Tiplessness

Here's a Slate article from August about a San Diego restaurant owner who went tip-less at one of his establishments.* He cites the difference in atmosphere for workers when their work is not observable and inconstant, as tips are wont to be. Interesting pull:

Despite—or maybe because of—all the documented damage caused by tip culture, plenty of people are deeply, emotionally invested in keeping tipping propped up. When we abolished tipping at the Linkery, we met a few of these people. We would periodically hear guests express anger about not being able to choose the amount of their tip. Their refrain was, It's not about money ... I always tip more than 20 percent. These people were angry even though they had spent less than they otherwise would have, because they had been robbed of their perceived power over their server.

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2013/08/tipless_restaurants_the_linkery_s_owner_explains_why_abolishing_tipping.single.html

Joe

*For the variable fiends out there, he had another restaurant in the area which does work on tips (the control).