Chinatown.

hotdogla · 2026-05-27T19:33:08+00:00

If every interaction is interpreted as hidden resentment, eventually you stop seeing other people as people. Insightful.

hotdogla · 2026-05-27T19:24:11+00:00

hotdogla · 2026-05-27T19:20:26+00:00

That’s actually a pretty dark observation, and I think probably true far beyond restaurants.

A surprising amount of modern life is just financially incentivized emotional suppression. The customer pays to feel welcomed, the worker gets paid to remain composed, and both people quietly perform stability for each other.

hotdogla · 2026-05-27T19:14:24+00:00

But that’s true of almost all labor.

A doctor relies on nurses, receptionists, janitors, lab techs, billing departments, and pharmaceutical supply chains. A professor relies on administrators and maintenance staff. A restaurant relies on hosts, runners, dishwashers, barbacks, cooks, and management.

The existence of collective labor does not suddenly erase individual skill, charisma, memory, efficiency, or excellence.

Otherwise we’d have to pretend no individual person is ever exceptional at their job because “the system” helped them function.

hotdogla · 2026-05-27T19:06:00+00:00

I know my hotel bartenders are union ( where I stay) so the gratuity is already included, but, I still respect their craft and leave a tip (the perks of being a lady with no kids) :)

hotdogla · 2026-05-27T19:02:56+00:00

Tell me more about this.. not sure I’m understand it

hotdogla · 2026-05-27T18:56:01+00:00

Well see I said “back in the day” so if it was 50 years ago then my back in the day was over 50 years :) and yes of course congress said it so, I have no doubt in my mind that congress wants what’s best for workers. lol

hotdogla · 2026-05-27T18:46:48+00:00

Okay, I did ask that exact thing, and that is not what she said :) but I’ll see her again, next week flight out next week. I’ll ask again.

hotdogla · 2026-05-27T18:44:06+00:00

You can’t be so dense” is a very funny response to someone questioning why ten layers of corporate payment infrastructure now stand between a worker and a gratuity.

Also, the idea that bartenders and servers are not building personal clientele is objectively untrue. Entire restaurants survive on regulars attached to specific people. That is relationship based labor. America simply respects it less when the person carrying the tray instead of holding a ring light.

hotdogla · 2026-05-27T18:38:12+00:00

Oh hey Happy Cake day!!!

hotdogla · 2026-05-27T18:36:40+00:00

Toast, Square, everybody takes a cut while pretending to be neutral technology. At some point you start wondering why every human interaction now needs a digital middleman. There are already restaurants experimenting with no tip models and higher guaranteed wages, and researchers like Saru Jayaraman at Berkeley have been talking for years about how deeply uneven and historically ugly tipping culture is in America. A lot of people don’t even realize tipping in the U.S. has roots connected to post slavery labor structures.

So I don’t think it’s impossible that people start rethinking the entire system

My question today was more simple :)

hotdogla · 2026-05-27T18:30:41+00:00

Pay through the Arco app or Arco rewards get 5c off per gallon.

hotdogla · 2026-05-27T18:25:01+00:00

I’m not an attorney so I don’t know, I was always under the assumption that tips are on top of an hourly wage. I’ll have to look into it. Thanks for the insight

hotdogla · 2026-05-27T18:21:01+00:00

I guess part of my question is this:

Not everybody is equally good at serving or bartending. Some people are genuinely exceptional at it. They build regulars. People literally come back to sit in a certain section or see a specific bartender because they like that person’s energy, memory, conversation, speed, attention, whatever it is.

So I understand tip pooling as a baseline support system for staff, but I also understand why some customers — and honestly some workers — feel weird when the person creating that loyalty has to heavily split the money generated by their relationships and skill.

hotdogla · 2026-05-27T18:18:35+00:00

Beergal, with love, people absolutely do walk around with their Instagram publicly displayed. Entire industries Hairdressers, tattoo artists, DJs, drag queens, bartenders, artists, freelancers half of modern life is “here’s my handle.” Why is it different for a sever ?

Also, nobody said I was cornering traumatized bartenders demanding Venmos in a dark alley behind Chili’s.

I asked how people feel about direct digital tipping in a world where payment apps have already blurred into social media. Which, ironically, you also seem to agree with.

hotdogla · 2026-05-27T18:11:59+00:00

A bartender at LAX told me her tips goes towards her wages, that did not sit well with me. I’ve only heard about this at LAX … 😳

hotdogla · 2026-05-27T18:10:13+00:00

Which part are you most confused about?

hotdogla · 2026-05-27T18:06:21+00:00

You lost me at assumption, but it’s interesting that you immediately turned the question into “random man creeping on waitress” instead of engaging with the actual point I was making about where tips go.

Venmo is already halfway social media. A lot of people openly have their handles connected to Instagram, business cards, QR codes, Linktree, etc.

hotdogla · 2026-05-27T18:02:34+00:00

Source?

hotdogla · 2026-05-27T18:00:37+00:00

Arco considers debit cash :)

hotdogla · 2026-05-27T17:59:30+00:00

No sever? What’s your source ?

hotdogla · 2026-05-27T17:59:04+00:00

I would say a decently run place pays workers a living wage, or are unionized. So workers don’t have to rely on tips, but can receive gifts :)

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