MovieChat Forums > Reservoir Dogs (1992) Discussion > Mr. Pink was totally right about tipping

Mr. Pink was totally right about tipping


Nobody can convince me otherwise.

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I don't disagree with tipping.

But I do disagree with the expectation to tip and the reasons given as to why one "should" tip.
Many countries deliver a service without expecting a tip and still get them, but in America tipping is just "expected" as standard and that is wrong.
Or when a gratuity is automatically added to your check.

A tip/gratuity is supposed to be a gift given of your own free will, not expected or forced upon you.

Mr. Pink was partly correct in what he was saying, but I think he just went about getting his point across wrong.

And so, God came forth and proclaimed widescreen is the best.
Sony 16:9

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It has gotten a hell of a lot worse since this movie was made. In America we are expected to tip just about everyone that does any kind of service, regardless if it is good or not.

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You should tip your waiter/waitress.

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Tip that Waitress, she's been waitin' on you.
She's been on her feet nearly half the damn night, bringing you beverages and a late night bite. She remains cheerful when you're nasty and tight. Makes change for a 50 in dim candlelight. Ignoring the groping hoping you might come up with a tip and sympathize with her plight. Tip That Waitress !

She's getting her masters, supporting her mom
Amidst the confusion she remains cool and calm
She knows exits in case of a fire or bomb
She knows all the words to the 23rd Psalm
She handles her tray with pnash and aplomb
Her brother's a Quaker, her dad was in Nam
Tip that waitress

Tip that waitress, she's been waiting on you
Skip the small change slap down a dollar or two

Her arches are aching her lower back shot
Her varicose veins hurt like hell when it's hot
Her uniform' too tight, tasteful it's not
She knows the specials, and they are not a lot
The cook is on qualudes the busboy deals pot
If she had a real job she'd quit on the spot
So tip that waitress

This plea for gratuity's gone on way too long
There's a time and a place where these things belong
This stage and a soapbox, this is only a song
To dwell on the matter much more would be wrong
And people get by, she'll get along ....


Tip that waitress, she's been waiting on you
Skip the small change, slap down a five or two

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I noticed in my local Dunkin Donuts today that "gratuities are welcome". Why I would tip a counter-person who puts a donut in a bag for me is beyond me.

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Yeah it makes no sense. The employer should be in charge of paying their employees, not the customer...

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This.

The staff should also always provide the customer with the best service they can, because...it's their job.

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Dude, you are not forced to, you do as you feel! :P I almost never give gratuities, but when I feel like it, I do. I live in Canada, here it's a little bit different I guess, though.

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[deleted]

"Mr. Pink was partly correct in what he was saying, but I think he just went about getting his point across wrong."

I'm just curious here, what did you find wrong in his speach? :O I thought that what he said was just right! Maybe he should have talked about the fact that it's probably only in USA and Canada that tip pays servers' salaries, even thougb it's supposed to be a sign of greathfulness.

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Or when a gratuity is automatically added to your check.


Can you have that deducted and get a new ticket? or just pay the total-the tip?

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No one forces me to tip. I do know it's expected - sometimes demanded - in certain situations, and I don't get that, but I like to grease the wheels of bon homie so I tip modestly and regularly. Sometimes if I get a beer and it's $2+, I'll tip a buck. That's close to a 50% tip. Other times I'll run up a bill, look at the total, double it and knock off the last digit, so it's sometimes a little above or a little below 20%. Or else I just don't go out. Works for me, and it's a well established practice. Why, I don't know.

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That's probably one of my favorite parts of the movie. He hits the nail on the head :)

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This might be true in Australia, where we have a very high minimum wage, but in the US, where some jobs pay $3 an hour before tips, it's unconscionable.

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no way jobs pay 3$ an hour... illegal sort of jobs? In the UK I'm in my early 20's and I'll cover somebody's tips if I have to, and I usually have to because it's not as important here. The tip industry doesn't bother me at all. I hate minimum wage poverty omg -- so I tip!

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In the U.S., minimum wage for waitressing in many states (26 to be exact = less than $3.00/hour. People should honestly have an inkling of a clue before discussing a topic.

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That's the whole point though, get rid of the "waiter/waitress" minimum wage and force the restaurants to pay their staff the state minimum wage. The entire concept makes no sense.

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Getting rid of that crappy minimum wage for waitstaff would be great. Until then, however, tip appropriately.

