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Comment by next_xibalba | Hacker News Reader

Have you ever worked a job where you get tipped? I have. I was both a bartender and a server and my income was far better than both 1) the alternatives for which I was qualified, and 2) what my income would have been on flat, higher wage. If you haven't worked a job like that, it might be worth talking to people who do or have.

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I have; I worked in an ice cream stand at a dairy farm. And you're correct, because of the tips we made much more than we would have even if we had had a higher wage.

But to the point of the person you replied to, on the busy days, there would be two of us working. We were free to split labor however we liked. We made far more tips when it was my attractive, female, coworker taking orders and interacting with the customers, and me scooping, than the other way around. People absolutely do tip differently based on their biases regarding the worker they are interacting with.

Yes, there will be some people who are tipped an unusually high amount who will lose out.

But almost any significant policy or social change will have an impact like that. You have to basically give up on fixing anything if you're not willing to impact anyone.

Exactly: sorry that you might potentially lose a benefit that was gained only by an arguably broken system but them's the breaks, kid. Deal with it.

Potentially very stupid question: should I add a tip % on my invoices as a freelance developer?

You should also be tipping your landlord I hear

I know this is supposed to be funny, but it is so non sequitur as to be uninterpretable. What are you getting at?

I’m not getting at anything. I’m literally asking if you think I should be adding a % tip to my invoices as a freelance dev.

And if the answer is no, why not? I’m providing a service after all am I not?

I've never worked full-time since I was 16 but never a job where tipping was the norm (I'm in the US) so maybe I'm missing something obvious but isn't a stable income preferable? And where is the assumption coming from that doing away with tips invariably requires making less money?

in high-tip jobs, you can count on the tips to be stable virtually every night

That seems like a highly presumptive gamble. And, as referenced elsewhere, it isn't the right argument against pushing for progress in pay equity.

I'll admit up front that I'm simply not going to see eye-to-eye with anyone who thinks a system is acceptable or sustainable that requires subjugation of many for income maximization for a very few. There's FAR too much capital in play for me to feel bad at slightly less comfort for some if it means drastic reduction in suffering for so many.

it’s not an argument for or against, it’s just a statement of fact

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