THERE IS ALMOST NOTHING RATIONAL ABOUT TIP COMPENSATION

Lawyers are paid by the hour. Cab drivers are paid by the kilometre. But when it comes to wait staff, there is often little to no rational connection between the services they render and the tip received. Opening a $100 bottle of wine and a $30 bottle of wine requires the same effort and yet at a rate of 15 per cent, one yields a tip of $15 and the other $4.50. The threesecond action of a bartender snapping the cap off a beer bottle is expected to yield a tip of $1. Meanwhile, the heavily involved process of preparing a hot lemon and water pays nothing. “It’s simply an irrational custom that is deeply embedded in our culture,” said Marc Mentzer, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan’s Edwards School of Business who has written a history of tipping.