterday I went to a restaurant with somebody that I love and we decided that this time we were gonna turn this duo into a trio and we invited one of our friends.”
Servers at the restaurant must’ve known the guest they invited as a non-tipper which likely explains why no one wanted to wait on them.
“When we sat at the table none of the servers showed up and one of the managers came by and they told us that they would not like to serve us anymore we asked them why and they told us that tipping was a big reason. Like I said before because of the field that I was in I do make sure that I tip everywhere I go.”
Büeli continued, “But sometimes my peers may not always do that or have the finances to do so. But do you feel like this is a good enough reason to deny service to somebody for the rest of their life if it’s based on tips and the service isn’t always up to par?”
As you could imagine, viewers went off in the comment section. Many called out how tipping has changed and stated that companies use tipping to offset the costs of hiring employees by making the customer foot the bill for their expenses.
But there are many TikTokers who feel that if you can’t afford to leave a good tip, then you shouldn’t eat at places where servers wait on you.
“My mom always says don’t go out to eat if you can’t afford to tip”
“A lot of waiters and waitresses honestly need to just quit because they’re not gonna fix this until they have no workers”
“I personally won’t dine in if I’m not planning to tip the waiter that’s just me I tip everywhere I go”
“I think we really should be looking to change wage for waiters. Tipping was supposed to just be extra for great service, not the way people get paid”