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Better yet, get rid of the "minimum wage" altogether.

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$0 seems appropriate to me, go get a real job if you can't pay your bills.

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"In the U.S., minimum wage for waitressing in many states (26 to be exact = less than $3.00/hour."

Are you serious?? Oo Jeez, that is actually really a bad situation. Here in Canada it's not so bad.

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Some remarks about this discussion from the viewpoint of someone whose culture considers tipping an insult:

1. So 'not tipping' is morally questionable, but an employer underpaying his staff is acceptable? Perhaps the employer's attitude is, "why should I pay them a decent wage when they're getting all this extra money from tipping?"

2. Tipping under the pretext of 'good service' implies that this is something out of the ordinary that deserves special reward... isn't 'good service' supposed to be part of the job? The idea that "I'm only willing to make an effort if I receive additional payment" is itself arguably a form of extortion and shouldn't be indulged.

3. By logical extension you ought to 'tip' your electricity provider when you receive your bill. Or how about a little extra (10% maybe) when it's time to pay your taxes...

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1) Not at all. Employers should pay employees the minimum wage, regardless of tips.

2) Not necessarily. Bringing the correct order in a timely manner is part of the job. It's not about making an effort. It's about going above and beyond.

3) Not at all. They're not bringing the electricity to you in person while running back and forth from other houses. Pink's example about tipping McDonald's workers was a better analogy.

Seize the moment, 'cause tomorrow you might be dead.

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Originally the chief criteria for situations in which it is regarded as obligatory were 'good service' and 'professions whose members feel they don't get paid enough'. Now that it's been refined to 'good service+bringing that service to you in person', even allowing that ridiculously arbitrary condition of 'running back and forth from other houses' would that exclude the postman or the rubbish collector (sorry, sanitation engineer)?

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Is this a fact? Does the job of "waiting" have a special category as opposed to working retail?

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Federal law dictates all jobs that pay below minimum wage now has to be made up for by the employer if the server isn't receiving enough tips to earn $290/week gross at $7.25/hr (as of 2019 based on a 40-hour workweek). Your tips are essentially going towards getting the employee's wage past the minimum so the establishment doesn't have to bother. Probably one of the reasons why gratuity is included in bills nowadays.

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Right now in the US the minimum wage is only $7 dollars and change. Most states are higher, and some are aiming for twice that amount. I used to think that waiters and waitresses were paid less than the other employees and were expected to get it back in tips. I'm not sure that's true now, but that's the culture we've created.

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I hate that we're expected to tip at a buffet place where they bring your drink and pick up dirty plates but you've gotta go get everything else. I resent the idea of having to give the pizza guy a tip, or the food runners at Sonic. They must have decided this themselves because now they have a drive-thru window and I've noticed a lot more people use it than the car ports.

I'm fine with tipping at a restaurant, but they better do well. I don't believe in percentages, if you did well you're getting 5, if you were great you're getting 7-10, but if you neglect me you might get a dollar, and if you completely screw up you're getting nothin'. Oh and those numbers are if you're with somebody. Quite frankly I liked Joe's "about a buck a piece" figure. So if there's 3 or 4 of us and you get a 5 I think it's fair.

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What I don't get is if there is a large party at a table, the minimum tip is noticeably enforced. I guess these businesses are hedging against slow business, where they have to pay people simply to be there. Why would a business with a healthy mark-up need to penalize their best customers? I'm sure it would be disappointing to serve a large group and not get your tip, but life's like that. You can't always get what you want.

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He convinced me . Give me my dollar back!

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Minimum wage is as low as $7.25 in the US - there's no national minimum, it differs state to state. It was even lower back in 1992. It's thoroughly impossible for a waitress to support herself (or a family) without tips.

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by gianna0526 » 2 days ago (Thu Feb 5 2015 18:25:47)
IMDb member since March 2011

Minimum wage is as low as $7.25 in the US - there's no national minimum, it differs state to state. It was even lower back in 1992. It's thoroughly impossible for a waitress to support herself (or a family) without tips.
I got two words for that: learn to fooccin' type, 'cause if you're expecting me to help out with the rent you're in for a big *beep* surprise.
But for reals, like J McClane said, I don't disagree with tipping, I disagree with the expectation of tipping. Some customers are poor too, and the fact that they come to your business while on a budget raises the question of whether or not tipping is bu11$h!+.

