Mmm, this entire post, per OP, is dealing with I82… You do understand that, yes?

Dealing with I82 from a consumer or a supplier standpoint, both entities should feel as if they are being treated fairly - true or not?

My asking if you understood the tip credit was to understand how well you understood it pre and post I82 having been passed. Now that we both know your depth: which pay structure [both with healthcare] would you care to be under – $114 (via wage increase) or $200 (via tip credit)

>What I'm arguing is very simple - it's not the customer's responsibility to ensure servers are paid as much as they can get anymore than it's the customer's responsibility to ensure owners profit as much as they can.

-This tells me that you aren’t sincere in what you’re saying … you aren’t grasping your personal role in how this specific economic system works: you cannot argue for the server to go elsewhere for work without understanding your purpose in why sed establishment encouraged you to come in - and yes, that does place you in a position of providing profit for the establishment as you also pay the server’s salary ~ it’s no different than buying a car, or groceries, or getting a haircut .. your choice in doing business at sed establishment keeps the doors open, and people employed.

>My personal tolerance is a 20% obligatory add on fee on the bill. I don't care if it's in the form of a mandatory service charge or a cultural obligation of a tip, because the premise of the tip has long been disconnected from actual service quality.

-Your personal tolerance matters little in this discussion, and cultural norms are just that, cultural norms: when in Rome, do as the Romans do — admit it or not, the tip credit allows for people to help gauge worth/ value based on a rating systems of a food critic (or several), and the premise of a tip has been lost on customers that didn’t have a better grasp on what their meal truly should have been charged ~ without the tip credit, people are clutching their pearls based on a new understanding of the capitalist culture of restaurants and how they, the diner, actually figure in.

>Restaurants that do a 20% fee and guilt you into tipping on top of that are not places I will patronize.

-Most all businesses want to run on the cheapest possible labor that maximizes their earnings without sacrificing service.. if you feel guilty by knowing the truth, what else needs to be hidden from you?

Would you feel better if it was a 35% service fee and no line for a tip?

Would you be happier dining in a prix fixe environment ~ with or without the option of doing prorated ala carte menu items?

Fact is, your disdain by learning the reality of the economics of keeping a restaurant open is exactly what scares restauranteurs — the restaurant industry is difficult, and the ability to constantly trim costs is dwindling precipitously .. the last thing you or I want is for restaurants to take an approach of you being a one time customer, but if that scheme works because it shields you from being better aware of how your dining choice on the evening is keeping its doors open, then more shall follow.