Soothing Dave wrote:
I think the question is whether people are paying extra for good service from one person, or if they are paying extra for good service period.
No the question is shouldn't people have the right to determine for themselves who should benefit from their tip?
Several judges have errantly ruled that employers should be allowed to divide a customer's tip up and distribute it to workers whom the business owner believes should share in the customer's tip. Apparently these judges believe that customers are simply paying extra for good service like you have mentioned. The problem with such beliefs is that it deprives consumers of their 5th amendment rights to liberty. Liberty is the right of every citizen of the Untited States to spend his money however he chooses.
When the courts ruled that people are tipping for good service and subsequently ruled that employers should be allowed to divide the consumer's tip up among all those who contributed in some way to the customer's good service they overlooked the fact that our constitution guatantees customers and every person in the USA liberty. By ruling that a customer's tip is to be regarded as the property of all those who in some way provide good service, they have errantly ruled that customers cannot tip an individual. You see, by ruling that employers can take tips away from those who actually receive them from customers so that they can be divided up among other workers whom helped to provide service to the customer, the courts have in effect ruled that customers will not have the right to present a tip to an individual of their choosing. According to these errant court rulings any tip presented by a customer must be regarded as the property of all those who in some way aided in serving the customer.
The answer is, customers should be afforded their constitutional right to determine for themselves who should receive their tip. Tips should not be viewed as money which busisness owners can use to pay their staff. My interpretation still affords those customers who believe their tip should be divided up among all those who provided good service their constitutional right to take it upon thmselves and divide their tip up among all those who served them. In contrast, interpretting tips as that which belongs to anyone who helped to serve the customer deprives the customer of his constitutional right to determine for himself who will be the recipient of his tip.
SD