Turn them into employees already and start the requisite discipline. You're describing companies with no HR and no HR policy. Real Lord of the Flies bullshit right there, with tolerated results.

Perhaps restaurants need to re-hire drivers directly. Boycott the Fly Lords. With arrogance like that, I'd certainly promote the business that goes that route with my patronage. At least I know that's an employee who is more subject to answer to corporate FAFO policy. And a business who respects their employees and recognizes an inherent problem in delivery today.

Think of the issue with scammers pretending to be drivers for a business and stealing the order outright. Eliminate that problem with direct hires for delivery, and everyone wins.

Yes, I'm well aware of sub-minimum wage problem. You're right. Pass legislation that takes effect in a year or two, and give business time to adjust and eliminate those positions is one possible solution. Or simply use the same Cultural Guilt that perpetuated tipping into the it's-everywhere shit it is today and start reversing the trend. Reward businesses that actively discourage tipping with patronage being fully aware of your price out the door sans guilt or shame sprinkles, knowing their employees are not on slave wages dependent on tip charity.

As far as labeling people sociopaths, be careful. In a Recession, belts tighten everywhere. You just might find yourself being forced to act like one of those "sociopaths" at some point.

Tips are optional. Period. Full stop. Employers won't keep sub-employees under the guise of tips of there aren't any coming in.

Before a law like that could be passed, you'd have to evaluate the impact of all jobs that are currently paying sub-minimum wage, because "tips". Unfortunately there might still be a LOT of those. But you could still pass legislation that takes effect in a year or two. Give businesses time to raise those positions.

Cultural Guilt turned tipping into the it's-everywhere shit it is today. Cultural Guilt can reverse that by shaming or boycotting businesses that demand or insist on tipping, while rewarding those businesses that actively discourage it. Sure, you know you're going to pay a higher price at the latter, but at least you know it's the price out the door. No shame. No guilt. And feeling good knowing the employees are not on slave wages dependent on tip charity.

And as we debate about what a "good" tip is, let's remember belts tighten everywhere in a Recession. Most are happy to be employed. A 10% tip might be soon seen as a gift from the Almighty himself. A cooling economy might be another catalyst that helps drive no-tipping as the cultural norm. Sucks, I know. Not the ideal answer.

Exactly this. Tipping is supposed to reward very good service and those who go above and beyond at times. As you've described it's a payroll subsidy being pushed on consumers with cultural guilt.

Uh, now that's not exactly fair, now is it? If you were actually in the car with the driver, you wouldn't be experiencing the service you actually paid for; sitting your ass on the couch while someone else plays food fetch.

Tips on top of delivery fees, should probably be illegal. That's how we end up with delivery drivers racing through neighborhoods putting innocent people at risk when time becomes the metric of tip success. I don't need cultural norms to metastasize into shit behavior. Charge and pay a standard fee for delivery. Don't encourage assholes to prostitute a driver with a fat tip if they can get there in 8 minutes. Because they will.

After the legislation passes and digital price tags update overnight before even a cent has been earned or paid yet to the new $25/hour worker, we'll see where things "go" with a $10 gallon of milk, $20 eggs, and $30 for a McBurger.

As if Greed isn't sitting in a 3000HP hypercar that can outrun damn near anything.

If a business were to literally tell me that, I would politely ask them why the fuck they're bragging about being a slave owner running a restaurant-turned-plantation, while trying to make me feel guilty about that.

If you can't afford to pay your people a reasonable wage and run the business, then shut it down. Tips are MY choice. They're not your fucking payroll subsidy for you to guilt consumers into paying.

Hell, start a movement. I'd be proud to go to a restaurant that openly brags about paying their people a reasonable wage, and actively discourages tipping. Even if that did mean higher prices. I'd have a hell of a lot more respect for the owner.

With the gross abuse of "fees" being added on to damn near everything in our lives, one would think consumers would be more wise to that by now.

This mentality shopping for a new car would mean an ignorant consumer is only looking at the factory sticker (X), worries about tax "later" (Y), and assumes that other stealership sticker is just a coupon for a free fruit basket.

OK, let's be more specific.

Define "normal", since idiots making $200K a year can still find ways to be fucking broke.

Especially in the United States of Capitalism where brainwashing citizens into buying pointless shit incessantly has turned into some kind of duty to the country.

It's not THAT obligatory. My face isn't on the evening news if I don't tip my pizza guy. No one is going to hunt you down and blacklist you from their restaurant if you don't tip. In fact, I doubt that has ever happened. After decades of cultural trainwashing.

Ironically enough, the only likely way to send the message to scummy companies and eliminate +tips positions paying less than minimum wage, is to stop tipping. Otherwise, you're literally sponsoring the problem as a pseudo-business partner every time you do.

Yup. You're damn right. I'm speaking directly to the hypocrite typing this too. Hate not tipping, but temporary sacrifice might just be the only real fix.

Those that can afford to tip 20 - 30% today will be happy.

Everyone else will start looking real hard at finding cheaper alternatives. 30% increase in salary costs, means you raise prices. Across the board.

(Business Owner) ”Please define ‘force’ for me. I’d like to know if I’m reaching for a pen or a sword.”

Push gas prices up to $30/gallon, and you’ll suddenly find no one gives a shit about comparing energy densities.

We know what manipulates this market. At $30/gallon, even the $100K EV looks like a winner.

When the price of gasoline corruptly translates into the price for every-fucking-thing on the shelf, it tends to remind us of which vehicles we should be targeting for upgrades.

Heavy transport vehicles should go first. So we can curb that corrupt practice of abusing gas price to raise every other price.

How relatively easy will it be for citizens to afford that $80K EV?

Can’t sell them for shit today without government subsidies. Manufacturers seriously struggle to make them at even a minor profit. Battery replacement costs are mind-numbing, and will be a real problem after that eighty-four month loan is paid off, and you need another 48-month loan for the new battery. Especially buying used EVs, where crushing depreciation finally enables Joe Sixpack to afford one.

Someone is going to pay for all that development and “real work”. At the stealership we know who is ultimately paying.

Not exactly sure how we do that when the stock market IS the economy.

Stocks. Funds. Trades. It’s all just numbers. Not even real cash. Just ones and zeros flying at HFT speeds. That in itself, should have fuck-all to do with the hard worker doing a physical job making a product in a manufacturing plant.

And yet if all those ones went to zeros and crashed, it would take millions of jobs. Shutter thousands of businesses. Instantly.

That used to be a market where you “invest”. We put the lifeblood of entire nations in the fucking thing instead.