Minimum wage in 1992


When Mr. Pink says that the waitresses should not complain about not being tipped because they earn minimum wage, it always baffles me. He says that’s enough to cover everything.

I don’t even know a rich snob that would dare say that these days (pun intended). Minimum wage is a starvation wage and people may qualify for welfare because of it.

Was minimum wage seen in a better light those days? Or was Mr. Pink simply being ignorant?

reply

It was just Mr Pink being a dick for the most part, although the cost of living was lower back then.

reply

Yes, the point was to make it clear that he was a jerk.

reply

There is such thing as a "tipped employee minimum cash wage," which is well below the actual minimum wage.

The idea is that employers of employees that traditionally earn tips can pay their workers less than minimum wage, because the tips make up the difference. In some states, the tipped employee earns a third of minimum wage from the employer.

A waitress who is making the full minimum wage would then not necessarily be working for tips at that point.

That doesn't make it any less a shitty thing to do, but that's the explanation behind the comment.

reply

There is such thing as a "tipped employee minimum cash wage," which is well below the actual minimum wage.

Yup, and this abysmal situation is only an issue in North America (as far as I know, feel free to prove me wrong). Most places in the world realize the true meaning of "tip". It is supposed to be an act of generosity for good service, not mandatory. It isn't supposed to be OUR responsibility to compensate for the shitty salary that people receive.

I live and I am from North America btw.

reply

Yup. When I go out I tip, but it will never make sense to me. It would make more sense to increase the cost of the food and just pay the servers more rather than making us customers come up with arbitrary numbers for their worth or in most cases now it's on the check usually starting at 18%-%20%

reply