Culture Corner | Tipping

Become a monthly subscriber for just $1.99 per month and receive an additional two to three episodes per week!https://app.redcircle.com/shows/9472af5c-8580-45e1-b0dd-ff211db08a90/exclusive-contentIn this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl and Jack discuss the practice of tipping in American culture.Transcript:00:00:01JackWelcome to the A-Z English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with my co-host social. And today we are in the culture corner and we're talking about tipping culture in America.00:00:14JackAnd social, what do you think about the tipping culture in America? I just visited America, not just like a couple months ago. It's.00:00:21XochitlOhh, that must have been so hard for you cause Korea hasn't has no tipping culture.00:00:26JackI know it's really. It hurts so much. We say this is gonna sound cringey, but we call it 00.00:00:33JackSee out of control. It's just.00:00:37XochitlThat was cringy. That's good. That was very good. But OK. The tipping culture is definitely inflated in the US, and it's for anything like any little service being a person who worked in the service industry.00:00:39JackYeah, yeah.00:00:42JackThat was just for you. That was just for you.00:00:58XochitlEven recently I can say that I I appreciate when people would tip me even just a buck or.00:01:03XochitlSomething.00:01:04XochitlBut.00:01:07XochitlIt should be up to the corporations to deliver a working wage to the point that we don't have.00:01:12XochitlTo depend on.00:01:13XochitlTips. Because if you're working in the food service or whatever, even if you're not waiting tables, you might be making like $15.00 an hour and then the odd person might tip you a dollar for making their coffee or whatever that adds up substantially over the course of the month. And then you might make 100 or 200.00:01:14JackRed.00:01:31XochitlExtra dollars and that really helps, but at the bottom line, the company should be providing a wage where you can live off of that and $15.00 an hour doesn't really cut it anymore with how expensive things are in the US.00:01:46JackAnd the companies with tipping, they're basically letting you pay the salary of the worker instead of them. It's like, not only are you buying the product, but you're also paying part of their salary. How stupid is that? I mean, it it to me, tipping is just I do it because it's a social.00:01:53XochitlYeah.00:01:58발표자Right.00:02:05발표자Oh.00:02:07JackThere's a social stigma against not doing it. If I don't tip, everybody looks at me like I'm cheap.00:02:10XochitlYeah, you're very.00:02:14JackI'm a cheap guy, I'm a jerk and you know.00:02:18XochitlYou're like the male, Karen or whatever.00:02:21JackA male Karen, you know, crying about tipping. But it we the fact that the the fact that the government pays those people so low because of tipping, they're they're allowed like the the the law in America there's a carve out for the minimum wage for.00:02:41JackLike food workers, whereas they don't have to pay them as much as the minimum wage because they get tips.00:02:51JackI mean, how stupid is that? That's like the restaurant Workers of America or something like that. This, this group.00:02:56XochitlYeah, anytime you're a server, uh, like a waitress. Specifically, they don't have.00:03:01JackYou make like $2.00 an hour or something.00:03:03XochitlYou can make like $2.00 an hour, and in fact they don't make $2.00 an hour because that's all taken by federal taxes or state tax federal taxes, I guess. So you end up having $0.00 on your paycheck. You're only making tips.00:03:18JackRight.00:03:18JackAnd and they can make a good living. They can make a decent living off of tips, but it just doesn't make sense. Why is why does the restaurant get to offload their the salaries of their of their servers on to you when you're already paying for the food and you're paying for the dessert and you're paying for the drinks and all these things? It doesn't.00:03:38JackMakes sense. Tip stands for TTIP to ensure promptitude.00:03:45JackNot to pay salary TPS. Yeah, this is TPS.00:03:45발표자Hmm.00:03:48XochitlHTTPS.00:03:51발표자I.00:03:52JackYeah.00:03:52XochitlI have a question for you. Jack has tipping culture evolved in your lifetime? Like the percentage and stuff? Because for me, I remember when I was a little kid, I think 15% was was the norm, but now it has to be at least 20% or you're cheap.00:04:03JackYeah.00:04:08JackWell, here's The thing is, if you're paying with a credit card now they've got a tablet like an iPad, and it basically gives you a choice that says you can pay 20 percent, 25% or no tip.00:04:19XochitlYou know that there's there's.00:04:19JackAnd sometimes.00:04:20XochitlA place at the bottom that says custom amount and you can just.00:04:24JackOhh is there OK I didn't. I I I don't want to do math. I don't wanna do math. I just want to see.00:04:26발표자Yeah.00:04:30XochitlYou you can.00:04:31XochitlDo like 5 when you just custom an amount. You can put the exact amount of money.00:04:34XochitlYou want to give them and then.00:04:35JackOhh. OK, OK. Well, I I usually just do the