You're partly right, I don't understand your culture, and had forgotten the saying, "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink."

I apologise if you feel I am insulting your culture, by pointing out what I consider it's contradictions and absurdities. People are seemingly happy with an arrangement that leaves employees dependent on the whim of customers for their income. I'm sure my mortgage provider would understand a short-payment if, "it was a bad month for tips."

I much prefer a guaranteed fair basic wage, with tips as icing on the cake, and a mandatory service charge in lieu of discretionary tips. Based on the number of down-votes, readers seem happy with the idea of unpredictable income, vs. fair reward for fair work . How that is considered a good system is beyond my understanding, I'd love to hear a reasoned justification for this, but life's too short for trying to win internet discussions and gain nonsensical karma points.

Shall we agree to differ, and put the pitchforks away?