TIPS are portrayed as a reward for good service (hence the acronym), and Servers as service employees.
But in reality Servers are sales clerks and TIPS are buyer paid commissions. They perform sales functions. They give you menus, they help you make selections. they take your order, they deliver the product to you. The upsell whenever possible. Todays special is Prime Rib. Can I interest you in desert?
The customer has the option of tipping whatever they want, but in practice, almost everyone tips between 15-20%. So the server is simply getting 15% of everything they sell. If the service is really bad, they may get low or zero, but that doesn't happen often. The fact that the buyer rather than the seller pays that doesn't alter the picture much, although it makes some customers a bit annoyed by the custom.
Thought of in this way, Servers compensation structure is not much different than many other customer facing jobs.
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