Has tipping become an epidemic in America?

Do you guys tip your landlords? Am I the only one that tips the landlord every month? I leave a 20% tip. iPad is just—it's getting, it's getting a Greg. Just—I mean, my wife gave birth the other week and then the doctor delivered the baby, turns an iPad at me and it's just like, "You want to do 20%?" Did your wife actually give birth?

No. Do you have a wife?

No, I don't have a wife. That was all a joke. Is this all a bit?

Since do you work at a restaurant? Sorry, I was just doing a little joke here. I thought, "Oh no, we can do jokes." I got into a finger ring accident just yesterday. Is that why you put that on there?

Yeah, is that why you put the—as a dyke, you know, all we have is the hands. It's my dick. You got the tongue.

Yep. That's like my balls. You got ten tiny dicks. The tongue's like your balls. So I like this, you know? Scissor finger—two in the pink, one in the sink. No, wow. Recess—you think you need a new brand ambassador?

I'm absolutely. This is the last stop with Kareem Rama. This episode is presented by Recess with guests Financial Guru Robbie Hoffman, Robbie's Nemesis Tommy Bayer, joined by Robbie's other Nemesis Millie Tamaris and Robbie's kind of Nemesis Bobby Condon. Please clap. And your host, Kareem Rama.

Welcome to the Last Stop with Kareem Rama, the most sophisticated show about the stupidest subjects. I'm Kareem Rama and we've got a great show for you today. Tipping—it's how we show gratitude for a service provided and to make sure that no one spits in our food. I personally like the cousin of the tip: the bribe. Nothing feels better than going to a restaurant, the host saying there are no tables available, and then me slowly sliding a napkin into his hand that says "I'll suck your dick" on it. Sometimes I like to impress people when I'm tipping. Like if I'm at a restaurant with friends, I'll pick up the bill and I'll impress them with how perfectly I draw a big fat zero. Tipping is important though. Sometimes employees don't get paid enough by their multinational multi-industry International glates, so we got to pick up the tab sometimes and become Angel Investors at TGI Fridays, you know? Most countries outside of America don't tip. These cheap, pretentious French—[bleep]—they pay their employees liveable wages. Oh, excuse my French. Personally, I'm all for tipping fairly when it's worth it. But nowadays it seems like everyone is looking for a tip. Tip jars used to be so easy to ignore, but now they have computer screens we have to interact with and we're presented with this multiple choice question we have to answer right in front of the slave laborer's face. It's like "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," except neither of us are millionaires and the prize is someone not thinking that you're a dick or two dollars. Where's the line on tipping? It'd be great if there was just a reference chart that showed exactly what we're supposed to tip and how much. And ideally, this chart would be made by a real cheap—[bleep]—like myself. Now we're talking tipping today and if you like what you see, our Venmo is in the link below, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Play me the take. Play the take. Let's hear this. I'm interested. Play the take.

What's your take? If I have to go up to order, I'm not tipping.

Oh, it's good, you know? Restaurants are all the self—they're all self-served now. Zero percent. Zero. At this point, I work there. You're doing the work, you should get tipped. They have the nerve on the iPad to do 15% tip, 20% tip. Tip? Why don't you tip me? Take 15%, 20% off the bill. No. Literally, just pay people a living wage and leave us alone already. Tipping when you have to do the work is awful.

Yeah, well, come a year we're tipping 45%. We're making this ourselves. What about coffee shops? Where's this going? Zero.

You didn't tip for that? Oh, this guy was rude as hell. I want to—I want to even cover the name here. I didn't want to give him anything. I'm telling you right now, the business must pay their employees. They continue to levy more and more on the consumer.

You're doing a peaceful protest. You tip where you have service at a restaurant. Tip 45% now? Everyone expects 20%, especially at a coffee shop, you know? They love to flip it back. The iPad. Nobody flips one back better than me. I don't give a—[bleep]—you hit zero and then you flip it right back.

Oh yeah, you know what? I do a Pity Tip. But that's what it should be. If you're feeling a tip, give a tip. But a mandatory tip? Now we've lost the essence of the tip. Now we're doing wages. Now I work there and I'm paying to work there. By the way, people—people said, "Oh, well, inflation. Because inflation went up." Yeah, well, a tip's a percentage, so you're getting a percentage of the inflated price. What are we, double dipping? Makes no sense. Pay your people and leave us alone already.

Bring back the two dollar tip. 100% agree. I mean, at this point, let her cook. Let her cook. At this point, go a kitchen and cook and work at a restaurant. Go—[bleep]—work at a restaurant. You don't think that I come from a restaurant? We now have the poor supporting the poor, which is all part of the big scheme of this. They guilt us because we care for people, people. Consumers of coffee shops and the pur—and hold on, no over talk. They gave us a rule. Okay, we just heard you talk for a minute and a half, uninterrupted. A woman's talking. Imagine that. Imagine that. Here we go.

Mama Mia. Well, the whole point of this is to make us divide each other against each other. We're on the same side. We all coming from working at these places to then being customers also simultaneously at these places. And their whole idea, long term, is to put it on us to make it seem too big to change. Their whole idea is like, "Well, this is how it is, so you have to continue to feed the status quo." We are enabling a system that yes, we should have stopped a hundred years ago, but we didn't, and we still can stop it now. Tommy, yeah. Okay, so—and I've worked at McDonald's. You want institutional change and you want everybody to make a living wage. It's great. It's good. Round of applause for Robbie for inventing liveable wage. That's wonderful. I'm sure we all want free healthcare. If my buddy gets hit by a car and has a—[bleep]—GoFundMe, I'm not going to be like, "I'm not giving you ten bucks because that's a tip, go—[bleep]—yourself," because there should be free healthcare. There's not. There's not today, and there's not a liveable wage. So if you want your favorite band to still live in—[bleep]—Brooklyn, give a—[bleep]—dollar.

Why would you want your favorite band to live in Brooklyn? Who still wants that? Who's like, "You know what, I wish if you want your artists, if you want people to still live in your—[bleep]—city, give them a—[bleep]—dollar." Dumbest thing I've ever heard. Get these b—out of here.

Hey, hey. Time out. First of all, the fact you're poor and you're a white man is embarrassing. Okay? Embarrassing, with the leg up you've had, and you haven't been able to make a dollar? That's on you, not fumble the bag generationally. We fumbled the bag. Yeah, no, so don't blame it generationally. You have some accountability. I think it's inexcusable to not pay a living wage in one of the richest countries, and then I think you have tip. And we bring back the idea of the tip, which you spoke to in the clip, was just like, just when you had a rapport with someone, you you're a local at this place, you're part of the fabric of this place, you're there every morning. Of course. I think the big distinction is the Pity Tip versus the service tip.

Yeah, I think we're all in agreement that everyone should make a living wage. And I think I've worked in restaurants my whole life. Get rid of the tip. Liveable wage. That's good. Yeah, it's just today. Well, I mean—wait, wait, wait, real quick there, man. Here. Well, as the only white man that's gainfully employed, fig, thank—and so, and Kareem, just to clarify, you said that that's you? That's the over tipper? Earlier, like, the—I'm the over tipper?

You're the over tipper. You're also the guy that organized the panel show against tipping, so it's like, whatever good you've done, no one's against tipping. Okay, okay. But the premise was t—