Is the definition of a good server in this case one who can serve more tables than others in the same amount of time? In most places tips are mandatory and % does not depend much on anything unless someone messed up.
Commission on sales is very different from restaurant tips.
Tips, at least in the US has never been mandatory but it is an immense social pressure. Besides, my understanding is that tipping % is arbitrary anyway - there have been studies that show good looking people get more tips.
I think tipping culture has changed a lot in the last 5 years or so, driven mainly by the point-of-sale machines that request tips for seemingly adding no value. I think people have reached the point of tipping fatigue.
Definitely. I also think it has blurred the lines even more, and exposes how arbitrary it is. Do I tip if I scan from a QR code and order, where I have almost no interactions with the server? How is it any different than counter service? All that changed is instead of self-service order it is self-service pickup. I probably still have to flag down a server to get utensils or water.
Why did the tip percentage go up from 15% as the norm to like 18-20%? It’s a percentage so if things go up in price so does the tip. At what point is it their job vs quality of service? Why don’t we tip fast food workers, because they probably face more abuse / deal with unruly customers more than dine-in (at least from experience).
I'm old. For me, tipping has always been a cash-only transaction because I felt the money going directly into the server's or other staff's pockets. The owner of the business never touched the cash tips, and the tips were rarely reported (for taxes). But now, when I tip with one of those point-of-sale devices, I have no idea where that "tip money" is going - does it ever reach the server or other staff? Does the owner just pocket the "tip money"?
It is usually against the law to do so, and enforcement is extremely pro-labor, so the only chance you'd have to get away with it is if it got swept under the rug and nobody ever complained. But people who work in tipped positions are some of the most ruthless people you'll ever meet (you kind of have to be when tips are your bread and butter), so that's never going to happen in anything but made up fantasy.
> And why did it go up from 18-20% to 22-25% in the last few years?
Especially when they removed the separate server minimum wage at the same time, meaning that servers both moved up into the regular minimum wage and gained in tipping culture.
The final cost of the bill matters more than anything. A server at a higher-end restaurant where the bills regularly exceed hundreds of dollars will earn more in tips serving fewer tables than a server that works at a cheaper casual-chain restaurant (IHOP, Applebees, etc).
More so than tables per unit time, it's dollars per unit time. When I was a server, the usual metric of how well you performed on a given shift was the total of your bills ("how much you sold"). The best servers were good at encouraging parties to spend on the things they were on the fence about: the appetizer, the second drink, the dessert. Even with the volatility of individual tipping decisions, getting your tables to order more increases the EV of your total tips.
I haven't thought of that, makes sense. That likely applies more to higher-end non-chain places and tourist spots with lots of first time visitors. Regular customers will often know what they want.
Not exactly to get enrolled, but in Moscow websites officially advertize 2300000 rub to sign, which is about $25000. Then monthly payment is 190000 rub so for first year it'll be about $50000 which is 5 to 10 times more than average salary (depending on the region). Initial bonus for enrollment is city-dependent but as far as I understand anyone can just travel to Moscow and sign in there.
I heard that volonteer numbers right now are pretty high so army became more selective - people expect that war will end soon and hope to get sign in bonus without spending much time on the battlefield, if any.
Prigozhin was a very different case, not that many people have their own paramilitary organization to defend them. Only other such person I can think of is someone like Kadyrov.
In the previous active phase of war in Syria Hezbollah was one of the main Assad supporters that provided manpower. They are extremely weakened right now, so in a way rebels can thank Israel for indirect help.
I remember reading an analysis a few months ago that Biden (or the US foreign policy in general) was letting Israel continue its conflicts in order to weaken Iran and Russia.
From the cold-blooded point of view, it makes sense, somehow "It's fine" when the US bombs are being dropped by the IDF, and screwing Russia helps Ukraine and Europe too. But probably that's a myopic point of view, a lot of the world has burning hatred against Israel and the USA now.
Processing cash might cost retailers even more than cards (miscalculations, keeping change, counterfeit bills, cash collection every day) unless it allows them to evade taxes.
That's true for online stores but not necessarily offline, where it's hard to compare prices and it's much more convenient to go to store nearby even if they charge 10% more unless you're buying something expensive.
I'd take my chances with some stores passing on the 3% in cheaper prices (thanks to competition) and others pocketing the profit over the status quo any day.
It'd still be a net win for many people, and the end of what is effectively a redistribution from low-credit to high-credit (i.e. effectively poor to rich).
There is a network but in my experience it's not the most reliable and with no accountability. I tried to use it twice so far but experience was not too good.
First time bus was just cancelled with no explanation (my guess is not enough passengers) so I had to take pretty expensive last-minute 1h flight. They refunded the ticket but kept credit card processing fee.
Second time it bus was late for 1h and it didn't even stop where it was supposed to. I had to pay for an Uber and since bus company refused to refund my ticket I had to charge back.
Maybe I was just unlucky but I don't plan to try them again.
It's owned by Pinduoduo. Publicly traded on Nasdaq, and looking at their numbers roughly, they probably have a lot of marketing budget from where it came from.