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If they can afford to eat at a restaurant they can afford to tip. Otherwise use that money to buy food at a grocery store that will feed you for more than one meal. Two people can easily spend $30 on one lunch time meal at a chain restaurant. That would buy bread, milk, eggs, and deli meat for a couple of days.

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by gianna0526 » 2 days ago (Sun Feb 8 2015 18:04:04)
IMDb member since March 2011

If they can afford to eat at a restaurant they can afford to tip. Otherwise use that money to buy food at a grocery store that will feed you for more than one meal. Two people can easily spend $30 on one lunch time meal at a chain restaurant. That would buy bread, milk, eggs, and deli meat for a couple of days.
This can actually further support arguments against tipping. It's cheaper to eat at home, yet I come to your establishment to pay for a marked-up food for profit, and on top of that, I'm expected to tip.

Don't get me wrong, I'm actually quite a fair tipper. I enjoy doing it as a way to express my enthusiasm (or lack of enthusiasm) about a meal. A regular for me is 15%. Bad service is usually 10% (though awful service can actually get as low as 0%), while a coffee-filled-six-times service can get around 20% or maybe even a little higher.

Votes: 3,286
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Bad service is usually 10%


You tip bad service?

And so, God came forth and proclaimed widescreen is the best.
Sony 16:9

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You tip bad service?
Of course. I just don't tip awful service. There's a difference, friend. 

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what if they do something "special" as Mr Blue suggested?! ha ha Still capped at 20% ?

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Exactly make your own damn food.

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People have to feel like people once in while and get out. If you spend all your time at home, it can get weird.

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Reading this post in 2020 has a whole new meaning!

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The national min wage applies if the state doesn't have one. Texas for example. There's a national and it's 7.25

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I was surprised to hear that conversation at the beginning. I thought that I was the only person who thought that way! It seems like a stupid social convention that restaurant owners take advantage of by being tight wads and cheapskates and not paying their employees enough. I hate it. Plus I have previously worked in fast food as a teenager and got paid minimum wage (7.25) while some of my friends worked at restaurants as waiters doing half the work I did, complaining nonstop, and made on average 10-11 dollars an hour.

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I guess everything is pretty much said already, but I just want to give my perspective, as I have visited, but not permanently lived in a country, where tipping is 'expected'.

I didn't even realize at first that it was - I was, and am, used to seeing a price, and paying exactly that price, and not thinking twice about it. Only when it's an 'exceptional situation', like a taxi cab drive, and the driver is fun, we're having a nice conversation, and the driver is clearly driving the optimal route, not trying to rip me off or anything, will I feel like I really -want- to tip.

It's also pretty much the only situation where tipping is 'normal', where it would be abnormal in pretty much every other situation, where I live.

When visiting USA, I didn't understand that it's a choice, because it was treated as 'obligatory', and since I was a visitor (and very young), I just did what others did, and had a heckuva difficult time always trying to calculate what the tip was supposed to be. What an annoyance!

It was only later that I started wondering about it, questioning it, and realizing - hey, what the heck? I am not gonna tip 'automatically', because if that's the way it's supposed to go, why not just add the tip to the price and be done with it?

It's kind of a weird situation, where the employers get away with paying less than they should, because the customer is ripped off by guilt tripping them. If they don't tip, there will be 'consequences' the next time they visit, for sure.

Adam Ruins Everything had a very good point and explanation about the whole corrupt system. Basically the customer is 'expected' to pay PART of the salary of the employers! Which is of course completely insane and crazy. Just raise the prices a bit, and pay your employees properly, and no tipping required. Problem solved.

But this way the employee looks good - it's the customer's 'job' to pay for part of the salary, the waitresses look like poor victims that should be pitied..

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.. and a non-tipping customer looks like an a-hole, although that customer should look 100% neutral at worst.

What a gyp.

It's also very twisted thing, because on ONE hand, you don't really _HAVE_ to tip; it's not the law, you won't be going in front of a judge, you don't OWE anyone a tip.

But on the other hand, you will be GUILTED into it - you will suddenly 'look bad' if you don't tip, and exactly the crap will happen to you that happens in this movie. "You don't know what you're talking about - - these people work hard - - blah blah".

And yet, it _IS_ arbitrary. You don't tip -everyone-, so who gets to decide who is SUPPOSED to be tipped? Anyone that's not paid enough? What if the waitress gets a good salary and has lots and lots of money saved, or is the son/daughter of a millionaire?

