In the opening scene of the movie Reservoir Dogs, Mr. Pink lays out a "convincing" argument of why he does not believe in tipping waitresses. He argues that if they are not earning enough to survive, then they can always quit.
After all, as he points out, you don't feel the need to tip a fast-food worker. So tipping, to Mr. Pink is a baseless societal custom that nobody should have to be obligated to conform with.
Some people argue that since most servers earn a sub-minimum wage the obligation should be on the customer to make up the difference in their salary. They often point out that waitresses do not make a living wage and rely on the generosity of strangers to help makes ends meet.
Others argue that tipping should be outlawed completely and that the owner of the establishment should simply pay a higher wage.
All of the arguments above are flawed.
It has nothing to do with having sympathy for someone else's wage. It has nothing to do with someone busting their ass and deserving more than their wage. It also has nothing to do with the owner of the business exploiting workers and putting their burden on you.
The reason that you should always be obligated to tip a server is that you directly benefited from the service. The inherent customary relationship between the customer and the server is that of an honor code that dictates you pay for the service based on the amount of bullshit you put them through to serve you. You used the service, and you pay.
There is a criterion involved that is non-mandatory, meaning you do not have to pay them anything by law, but it is obligatory to throw down some cash since you did willingly use their services.
The owner of the establishment shouldn't be obliged to pay for the additional service that you receive. Why should they? They can sell food at the same price whether someone waits on you or not. You're getting the extra benefit, not them.
There are fast food places and "artisan" food places that do not have servers at all. They just sell you food, and you take care of the rest and you do not tip at all because the service was not involved.
The better the servers serve you, the more you're supposed to compensate. In essence, if you do not tip, you are getting a service for free. You're making somebody serve you for nothing.
The wait staff is essentially renting the owner's space (who covers all of the overhead of you being there so he can make a profit) to be compensated for their performance.
If the owner should end up with all of the obligation to pay people to wait on you, then there'd be no incentive for them to create nice ambiances for you to chill in while you enjoy a meal and a nice buzz... they'd just simply sell you the food and you can eat it in your car on the way to the liquor store. That's business.
When you adhere to the custom of tipping, everybody wins. The owner can sell food and drinks for profit, the wait staff can earn a living, and you can enjoy a meal (that someone hand-delivered to you) in a nice comfortable environment without having to clean up after yourself.
If you are the asshole who doesn't tip, the reason people get pissed off at you is that you are, in reality, a thief. And nobody likes thieves.
Tip your servers ;)
