A restaurant's sign has proven to be controversial after social media users felt it "guilt-tripped" customers into tipping waiters.
The image of the sign was posted to the subreddit r/MurderedByWords on Tuesday, June 15, and instantly sparked a discussion over tipping waiters in the US.
A post shared by a Redditor with the handle u/mialunalight entitled: "How NOT to Run Your Social Media 101", shows a flyer posted to the window of an unknown eatery that scolds customers for not tipping.
The sign reads: "Servers make state minimum wage which is only $5.65/hr, most of which is taken away in taxes! They rely on your tips to make a living!
"When you don’t leave a tip, they would have served you for the duration of your meal for nothing! Take care of those who took care of you. [sic]"
However, the Reddit user argued that the owner of the establishment could simply mark up their prices to pay their staff a livable wage, rather than making patrons feel stingy.
Their post has already racked up over 73,2000 upvotes and a further 3,000 comments, with numerous Reddit users weighing in on the hot topic.
One person wrote: "Wasn't the price hike disproved already? I’m pretty sure there are businesses that pay living wages while retaining low prices in other countries.
"Guilt-tripping your customers into paying your employees a decent wage is a very good way to p*** off both your employees and your customers."
A second commented: "They could just say hey we did the math, and we can't figure out how to pay a living wage so please tip so we can exploit them for cheap labor and depend on society to help them make a profitable day. [sic]"
A third wrote sarcastically: "'I am an owner of a restaurant with a number of employees but I expect my customers to subsidize me not paying them a living wage.'"
While a fourth added: "I love business owners who think openly being aggressive, and dismissive on their social media paints them in a good light."
Another chimed in: "If only there was someone that had the power to change their wages. Someone that could maybe choose to pay above minimum wage and take away tipping? Ah well, crazy talk."
However, other commenters were more in favor of the status quo, with one person writing:
"While I 100% agree that tipping culture is detrimental to workers, I think that 'customers subsidizing the business not paying employees a living wage is the wrong take.
"Because there's no alternative where customers don't subsidize the employees' wages since customers are the sole source of revenue for the business."
Another added: "By definition, customers of a business subsidize the employee's wages. That's where the money ultimately comes from. If we get rid of tipping the average price for food would shift upwards about 15-20%.
"The only real difference is waiters would have a consistent flat wage instead of the variance they experience now."
Per Indy100, the original poster added that the offending restaurant was an upper-class establishment in a gentrified area, and noted that the steep cost of the items on the menu should make it easy for the owners to pay their servers at least two dollars an hour to meet the federal minimum wage.
So was the restaurant right to put up their sign? Or are they being needlessly abrasive? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