Also, no one has any guideline as to what the correct tip amount should be. Is it two per cent? Fifteen percent? More? Less? Something inbetween? NO ONE KNOWS!

What if you leave the wrong amount? You leave too much, and you will be exploited as a fool. You leave too little, and you will be scorned at and guilted and shamed and your food will consist of 28% of spit and other 'questionable' material.

I would never eat out in a country where tipping is 'expected'. It's just guilting you into 'doing the right thing', although you don't have to. Forced goodness is not goodness at all.

It's the same kind of situation that happens with the 'buttons' in "Office Space" (the movie), when the waitress wears exactly the 'required amount', but doesn't WANT to wear more. It's never about wearing more, it's about making her realize she should -WANT- to wear more.

So tipping is optional, but you BETTER tip.. or else. So it's really not optional. That people even argue against 'automatic tipping' just because their employer gets to then rip off the employees, is just sickeningly stupid.

I will only tip if I really feel like it - but I won't be coerced into it.

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And yet, it _IS_ arbitrary. You don't tip -everyone-, so who gets to decide who is SUPPOSED to be tipped? Anyone that's not paid enough? What if the waitress gets a good salary and has lots and lots of money saved, or is the son/daughter of a millionaire?

Also, no one has any guideline as to what the correct tip amount should be. Is it two per cent? Fifteen percent? More? Less? Something inbetween? NO ONE KNOWS!

What if you leave the wrong amount? You leave too much, and you will be exploited as a fool. You leave too little, and you will be scorned at and guilted and shamed and your food will consist of 28% of spit and other 'questionable' material.

I would never eat out in a country where tipping is 'expected'. It's just guilting you into 'doing the right thing', although you don't have to. Forced goodness is not goodness at all.

#1) What's the likelihood your wait person is a millionaire? Throw that thought out the window.

#2) Don't stress about amounts and %. Give what feels good or don't give at all.

#3) Only if you are a repeat customer and a lousy tipper. I sure hope people don't spit into the food of customers they never have met before. Besides, anyone who would do such a thing probably gets a thrill out of transgressing rather than trying to punish particular people, and I'd rather not contemplate this as I go about buying prepared food in the world.

#4) Hope you never end up in a country where tipping is expected. Maybe you'll have a portable stove with you, or stay in rooms where they have a kitchen.
And I take issue with Forced goodness is No goodness at all. "Forcing" people to give out some sort of acceptable vibe, and modeling what is good behavior is not a bad thing. A kid doesn't want to say thank you for something that he's just received, and you correct them.

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"And I take issue with Forced goodness is No goodness at all. "Forcing" people to give out some sort of acceptable vibe, and modeling what is good behavior is not a bad thing. "

Sorry, but no, fuck off. In this case what often happens as a result is that waiter don't even bother to give good service because they assume that their tip is a sure thing.

I once ate at a restaurant in which the waitress was rude and didn't even try to give me a good service. As a result, I decided to not give her Jack shit as tip. Guess what happened? She came out of the restaurant to yell at me, insult me and complain that "this is her salary". Okay, so I'm supposed to automatically pay her salary no matter how shitty her service is? If you do an awful job, your boss can fire you. Because she gain less I, ME, a costumer, has to assure that she gets her salary because her boss pays her less so I can provide for her? Honestly, this is total bullshit.

When I travelled to Europe a few years ago, I really enjoyed how "tipping " actually has the proper definition there. Tipping is supposed to be voluntary, it's supposed to be a gesture which recognizes the good work instead of being an expectation.

So no, sorry, your counter-arguments are flawed and based on the American/canadian perception of tipping, which is stupid.

And what is this stupid comparison you made with the kid? A child must be given those kind of teaching because, well, he learns. An adult shouldn't be teached what is a good way especially when it comes to how he should manage his expenses.

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You will get no tip from me with your "fuck off" talk. So you once ate a restaurant - once - and had some bizarre bad experience I have never had? Talk about rude ! Much more rude than your restaurant escapades. I'm thinking you earned this scorn by being a generally rude person.

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"I'm thinking you earned this scorn by being a generally rude person."

Because you are SO better now with your message.

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True dat ! Good looking gals want everything handed to them as waitresses, and complain. But that's kinda like life. We all bitch, it's just a matter of how often.

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