YouTuber DESTROYS Insane American Tipping Culture!

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:02]Hi guys, I wanted to talk about this issue that was raised by a fellow YouTuber, the practice of tipping. Now, for people who don't know, tipping is where you give extra money to somebody who serves you in a restaurant, in a bar, or wherever. And while it's prevalent in the United States, it's lesser so in the UK and Ireland, and it's not so common in Europe. Now, it is changing there you will often see a little tip jar when you enter any sort of business which is facing the public. Um there's no obligation in Europe to do so generally, but it's starting to get completely out of hand in the United States where it generally started from.

[00:00:43]So, I want to show you this clip involving a guy called David Pakman, and he makes some very valid points, but also really concerning ones.

[00:00:52]Now, I already know how this goes. The second you question tipping culture, people come out of the woodwork and go, "Oh, David, you're so cheap. You just don't want to tip." Listen, I tip consistently, and I tip well, and honestly, in the US, one out of 10 times I go out somewhere, a server or waitstaff or whatever recognizes me that they tell me, and so I have to assume that some people are recognizing me and don't tell me, and so even if it were only because I don't want to be the guy who had people go, "Oh, you know, David Pakman was here, he didn't tip." I am tipping, okay? I am not the person stiffing the workers.

[00:01:35]That is not the issue here.

[00:01:38]The issue is the system is broken, and it is disgusting, especially because I'm going to argue it's not even good for workers. It's not good for workers to have to ask for or rely on tips.

[00:01:52]Exactly. What people should have is the means to live.

[00:01:59]You know, you shouldn't have to be going to a customer who has received a product or a service and asking for something extra. The business should include the price of the service or whatever, include it in the wages included in the service or the product.

[00:02:15]That should be the the reality on the ground. That is that has been the reality for many decades, we could even say centuries.

[00:02:24]So, why is it the case that people are having to ask customers who've already bought a product or service for extra money to cover the cost of the staff?

[00:02:34]The cost of the staff is the responsibility of the business, and they should put it on the price of the product or service, and that should be it.

[00:02:44]Now, look at what's happened over the last 10 to 15 years.

[00:02:48]Tipping at restaurants where it was a tipped wage, they made $2.63 an hour or some nominal amount, and tips were expected and part of their income, tipping used to be 15%.

[00:03:01]It then went to 18, it then went to 20.

[00:03:03]Now, when I get the iPad turned to me, sometimes it's 22, 25, and 30%, and if And like >> [laughter] >> this is insane. I didn't know about this.

[00:03:13]Like I I haven't been to the United States in a long time, and I remember there was the tipping service, so at the bottom of the bill, if you're paying by credit card, there would be like a little part where you'd write in the the tip, and you know, the tip was not obligatory, but it was expected. And if you didn't give it, people would ask, "Okay, well, why did you not give a tip?" in some cases.

[00:03:37]But 30%?

[00:03:40]So, if you were out with a group of people, and your bill came to $100, you'd be expected to pay an extra $30 because of the service.

[00:03:51]Like if you want to include some sort of service charge, that's understandable because it's included in the price. That people don't feel this obligation to have to add something else because then it would be 100 130 or 120 or whatever it is.

[00:04:06]But now that you have this person standing next to you, um hoping that you will give them some extra money, it it's terrible, but it gets worse. If I only want to tip 20%, I have to go other and then type it in, and they're staring at me, and they're angry. And by the way, it's now considered standard to tip 22 or 25% in some places. For what, exactly? I'm expected to tip more than 20% at a place where I go to the counter and stand very straight to place my order.

[00:04:42]Th- th- this is Yes, people have been talking about takeaway restaurants where you go in, you stand, you make your order, you sit down, and somebody takes you takes it over to you, and you have to pay for that.

[00:04:55]Bring my own food to the table, clean the table because after the last person left, nobody cleaned it, and then bus my table.

[00:05:06]And I'm expected to tip 22 or 25 or 30%.

[00:05:10]Now, this Please, please, if there's somebody from the United States in the chat who's in the comment section, please tell me, is this true?

[00:05:18]Is it true that places like McDonald's, maybe not McDonald's itself, but places like McDonald's will expect you to pay a tip? A tip to who? To whom?

[00:05:30]Who receives this tip? If you're the person who walks up, fills out the fills out the order on the panel, or goes to the the desk, fills out the order, places the order, picks up the food, walks back, and returns the the tray?

[00:05:45]Is this actually happening? This is not typical in most of the world. I want to get back to that. I'm in Argentina right now. Here, it's sort of like, listen, at very touristy places, they might expect up to a 10% tip for very good service.

[00:05:59]You might round it up. And And this is true. So, in Europe, we generally don't tip, but if you go to a touristy area, for example, I live near Venice, and if you go into the center of Venice, the tourist part of Venice, you're expected to give a tip, but you can find small family-run restaurants where you go in and there is no tip, and the locals don't pay the tip. Let's be very clear about that. The tourists pay the tip, the locals do not. Now, you may find some places where there's a little jar where they will say manche, which is tip, um but generally, you're not expected to do that. If you want to give a euro or two euros, that's fine. It's up to you, it's your discretion. But in the United States, it seems to be completely insane. to the next dollar equivalent or whatever, but in most countries, it's not like in the United States. Think about the growing number of places where you are now being asked or offered the opportunity to tip. Of course, restaurants, self-service coffee shops, A >> [laughter] >> self-service coffee shop?

