News Japanese living in the US leads fight against gratuity

I am glad to live in Japan, where tipping is considered "impolite", according to the piece below.

• In a recent survey, more than a third of US adults said "tipping has gotten out of control."
• Californian Ken Ozeki, who was born in Japan, said the Japanese don't feel obliged to tip like Americans.
• He told Business Insider he often pays in cash and picks up food to avoid the charges.

Ken Ozeki has a habit of choosing the "custom tip" option to round up the price of his coffee purchases to the nearest dollar rather than paying the standard 20% gratuity typical in the US, which he does not consider doing. The 41-year-old is part of a group of consumers considered frugal and often frustrated, as identified by a Bankrate survey. The survey revealed a growing trend among Americans who are reluctant to leave generous tips, with 35% of participants expressing the belief that "tipping culture has gotten out of control." Bankrate's senior industry analyst, Ted Rossman, attributed the rising inflation as a contributing factor to this sentiment.

Ken Ozeki has a habit of choosing the "custom tip" option to round up the price of his coffee purchases to the nearest dollar rather than paying the standard 20% gratuity typical in the US, which he does not consider doing. The 41-year-old is part of a group of consumers considered frugal and often frustrated, as identified by a Bankrate survey. The survey revealed a growing trend among Americans who are reluctant to leave generous tips, with 35% of participants expressing the belief that "tipping culture has gotten out of control." Bankrate's senior industry analyst, Ted Rossman, attributed the rising inflation as a contributing factor to this sentiment.

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The public relations specialist claimed some businesses used new technology and the so-called "streamlining" of payments as an excuse to overcharge consumers. "They think people will be more forgiving of sticker shock if they assume the increase is going to the person providing the service," he said. "But there's no guarantee that the employees get it," he added. "Companies are cutting corners and getting craftier." Ozeki, who immigrated to the US from Japan with his family around age 6, said tipping is offensive to people in his native country, which he visits yearly. He also pays the woman who cuts his hair in cash — with no tip. "I go to a neighbourhood place where she works out of her garage," he said. "I pay the agreed amount and leave." Thick-skinned, he said it wouldn't bother him if people thought his lack of tipping was stingy. "I've given it much thought and stand by my reasons 100%."


Source: A man born in Japan — where tipping is rude — is part of a growing number of Americans rejecting tipping in the US

I agree, it's gotten way out of hand. Now we are given tipping options at takeaway places. Just about everywhere now except maybe the traditional fast food places such as McDonalds.

Yes, I agree it is a loathsome custom that we have bamboozled ourselves into accepting as normal. I don't think I will ever be thick-skinned enough to not tip at all. I come from a family of lower-class origins (immigrants and farmers) who worked their way up to middle-class, so I feel solidarity with food-service workers and hotel maids, etc... who perform demanding jobs for minimum wages, but yes I find Asia's culture with regard to this to be much more civilized. The US culture sort of accepts the fact that the server does not make a living wage. But instead of making the business owner ashamed of this, the shame and guilt is placed on the customer. And Americans are conditioned to think this is proper - or shrug their shoulders with an unspoken English version of "shigataganai".

I think there is a certain amount of grift built into the system as well, since cash tips are universally under-reported as income.

Just one of the examples where I find US culture to be inferior to Asia. Even Europe, where a rounding up, or maybe a 10% tip for extraordinary service, is superior to the US system where the customer obliged to choose a tip amount from a screen. There was a phrase used with regard to this same topic here a couple of years ago. I'll see if I can find it. Something like "equal parts shame and extortion" or words to that effect.

Majestic said:

"the cloying calculus of guilt and pressure that underwrites it."

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from March 23, 2023.

Majestic said:

Yes, I agree it is a loathsome custom that we have bamboozled ourselves into accepting as normal. I don't think I will ever be thick-skinned enough to not tip at all. I come from a family of lower-class origins (immigrants and farmers) who worked their way up to middle-class, so I feel solidarity with food-service workers and hotel maids, etc... who perform demanding jobs for minimum wages, but yes I find Asia's culture with regard to this to be much more civilized. The US culture sort of accepts the fact that the server does not make a living wage. But instead of making the business owner ashamed of this, the shame and guilt is placed on the customer. And Americans are conditioned to think this is proper - or shrug their shoulders with an unspoken English version of "shigataganai".

I think there is a certain amount of grift built into the system as well, since cash tips are universally under-reported as income.

Just one of the examples where I find US culture to be inferior to Asia. Even Europe, where a rounding up, or maybe a 10% tip for extraordinary service, is superior to the US system where the customer obliged to choose a tip amount from a screen. There was a phrase used with regard to this same topic here a couple of years ago. I'll see if I can find it. Something like "equal parts shame and extortion" or words to that effect.

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Totally agree. 18% is considered minimum/cheap now. But what is especially annoying to me is that even take away places present a tip option on the screen and often the minimum tip presented for quick selection is 20% or greater.