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Gastropod

Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley

Arts, Science, History, Food

4.7 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 16 February 2021

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

If you live in the United States, you’re familiar with a curious mathematical ritual that takes place at the end of every restaurant meal—it’s time to tip, with all the stress the process entails. How much should you leave? Who's getting that money? Is it enough? (And will you look like an idiot if you start counting on your fingers?) Unlike many other countries, where people tip by rounding up to the nearest ringgit or krona—or don’t even tip at all—it’s become standard in the U.S. to leave an extra 20 percent of the bill's total for your server. But how did we get here? How did tipping, a practice with roots in feudal Europe, become so ubiquitous in the United States while nearly disappearing from its home continent? And what does the abolition of slavery in the U.S.—and Herman Cain—have to do with the sub-minimum tipped wage of $2.13 today? Is tipping fair—and is there anything we can do about it? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Who knew that Quentin Tarantino was so up on labor justice debates in the restaurant
0:26.1	industry that
0:48.2	The first thing is the number one occupation for female non-cold graduates in this country.
0:53.1	If the one job basically any woman can get and make a living on, the reason is because
0:58.3	of their tips.
0:59.3	Mr. White and maybe even Quentin Tarantino, they're partially right.
1:02.8	The restaurant industry is the largest employer of minimum wage workers in the U.S. and two
1:07.4	thirds of those are women.
1:09.0	They rely on tips because the federal base wage for tipped restaurant employees is just
1:13.6	$2.13 an hour. It's less than one third the federal minimum wage of 725 an hour. But many
1:20.6	if not most of these women can't actually make a living on their tips the way Mr. White
1:24.1	says they can.
1:25.1	And that is why dear listeners, you should listen to Gastropod rather than reservoir
1:29.6	dogs, at least when it comes to the history and signs of tipping. Or really anything
1:33.9	food related. Unfortunately, you are listening to Gastropod and I am Nicola Twilly.
1:39.7	And I'm Cynthia Graber.
1:41.1	And today's episode is yes about tipping. If you grew up in the U.S. and haven't traveled
1:45.2	much, you might not realize it, but we tip a lot in the U.S. much more than in other countries.
1:50.5	Why is that?
1:51.5	And even within America, which is already tip central, restaurants are the biggest tip zone.
1:56.5	You don't have to tip the person at your local bakery for reaching into the case and
1:59.9	getting you a cookie, but unless you're Mr. Pink, everyone knows you have to tip your
	...

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