calculation of 20%. I give the lowest, you know, but 20% is still like you.00:04:42XochitlAcceptable test.00:04:44JackNo, I I just, it doesn't. It doesn't mean anything. The person wasn't ensuring promptitude. It was a person. But I was buying a smoothie like, that's their job is to make a smoothie for me. And just like, you know, I I'm not sitting down at the, you know, spago Wolfgang Puck restaurant.00:04:45XochitlThat's fine.00:05:05JackAnd being, you know, seated by uh, you know, some fancy guy in a tuxedo. It was like a smoothie shop, you know?00:05:11발표자You can check.00:05:13JackUmm, it's it's completely gone out of control. It's it's off the rails. We need to get rid of tipping. We need to pay those workers a minimum wage. That's livable. So that it's like Korea where you don't tip at all, but they get a a certain wage to do their job. And we're and we need to get rid of all of this.00:05:13XochitlRight.00:05:31XochitlRight.00:05:34JackThis tipping nonsense, it's garbage. And also, why don't McDonald's workers get tips they they're serving you food.00:05:42XochitlAnd that.00:05:43XochitlI think you.00:05:43JackOh, they can now. Oh.00:05:45XochitlI'm not sure.00:05:45XochitlWell, I know that pretty much every fast food chain I was working on a Panera Bread and we could get tips. So it's it's out of control.00:05:51JackOK, maybe there's like, maybe there's, like, a really sad cup there that says mic tips on it or something like that. You can throw in 1/4.00:05:57XochitlYeah, actually I think.00:05:59XochitlYou're right. I think McDonald's still.00:06:00XochitlHasn't gone that low yet, but.00:06:03XochitlElse pretty much.00:06:04XochitlYou can tip. Yeah. It's it's weird. So the thing in in, in other countries, I'm curious, I know in South Korea you there is no tip and in Mexico there is tipping culture for certain things like going at a restaurant or something. But 10% is the expended expected tip amount.00:06:22JackOK, that seems that yeah, that would be the same as not tipping in America, it's like 10%.00:06:27XochitlYeah. If you shift 10%, people like spit on you, basically you cheat ogre.00:06:30JackYeah, exactly.00:06:34JackJust you miserly old man, yeah.00:06:35발표자So it's like.00:06:38XochitlYeah, I always usually tip 20% here in Mexico as well cause cause I feel bad.00:06:43XochitlDoing it and my parents don't go tip like 10% and I give them dirty look because they're they're not even like.00:06:51JackThey've never worked in the service sector before me, yeah.00:06:54XochitlYeah, that's true. That is true. Oh, I guess my mom maybe did briefly, but my dad did. Well, my dad did. But it's been so long, and he's like, 60 or something.00:06:59발표자OK.00:07:03JackYeah, back in his days when you gotta tip like 1/4 was like ohh boy, I got a whole quarter like.00:07:03XochitlSo.00:07:10XochitlYeah, that's that's true. It's great. Yeah. And I think it's like tip inflation. I think it used to be when I was a kid, 15% was a fine amount to tip and now 15% is like getting you dirty looks.00:07:11발표자Hmm.00:07:24JackBut the smoothie.00:07:25XochitlYeah.00:07:25JackShop never. You never tipped in the 1990s. In 2000, the smoothie shop. Now you do.00:07:28발표자No, no.00:07:30Xochitl2000, 2010 My childhood was mostly in 20 tens, I would say and and mid 2000s.00:07:32JackEverything, yeah.00:07:41XochitlAnd yeah, you you didn't tip in a smoothie shop. You didn't tip in a coffee shop, but tipping was for restaurants or like concierge at a hotel or what, you know what I mean? Certain like your.00:07:49JackYeah.00:07:54JackYeah, a bellhop at a hotel. You give them like a buck or a couple bucks or something.00:07:58XochitlYeah, certain luxury experiences.00:07:58JackLike that, yeah.00:08:04XochitlBut it wasn't a common thing.00:08:07JackExactly.00:08:11XochitlAll right. Well, let us know what the tipping culture is like in your country. I'm very interested to know.00:08:19XochitlShoot us an e-mail at at [email protected]. Leave us a comment down below at A-Z, englishpodcast.com or join our WeChat listed groups to join the conversation and we'll see you guys next time. Bye bye.00:08:32JackBye bye.00:08:32Podcast Website:https://atozenglishpodcast.com/culture-corner-tipping/Social Media:WeChat: atozenglishpodcastFacebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/671098974684413/Tik Tok: @atozenglish1Instagram: @atozenglish22Twitter: @atozenglish22A to Z Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/theatozenglishpodcastCheck out our You Tube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCds7JR-5dbarBfas4Ve4h8ABecome a member of Podchaser and leave a positive review!https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-a-to-z-english-podcast-4779670Join our Whatsapp group: https://forms.gle/zKCS8y1t9jwv2KTn7Intro/Outro Music: Daybird by Broke for Freehttps://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Directionless_EP/Broke_For_Free_-_Directionless_EP_-_03_Day_Bird/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcodeSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-a-to-z-english-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy