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Kayla Hori

English 113A

Professor Rosenfield

9 October 2017

Gratuities Should Not Be Mandatory

Have you ever felt you should tip for services every time you go out? Many

servers are already earning their wage from their job. Some may argue that tipping is

significant because it shows appreciation and motivate employees to work harder and

better. However, in an article,The Capitalist; The Case Against Tipping Michael Lewis

explains, a tip is no longer a tip, it is more of like a tax (Lewis). This emphasis that

tipping is losing its value of tipping because people will demand to tip our servers no

matter what. Tipping should not be mandatory in the United States, because in other

countries they consider tipping as impolite and some customers may not be financially

stable to tip for service

In other countries such as Japan, they consider tipping as offensive because they

view it as giving your last cent to a homeless person. They rather see returning customers

at a restaurant over tipping because it proves that returning customers enjoy eating there

or appreciate their service. One summer, I went to Japan and I noticed that they do not tip

their servers. They bowed and smiled to show their appreciation and respect. This
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exemplifies that you do not need to tip to show your appreciation: it is important to use

your body language to show the appreciation for service because they will remember

gestures better than receiving money from a customer. It would bring a positive vibe

between a customer and a server. Having someone tip you will make you feel awkward

and uncomfortable since a couple dollars does not really mean anything compared to a

kind smile or gesture.

Not only do other countries view tipping as impolite; however, some customers

may not be financially stable to tip their service because some of them may not have

extra money to show their appreciation. A lot of people often feel pressured to tip their

service;When you agreed to buy the drink and the muffin you did not take into account

the plastic shaked in shart you cant help but feel you are being held (Lewis 19). This

proves that many customers often feel forced to tip because they feel obligated to tip by

the society. The feeling of being pressured by the society cause people to do what the

society has exception from them. According to the society, the more money you have, the

more you will brag and tip your services to make other people look bad. Also, I am a

college student with no job. It is harder for me to give a tip for services to show the

appreciation for service because I do not have extra money. I usually write a little note or

give them a positive gesture to show the appreciation of their service. Not everyone has

extra money to tip their service.

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In addition, increasing the cost of a meal at restaurants will cause many customers

to not tip their services. As in an article by Corey Mintz, The zero per cent solution: is it

time to stop tipping in restaurants, he explains the basic premise is that menu prices

would have to rise to reflect the actual cost for goods and services. A $10 lunch will

become a $12 lunch and even though most customers would likely have tipped about

$2 on that lunch, restaurateurs fear that making a voluntary cost suddenly mandatory will

mean grumbling, or lost business (Mintz). This represents that if any meals increase on

the menu, many customers are more likely will not attend to their business, in which their

business would shut down, due to the cost of meals and unable to tip for their services. If

we abolished tipping in the United States, then we would not be worried about the price

of a meal.

Lastly, many workers do not always see money as their only motivation. Rachel

Migita is a fourth year college student at Notre Dame University, who has a part time job

as a waitress at a Hawaiian restaurant in San Carlos called, Noelanis. She mentions that

receiving tips is always nice and encouraging but it is not everything. It makes her feel

good at her job. But she does not think that money is the only motive because she is a

hard-worker and wants to well at her job. She always wanted to be a good person and be

better at whatever she is doing. This clearly demonstrates that tipping does not really

matter to her. It may help her a bit for her rent, phone bill, food supplies, etc. but she
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rather have a good reputation and have strong connections with customers. She is already

earning her wage at her work, so she is doing her best job at her work.

Overall, some people may claim that it is important to give gratuities to show the

appreciation and motivate them to work hard and better, but I strongly recommend that

tipping should not feel obligated to show our appreciation for their services because they

are already earning their wage by working at their job. It is considered inappropriate to

tip in another country since they view tipping as disrespectful, and some customers may

not have any extra money to tip their service. Increasing meals cost on menu will lead

many customers to not attend to restaurants, therefore may lose their businesses. The

solution of all four issues would be having the government increase the minimum wages.

By increasing the minimum wages in the United States would benefit people to be able to

afford their payments because in todays society, everything is very expensive. However,

if we increase our minimum wages in the United States and eliminate tipping our

services, it would increase taxes in the United States.

Work Cited:

Lewis, Michael. The Capitalist; The Case Against Tipping. 21 September 1997.

Access: 1 October 2017.

Migita, Rachel. (2017, September 27). Personal Interview.

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Mintz, Corey. The zero per cent solution: is it time to stop tipping in restaurants?

2016, April 26. Access: 9, October 2017.