I remember living in New Jersey and talking to waitresses who only earned $2 an hour! They needed those tips, yo!! We don't have that in the UK... because we are what the retarded members of American society call SOCIALISTS. :-/ If socialism means nobody has to live off tips... then bring it on!

I am all for socialism haha, if socialism means I dont have to pay other peoples wages, everyone gets healthcare, and so on, then its a GOOD thing haha :)

Wow now I understand why tipping is such a big deal in America. How the hell do you live off $2/hour? That works out to be $2.23 Australian and I couldn't survive off that. I get $16/hour and that's barely enough. I never tip. I hate it. When I lived in England I never did it when I paid but my boyfriend did cos it was expected, but not compulsory.

*cough*

Working tables and such in the service industry were never meant to be careers, they were meant to be stepping stones on the path to an actual career. Consider the skills and knowledge requirements to be a waitress/server: There are none. Waitressing jobs pay shit, because they are meant for people to merely "get by" while on the path to something better. As for tipping, I generally will, on the basis of service.

AGREED.

some places around here in PA make 3.33 an hour..

i only tip if my service is good. less and less they get as things start to go wrong.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/media/couple-arrested-after-refusing-to-pay-tip-at-pennsylvania-pub/19247809/

In Washington state servers get paid minimum wage so with tips you can make maybe like 10 dollars an hour. I always tip, I don't think there has ever been a time I haven't tipped someone. I think if the service was horrible then I might not have. I take other things into consideration like if the cooks messed up or something, but if the server is just rude and not very attentive then I don't tip as much.

i dont understand tipping some times either and recently i went out ot eat at 2 different places and payed on my credit card with tip included, and i read my bank statement and they never took out for the tip amount. I found that odd. And if you think about it pizza places for example in my neighboorhood put like a 3 dollar delivery charge on take out on top of what you personal tip the driver. I found out some drivers make less then cooks and some arent even reimbusted for the gas. Thats a mess.

and in NY i do believe its less than min wage since i know many bartenders and waitresses but the amount they make an hour is different with each place.

I always tip, but like everyone else said, the quality of the service determines how much I'll leave. I know some people make really good money waitressing because of tips, like the young pretty girls who work at fancy restaurants ;). Or even my MIL, who works in a small restaurant part time, but is VERY personable and knows most of her customers, so she makes out really well in tips. I know this is NOT the norm for most servers, though. I can't stand people who stiff their server. If you can't afford to leave a tip, don't go out to eat at a sit down restaurant! I always tip delivery drivers, too, mainly because I live on the 3rd floor of a building with very narrow and sketchy stairs, so they deserve it for bringing me my food. Also, when I order online and tip them on my card, they always bring me paper plates and napkins ;D.

I tip pizza guys really well in the winter time, especially. But like a majority of you, I'll tip well if I get awesome service, and not so well if I get crappy service. My hubby tips really well at the tattoo place (almost 50% most times) because he REALLY likes the work they do. The one tattoo that I have, cost about $30, and I tipped $10. We went to the Cheesecake Factory once, it was my daughter and my son, and my husband and myself. The waiter was AMAZING. my son made a mess, and I started to clean it. He came by and goes "Don't bother, I'll get that." He was just all around awesome. We tipped him close to 40%.

in tx...it's 2.33 and hour. jobs are scarce around this area...so i do tip 15%. unless the service is that bad.