[00:07:03]A self-service coffee shop is expecting you to tip? [laughter] To tip who?

[00:07:10]Takeout counters, food trucks, self-service kiosks, rideshare, delivery apps, hotel check-in in certain scenarios. A hotel check-in? Once again, I I haven't been to the United States in about 20 over 20 years, and this is all new to me.

[00:07:29]A hotel check-in is expecting you to tip?

[00:07:33]>> [laughter] >> Once again, for what?

[00:07:36]They're doing their job. They're not providing something extra.

[00:07:39]Even at some retail type stores, I've gotten the iPad. Uh haircut, of course.

[00:07:46]I'm told Botox injectors expect tips, everybody. People report being asked for tips at auto repair shops after picking up their car.

[00:07:57]Um My goodness. It's completely out of control.

[00:08:02]>> [snorts] >> You go to pick up your car, and you're expected to pay a tip? A [laughter] tip for what?

[00:08:08]You know, okay, sorry.

[00:08:10]>> Even self-checkout screens in some places. A self-checkout? So, you go to the supermarket, you fill your trolley or your cart, and then you go to the self-checkout, and there's a little panel. Here's the price, plus if you'd like to leave a tip.

[00:08:26]Tip for what?

[00:08:29]Like this sounds insane, but once again, if there's somebody in the chat, in the comment, sorry, please tell us tell us if that's true.

[00:08:37]You know, everything he has said here sounds insane, but it's probably true. So, at some point, we have to ask, what are we tipping for?

[00:08:47]Um then but I've mentioned this, but then the iPad everywhere. We have a question for you. You have to answer a couple of questions. There's one question, which is how much do you want to tip? Now, it can get even weirder because more and more restaurants have also instituted service charges, and sometimes there's a little note. We have added an 8% wage equity fee. We've added an 18% back of the house fee for the people you don't interact with. It is not a tip.

[00:09:19]So, you do the 18% This is what we normally have in Europe.

[00:09:23]You have a service charge. So, the service charge can be a few euros in some cases, and this is sometimes called coperta, which is where you get bread on the table, you have a table, so you're not eating outside, you're not, you know, it's not takeaway, and that's why takeaway is a little bit cheaper than staying than eating in the restaurant. The prices are the same for the food, there's a little bit of an extra fee because you're taking a table. And th- this is reasonable.

[00:09:49]But a service charge and a tip? This is beyond insane because the service charge should be a replacement for the tip, not a service charge and a tip.

[00:10:01]And you're expected to tip 15, 18, 20, 25%. And so, to go back to a simple example, you go by a restaurant and you go, "I'm going to get a burger."

[00:10:12]Um and the burger is $16. Hmm, all right. But then there's an 18% service charge and then you're also expected to tip back of the house, front of the house. It's not really a $16 burger.

[00:10:26]That's a $22 or $23 burger. Now, what I would prefer, if $22 or $23 is what is required to cover all expenses or whatever, charge it as a price it as a $22 burger. Exactly. That's what what should be happening. But as we see with like Ryanair and all of these, it's about selling a pri- selling a cost that is very low. So, you imagine on the outside of the restaurant or you look at the menu from on their app or whatever, you see, "Oh, the price of the burger is $16." Well, it's cheaper to go here than somewhere else. And then obviously, it's a scam. It's an absolute scam.

[00:11:06]Because you don't pay $16, you pay much more than that. So, it's about getting you in and then overcharging you.

[00:11:14]What they should be doing is they should be paying decent wages.

[00:11:19]People would be willing to pay more if it was transparent. Because then you at least know, "Okay, I'm going to pay $22 or $20 or whatever it is for this burger." Sounds a lot for a burger.

[00:11:30][laughter] But anyway, but at least you would know.

[00:11:34]It's a bit like something I don't understand with the United States is a ser- a sales tax, where the price of something on a shelf is like $10 and then when you go to pay, actually you have to include the serv- the the sales tax. And you're like, "Okay, well why wasn't that just written on the uh on the price on the shelf?" Anyway, separate issue.

[00:11:56]I'll leave a link in the description to this entire video. I do recommend watching it. But I think he raised the main point here that you need to have move away from this.

[00:12:06]There it should be transparent for the consumer how much to pay and it should also be the case that get rid of the tips. Just pay people decent wages.

[00:12:17]The The workers would be better off.

[00:12:19]They would be happier. They wouldn't be in this constant stress where I need to keep this person happy and need to keep this person happy. Because in many cases, they will be denied a tip not because they didn't provide good service, but because somebody else failed in the supply chain, if I can use that term. You know, what if the the person who was um preparing the meal messed up? Well, the person who's delivering the food, smile on their face, being friendly, they won't get the tip because the food was terrible.

[00:12:48]Or what if the food was really well done, well cooked, and then the the person serving the food was rude?

[00:12:56]It It makes more sense to run a business where you pay people decent wages and you're going to be able to hold on to staff better if the wages are reasonable.

[00:13:08]But it seems that this tipping culture is just gone completely haywire. The idea that you tip your auto mechanic >> [laughter] >> or you tip people you tip non-people in a supermarket has to end.

[00:13:22]Let me know in the comment section, guys, what you think. And once again, is this true? Have you experienced these things in the United States? Or what about in your own country? Is tipping a real thing or is it more about service charges?

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