Over on Tesh's Blog a culinary discovery led to him making a comparison between Mongolian BBQ and MMOs, which I promptly rerailed into a rant on Tipping.
If you're not aware, Mongolian BBQ is where you start out by grabbing a bowl (that's you, personally, who grabs the bowl) and filling it (usually to overflowing) with your choice of ingredients. You pay the cashier who takes the bowl and hands it off to the cook (sometimes they're the same person) who empties the bowl onto a large (very large) hotplate, stirs the mixture with over-sized chopsticks until the food is hot and any meat ingredients are cooked, before scraping it off into a second bowl which he hands over to you.
At some point I guess you're supposed to drop a dollar into the Tips jar, conspicuously placed on the counter next to where you're standing waiting for your food.
But why?
What service have you been provided that warrants a Tip?
Not only have the cashier and cook done nothing more than some other fast food places, they've actually done less.
You yourself "took" your own order by gathering together the desired ingredients. And while the staff had to put the food items out for you to be able to do that, but they did no more than the servers at Quiznos or Baja Fresh, who keep the salsa & condiment bar stocked with fixings.
All the cashier did was ring up your transaction, just like the cashiers at every other Fast Food establishment.
All the cook did was cook/heat up your food, and while he did so right there in front of you, he did nothing more than the guy at The Steak Escape who cooks your cheesesteak sandwich right in front of you.
Do you leave a Tip at Quiznos, Baja Fresh, or The Steak Escape? I don't. Why should I?
Now don't get me wrong. It's not that I don't believe in Tipping, because I do IF the service warrants it.
The waitress at Leroys? She takes my order, brings me coffee, refills my cup, brings me more creamer if I run out, and checks if I need anything, homemade salsa or marmalade, napkins, etc. She takes care of me. She works for, earns, and deserves her tip.
But the guys at Mongolian BBQ? What did they do to earn a Tip? What did they do above and beyond every other Fast Food place that makes them so special that they deserve a Tip? Merely working in the service industry does not warrant being Tipped. Just because you made my lunch does not warrant being Tipped. In my opinion if you want a Tip, you have to earn it.
Now maybe I'm wrong here, but if so, explain how.
Explain to me why I should leave a Tip at Mongolian BBQ, but not at Quiznos, The Steak Escape, and Baja Fresh?
What about McDonalds? Shouldn't I Tip them? Because let's be honest here, the staff at McDonalds do more to enhance my dining experience than the staff at my local Mongolian BBQ.
McDonalds provide me with a clean restroom, Mongolian BBQ doesn't.
McDonalds prepare my food for me. I have to do that myself at Mongolian BBQ.
McDonalds provide me with tables & chairs, which they keep clean; Mongolian BBQ don't.
McDonalds provide my kids with a place to play so I can relax and begin slipping into a food coma. Mongolian BBQ don't do that.
What does Mongolian BBQ do that their staff deserve to be Tipped?
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5 comments:
They no long have the tipping jar, have not had one for ages.
I say tip McDonalds, but only if the service is good, and don't tip at Mongolian bbq unless they do acrobatics with it. ;) But fast food doesn't deserve a big tip, and big tips are the reason people at slow food places are underpaid by their employers.
I had no idea what a Mongolian BBQ was until now.
Your point of view reminds me of a Dwight Schrute quote (from The Office): "Why tip someone for a job I'm capable of doing myself? I can deliver food. I can drive a taxi. I can, and do, cut my own hair. I did however, tip my urologist, because I am unable to pulverize my own kidney stones."
When we came to the States for E3 with the Brisbane crew, we had a guy from New Zealand with us. He was outraged that we were expected to leave a tip at a fancy steak restaurant and was getting the Aussies on his side. Me and another "Yank" tried to explain to him why have an expectation of a tip is much better than how it is done downunder.
As you know, in Australia restaurants you are not expected to tip. They are the size of small walk in closets, charge a fortune for food, have crappy service, and go out of business in 8 months.
Since you don't tip, the wait staff doesn't do anything but take your order and deliver your food. They could care less how you are doing or if you would like your drink refilled. They have no incentive to clear you out after you are done eating and in most places don't even give you the bill when you are done eating. You have to go up to the register and ask for the bill. They don't care how long you stay at your table chatting away amongst yourself after you are done eating.
In a tipping environment, the wait staff wants your tip and will do things to encourage you to tip like check back with you to make sure everything is okay and constantly refill your drink. They also want you gone so that another party can come in and sit at that table and also tip them. Table turn over is good, it means more business for the owner and the restaurant is less likely to go out of business.
On top of all that, the food is cheaper because the owner can pay the wait staff less and afford to charge less for the meal. If the food and service is satisfactory you make up the wait staff's pay in your 15% tip. If the food and service is better or worse than average you can adjust your tip amount accordingly.
He couldn't come up with any rebuttals for any of this, but still insisted that he shouldn't have to tip.
Excellent argument/points, Joseph. I think all I have to say is "Bloody Kiwi!!!"
When I came to the U.S. and talked with people here, of whatever nationality, I would remind myself that even though I was here as a "new American" I was still being seen as an Australian, and as such was also an Australian ambassador.
Clearly your Kiwi didn't have this same wordly view and with his boorish behavior probably did a huge disservice to any Kiwis who followed in his footsteps.
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