I have. I went to a Chinese buffet in Raleigh, North Carolina, with my family. We finished eating, went to the cashier and paid, then we left.
As we were getting into our car the 'waiter' who had sloshed lemonade into out glasses ran up loudly complaining that we hadn't left him a tip. Why such people should be tipped is beyond me.
Anyway, I further insulted him by handing him a single dollar bill, with a smile.
I left a $10 tip at a Chinese buffet I frequented in Finland to a friendly waiter. They insisted it covered payment for my next lunch. Finland doesn't have strong tipping culture, but it still felt strange for a restaurant to outright refuse a tip, especially a foreign one :D
Offering a tip can even be considered offensive. Something along the lines of "You normally do a very poor job, can I bribe you to at least try this time?"
Your point stands about tips being considered offensive, but isn't avoiding that rationale part of why tips almost always follow the service in question? I understood one possible reason being that people want their (hopefully diligent and appropriately generous) service to be seen as the default, rather than something worthy of an additional reward for any special treatment.
> Because that person is paid $2.50/hr for their work.
This is an illegal wage according to federal minimum wage laws. I can't imagine the GP commenter should be responsible for labor law violations beyond reporting it to the relevant local agency. Many states go even farther, requiring the same minimum wage (excluding tips) even for tipped employees, but the federal law already requires minimum wage including tips.
I have. I went to a Chinese buffet in Raleigh, North Carolina, with my family. We finished eating, went to the cashier and paid, then we left.
As we were getting into our car the 'waiter' who had sloshed lemonade into out glasses ran up loudly complaining that we hadn't left him a tip. Why such people should be tipped is beyond me.
Anyway, I further insulted him by handing him a single dollar bill, with a smile.