Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 13 replies, 13 voices, and was last updated 21 years, 9 months ago by
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After 11 years of observation, including the providers of service being white, black and Hispanic, I was wondering why blacks consistently tip poorly or not at all in restaurants.
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Name : David A., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 31, City : Glastonbury, State : CT, Country : United States, Occupation : Service, Education level : 2 Years of College,Maybe blacks and other minorties don’t tip very well or at all because they receive poor service for being a minority. I know that if I am not respected as a customer, I will feel no obligation to tip that waiter or waitress.
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Name : Patricia, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, City : Hamden, State : CT, Country : United States, Occupation : High School Student,One small qualifying word, ‘many,’ makes a big difference. It may be true when you say MANY blacks don’t tip much, or at all, but the way you stated it is divisive and wrong. I am black, and tip well, consistently, unless the service was appallingly bad. Are you a polite and solicitous server, or do you act as if you are doing your guests a favor when you wait on them? I’m not saying this is the explanation in all or even most of the circumstances, but could it be in yours? Sometimes I wonder whether lots of white people are too bashful to complain when they aren’t happy, and would rather tip poor service than ‘make a scene.’ Most black people I know have learned that if you want something or you aren’t happy, you’d better make it known, or things won’t change.
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Name : Jennifer, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 31, City : St. Paul, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : Non-Profit, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I have no direct evidence that the tipping habits of African Americans are different from those of society at large. However, it’s a sad sign of society becoming unraveled – ‘everyone doing their own thing’ – that the question even has to come up. There are two solutions: first, restaurants could raise the prices and pay the wait staff more. This discriminates against no one except those who are so poor (or cheap) that this would make a difference whether they eat there or not. Second, restaurants could add in an automatic gratuity (say 15 percent), which would leave the diner free to leave an additional tip on the table if desired, but omission of the tip would not be seen as anything derogatory. On the other hand, if the service were absolutely awful, the diner could ask the restaurant manager to remove the gratuity from the bill. The possibility of this would discourage wait staff from delivering poor service, but the diner would have to take personal responsibility for not leaving a tip by explaining to the manager why the tip wasn’t warranted in a particular instance. This would not discriminate or single out anybody, and would ensure that the wait staff got a decent wage. By the way, I have never seen the point of tipping for delivery service (pizza, etc.). I do it because it is expected, and I am not out to change society at the expense of those who work for a living, but aside from the speed factor (which is usually out of the delivery person’s hands), the food is either delivered or it isn’t, and there is no way the delivery person can really enhance or fail to enhance the service.
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Name : Augustine23625, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 40, City : Columbia, State : SC, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Maybe blacks and other minorties don’t tip very well or at all because they receive poor service for being a minority. I know that if I am not respected as a customer, I will feel no obligation to tip that waiter or waitress.
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Name : Patricia, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, City : Hamden, State : CT, Country : United States, Occupation : High School Student,Remember that a lot of black people do not have that much money, barely scraping enough money to eat out. Tipping someone 15% or more is even more money.
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Name : Jay20851, City : Pensacola, State : FL, Country : United States,Maybe the blacks in the area where you live dont have as much money as the whites and hispanics.Perhaps its also because blacks are usually louder and ruder than other races. I usually dread going near blacks because they tend to be obnoxious and make me feel uncomfortable. I dont believe most blacks teach their children to be respectful like all the other races do. That might explain why most blacks tend not to tip well. Or maybe you expect blacks to be bad tippers so your service to them is worse.
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Name : Kelsey26591, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Humanist, Age : 21, City : New York City, State : NY, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,My experience was almost the complete oppposite, delivering pizzas in Urban -Champaign, Illinois right after college. I found that the black customers tended to tip pretty well, across the board – students, residents, folks living in poorer areas, etc. They were generally much more friendly and less demeaning in their attitudes as well, whereas other people (not any group in particular) would talk about you like you weren’t even there. Now college students on the other hand were some of the cheapest people I’ve ever seen, and the myth that they’re all broke is just that – quite a few of them would do things like write a check for $5.75 and not even round it up to tip you a quarter!
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Name : Carter, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : I believe in God, Age : 29, City : Chicago, State : IL, Country : United States, Occupation : Administrative Assistant, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,I worked in an upscale restaurant while in college that had a fairly diverse clientele. on my first day, one of my fellow waiters, who was black, absolutely floored me by saying, ‘Watch out, my people don’t tip.’ After four years there, I counted many ‘non-black’ bad-tippers, as well as many ‘black’ good-tippers, but I’m sorry to report that overall, my friend was right. And please understand we gave everyone the same level of ‘service.’ Is this true only for us, and only in my college town? Maybe. But I’ve heard this from almost every waiter and restaurant worker I know. And I know a lot, of all ethnicities.
