> I'm sure that when Dave started this thread way back when, he realized what a fair wage would do to the cost of a meal. But I'm sure a lot of people don't think about why wages are so low: the lower the wage, the bigger the margin for the owners AND/OR the lower the prices on the menu. A lot of restaurants don't want to raise their prices much higher because that would probably reduce the number of customers coming through their doors. Raise the wages and the money has to come from somewhere. The idea of tipping puts the control in the customer's hands.

But if tipping is virtually mandatory, and you end up paying the same amount, what difference does it make to abandon the tipping system, other than to make it more equitable for the staff and more convenient for the customers? Maybe prices look lower, because you don't realise that you'll have to pay the staff, on top of what the bill asks for, but I hardly count that as an advantage.

wintermute