We just finished a big family dinner at a restaurant and my brother said it was his treat. Dinner was good and the service was fine. The waiter was friendly and professional and got our orders right.
When I came back from the restroom, 2 of my brothers were quietly arguing about tip. My eldest brother, who was paying for dinner zero-tipped the waiter and my other brother called him out for tipping zero on a $210 bill. My eldest brother stood his ground so my other brother threw $50 on the table and walked out. My eldest brother took the $50 and replaced it with a $20. He gave my other brother his $50 back, thankfully, but insisted that the $20 he left was enough.
While my other brother went back in to add more to the tip, my eldest brother tried to get into it with me for agreeing with my other brother. He said, “By tipping for shitty service, you are just reinforcing these people that they can get paid $15 an hour for nothing.”
I laid into him with the facts that servers in many states do NOT get paid $15 an hour plus tips and some work for as little as $2.13 an hour and they RELY on tips to make up the gap. He told me I was full of shit and I pulled up the Department of Labor website and schooled him on the fact that Federal Labor Laws have Tipped Worker’s Minimum Wage at $2.13 per hour.
I shouted him down with the facts and then told him to go fuck himself for calling me a liar. It made for an awkward rest of the night but fuck him and other dinosaurs like him.