Tipping is not Democratic

"The origin of the word English word "tip" is less clear. One popular theory says it's is an acronym of "to insure promptness." Jesse Sheidlower, Principal Editor in North America for the Oxford English Dictionary, says that's wrong, because acronyms weren't popular in English until the 1920s. "Tip," says Sheidlower, "began as a verb in the seventeenth century, used in the language of thieves, meaning 'to give'." By the early eighteenth century, the meaning included "to give a gratuity to a servant or employee."

Money.cnn.com

" In its original form, a tip was a gratuity given voluntarily in return for or in anticipation of some service. The French were the first to make the tip mandatory: in 1955 a law was passed requiring every restaurant to add a service charge to every food and beverage bill, regardless of whether it was in the most simple cafe or the most luxurious restaurant. Most people were relieved, for it was thought that such uniformity would make life simpler. Unfortunately, even this did not solve the problem, for in many places and under a variety of circumstances, waiters and waitresses continued to expect an extra tip to be added to the amount that appeared on the bill. One should not judge these people harshly, however, because much of the money added as a "service charge" never got to the people who actually brought the food to the tables. Some of it went to the owner to cover the cost of washing tablecloths and napkins; some went to the dishwasher; some went to the barman; some went to the busboys. The little that remained went to the waiter."

Tips on Tipping

"This is a guide for people who are planning to tip and want to know the appropriate amount. If you think tipping in general is stupid, then don't tip. But don't complain that the minimum wage is too low. Don't complain that the only new jobs being created are low income."

Tipping Etiquette

"Restaurant workers in the United States make more than twenty-five billion dollars a year in tips, so it’s natural that people think of the custom as quintessentially American. But it wasn’t always. Tipping didn’t take hold here until after the Civil War, and even as it spread it met with fervent public opposition from people who considered it a toxic vestige of Old World patronage."

The New Yorker:
Check, please

Starbucks Gossip:
(Jim Romenesko)

Sept 3, 2005 -
Writer sides with those who frown on tipping at Starbucks

Sept 7, 2004 -
Tipping Debate

Sept 6 ,2004 -
More on tipping

Sept 2, 2004 -
Tipping Furor


The History of Tipping - From Sixteenth-Century England to United States in the 1910s

Tipping Is Plain Stupid!
~The Anti-Tipping Site~