Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 140, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 December 1904 — Why Tip the Waiter? [ARTICLE]

Why Tip the Waiter?

The rebellion against the practice of tipping the waiter, never wholly subdued, has broken out afresh in New York, where the tyranny of the haughty servitor is more keeclly felt than in any other city. Men of insubordinate temperament are asking, for the ten thousandth time, “Why should we pay for our dinner and pay the waiter, too?” Well, why should they? On the .face of it the practice is absurd. One contracts for his dinner, so to speak, just as he contracts for the building of his house or the furnishing thereof. The proprietor agrees to “deliver the goods” for a specified’ sum, and does so; why then must the proprietor’s employes receive additional pay? It is not so in other lines of business; the butcher, the baker and the grocer send their goods to you, and their drivers do not expect any further reimbursement than they receive at the store. Even the cook, at whose pleasure or by whose neglect, your dinner is made or marred, is not considered in the tipping; only the man who has least to do with your enjoyment of your meal is given an extra reward. The tipping practice is not logical; it is not honest; it is not American.— Philadelphia American.