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Name : Ric-M30042, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 28, City : New York, State : NY, Country : United States, Occupation : Communications, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I work on and off in a fairly upscale Chinese restaurant, and I’ve heard quite a bit about tipping generalizations. It may be partly cultural, but a lot of it has to do with economics. Because I work in a more swanky place, the Blacks I wait on are as well off as everyone else who goes there. The tips I get from them aren’t really any different from what I get from other people. I’ve heard stories from waiters who’ve worked in more urban places and buffets, where less affluent people eat. It makes sense. Tipping, in a way, is a luxury. People with more money are brought up to express their appreciation with big tips and stuff. Some people do it by being more courteous to the server. As a whole, I’ve noticed that Black customers I’ve worked with have been more polite and more fun to wait on. And in some ways, that’s just as important as tipping well. I’ve encountered more than enough tables of people who aren’t so courteous and think their nice tips make them good customers. There is some differentiation between races, though. Other than Blacks, Asians and French people are supposed to make pretty lousy tippers. From personal observation, we do tend to make pretty polar about tipping. But it’s societal. In China, there is no tipping. In France, the bulk of the tip is built into the price. Sadly, people who don’t know better jump to conclusions and make stuff like this a divisive issue.
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Name : Shane28075, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Asian, Religion : Christian, Age : 20, City : Chapel Hill, State : NC, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I’m glad that someone else has asked this question. When I first found this web site this was the first question I wanted to ask. My wife was a waitress for a number of years and had exactly the same experience. Blacks consistently gave very bad tips or no tips at all. To make matters worse, black women were often the most demanding and rude people she had to wait on. Constant complaints that the pop was flat (side note on race – apparently blacks don’t often order colas) or making special requests for the meal after it was served, i.e. ‘oh, I didn’t want mayo on this.’ Or one person asks for a refill, she brings it, then another person asks for a refill, she brings it, then another… And when the bill came the black patrons would always act surprised and try to argue about extras they had ordered. If the menu says bleu cheese is fifty cents extra, they shouldn’t act shocked when they’re asked to pay for it. And yes, she gave everyone the same quality service to everyone regardless of whether or not she expected good, bad or no tips. There were white ‘regulars’ that never tipped, but they still got the same service too. My theory is that blacks feel that this is a time when they temporarily have power over whites, and use it as an opportunity for minor retribution. Apparently religious people are also notoriously bad tippers. That is, assuming well-dressed people who go out to eat mid Sunday morning are religious. Or maybe they think that leaving religious tracts is tip enough.
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Name : Pete, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 30, City : Kent, State : OH, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,My personal action is to not tip unless my waiter/serviceperson does something exceptional. My hard-earned money is for me, not whitefolks. Yes, I do tip my sisters and brothers when they wait on me. Just being honest.
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Name : Jamara, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 26, City : Anchorage, State : AK, Country : United States, Occupation : Office manager, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper class,i’ve been a waitress for 3 years, and my fellow co-workers who are black agree too.i don’t understand it!?! I think some people just don’t know.honestly!! i’ve had people say…’how much am i supposed to tip you?’ I have no idea what to say !! Ummm…100 bucks will be fine. Most people don’t realize that we don’t get paid other than our tips either. so that presents a problem. i overheard two ladies arguing about leaving a tip one time.the lady who wanted to leave a tip said ‘ just leave a dollar it won’t kill you ‘ the other lady replied ‘all of those other tables she has are going to leave her a dollar, that’s enough, don’t worry about it’ I wanted to say ‘not if everyone thinks like you do!!!’ i know that alot of old people leave quarters and stuff, and stuck up business men/women sometimes leave nothing. it’s not just black people. sometimes people just don’t like YOU. Like for example, one of my co-workers is gay…and people are always making silly excuses so that he won’t wait on them. Saying he might have AIDS !?! The point is…it’s normally the clientel.if you work in a run-down neighborhood…you’re gonna get uneducated people…if you work in a five star restaurant your gonna get a bunch of stuffy snobs. Don’t take it all personally…you can’t please everyone…just do your best!!!
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Name : Melissa, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : nazarene, Age : 20, City : Jacksonville, State : FL, Country : United States, Occupation : server, Education level : High School Diploma,
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