10x asshole move, I’d say.

It stopped being a cultural thing decades ago. Now it’s about about companies not paying employees a living wage and America’s right wing constantly blocking legislation that would force employers to pay people enough to have shelter and food.

During the UK lockdowns, I tipped all the front line workers where I could. That's it.

I'm not tipping someone as compensation for doing their job, that's what their employer is for.

It used to be quite the opposite. Tipping was big in Europe but not in the US.

That changed with Prohibition. When alcohol was banned, there was suddenly a large whole in the bottom line of restaurants across the US. They turned to having a tipped staff to stay open.

Sadly, when it was repealed, tipping stayed. It was since inflated from 10% to 15% to now over 20%.

Some have tried to get rid of it, but sadly it hasn’t worked.

Not always that easy is it, if you want to go out you have to find a place that advertises their no tipping policy. It's go and don't tip or stay at home or else take part in a shit system.

But it doesn’t have to be if the employers pay how they should

Ultimately, we need to tip people in the short term to keep them afloat until we can work with them in the long term to get America to the standard that most of the rest of the world takes, where tipping is a special case scenario only for exceptionally good work, and never to be needed or expected.

It really doesn't have to be a "fact of life", and it isn't in many places, such as Australia and England -- nations with very similar degrees of economic prosperity, and very similar cultures, to the USA.

I don't see them saying they don't tip, but arguing against the system in place. Which are two separate things.

Or, employers could pay their workers better.

Novel thought, right?