'My supervillain origin story.': Server receives a note instead of a tip from customer, sparks outrage in online server community

The service industry offers its workers a myriad of shitty experiences: Terrible customers, terrible employers, terrible coworkers, and an (often) unpredictable income that relies upon strangers' ethics and understanding of their social obligations.

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Posted by Brad Dickson

Don't get me wrong, the idea that we have an industry where the customers pay the employee's wages is weird (that's what employers are for), and it's only getting worse; as minimum wages fall further and further behind rates of inflation and tipping rates balloon out of control, it makes me wonder more and more why we have this system in the first place.

I'm not saying you shouldn't tip your server (you should), but tipping, in general, has gotten out of control. That whole “When all they did was turn the iPad around" meme (below) is a perfect canary in the coal mine for how insane tipping has gotten in the US.

I'll share an anecdote: I was recently purchasing some items for my girlfriend at a gift shop that was using a Square POS iPad, and they did the whole “turn the iPad around” thing on me, asking for a 20% tip on $200 of flippin' candles and pottery. I mean, I respect the hustle — and know how terrible retail can be — but I am NOT tipping you for retail merchandise that you didn't even help me select.

Anyways, tangent aside — you should ALWAYS tip your server in the US. If you can't afford to tip, what in the hell are you going out to eat for? As commenters have pointed out: Why was this person out for a $157 meal if they were going to barely manage to make rent? Tipping is a social requirement and this point and is essentially everything except a legal requirement for the way that the system works in the US.

This frustrated server shared a note that they received in lieu of a tip to Reddit's r/Serverlife community. A small sub where people in the service industry go to share their stories and experiences. The comments echoed a lot of similar sentiments to my own initial reaction and sparked discussion on the social and ethical issues that go along with stiffing a server on a tip.

Keep reading for screenshots and photos of the original thread below. For more service industry nonsense, check out this server that was saddled with a dine-and-dahser's bill.