When should you tip a waiter or waitress?

[rong]

I mean, I'm sure there are exceptions, but I think pretty much 99% of the reasons people have for "I'm not paying for this service" are pretty bunk things that would not apply to any other situation in the world where you're paying for a goods or service, but because the price is implied instead of built-in, it's treated differently.

You pay for the service in the price of the meal. That's why places that offer eat in or takeaway charge more to eat in.

I tip near enough 100% of the time if I'm waited on. But I think its Shit that its assumed and it should be the case that a tip is earned. It's not like they work there for free. There's plenty of other min wage jobs out there and some that involve serving food that don't get tipped (ie reservoir dogs) so a waiter taking my tip for granted is poor form and shouldn't be rewarded, but as society deems it appropriate that we tip I do so often because I'd feel like a complete ass hole if I didn't.

[surviva316]

You pay for the service in the price of the meal. That's why places that offer eat in or takeaway charge more to eat in.

I'm talking about in American dining situations where servers are not paid mentionable hourly wages. First off: even if the service is built into the price, that money doesn't go to the servers, and you are still responsible for paying the service (fucked up system, but it's how it works).

Second off: that is not why eat-in places cost more. Rent is a huge part of restaurant overhead, and eat-in places both need to be bigger and need to be in more convenient areas where rent tends to be much higher. Atmosphere considerations are another big part of restaurant overhead. All of the contemporary art on the walls, the cleaning service for the carpet your walking on, etc cost money. I realize that this doesn't all that much apply to Waffle House and the like but that's the exception to the rule, and I'm not sure it cost more to dine-in there than it would to order out from there anyway. It also takes (at least) twice as much management to manage eat-in places than when your only job is to cook food and take money from the people who are eating your food. The $2/hr that servers make doesn't have much to do with it.