I'm old enough to remember when 15% was considered an appropriate tip.
ANYway, do food servers still make a sub-minimum wage that is expected to be supplemented by tips? I don't know, but if not, why is someone making $15-$20/hr expecting to be tipped? California's minimum wage is $15.50/hr this year, with some local jurisdictions mandating a higher wage; I've seen starting pay at fast food restaurants advertised at $18/hr. Is there really a need for a tip jar?
I'm not interested in the "living wage" argument, as I don't think people should be paid based on what they need, but rather on the value they bring to a company. Neither do I think that a minimum wage worker should expect to support a family on that income. And yes, I know that minimum wage purchasing power peaked in 1968 and is now about 58% of that peak--but compare California's minimum wage to that peak.
I'm fairly generous with tipping at a restaurant, having once dated a "food server", but am far less tolerant of the tipping craze at a place like Starbucks. I'm clearly not alone in this view:
Let's be clear. The only scenario where I am strictly anti-tipping is in the case of cows. I'm not even remotely tired of tipping my restaurant server who is providing me with a service while probably being paid considerably less than minimum wage per hour. What I am tired of are the ubiquitous tip jars on every countertop of every place I go into. I get it, everyone wants to make a little bit of extra money, but a tip jar in some situations seems, well, not okay...
Again, I am not against tipping. It's just that when a server receives tips, it counts as part of their income, and they're required to report those tips to the IRS so taxes can be paid on them. Tips are to make up for the fact that servers are earning a reduced hourly wage rather than a standard minimum wage. I doubt the employee at the yogurt shop claimed those two dimes and three pennies I begrudgingly left as her tip. I just need a little bit more effort or involvement from someone to feel like a tip is warranted. The hair stylist who spends 90 minutes cutting and coloring the mop on my head? Absolutely. The bellhop who lugs my overstuffed luggage to my hotel room. Of course. The cashier at the deli who talked on their cell phone while I handed them two dollars for a Chapstick? No, I will not be dropping my spare coins into the Styrofoam cup that's taped to the countertop...
But if even I am tired of tipping, then others must be completely drained by it. Could it be that this pervasiveness of gratuities is dulling the senses for tip weary consumers and possibly making them leave less to the people who really depend on it? Hopefully not, because if your restaurant server lives in Texas or one of the other states that only pays $2.13 an hour that server is as dependent on tips as I am to Sondheim musicals.
3 comments:
Or the fact when I go to a coffee shop and put my credit card into the paying machine, it automatically defaults to “what tip amount?” Usually has 10%, 15%, 20%, or custom. And as a rule I just simply say no tip.
Now as a cop, often times I will get a free cup of coffee. When that happens, I will leave a buck or so in the tip jar as they are extending me a courtesy.
That article you quoted was a little odd. It seems like the author only likes to tip if the recipient needs the money and will declare it on taxes.
When I tip, I don't care how much the recipient is getting paid and I hope the money isn't declared as income. I tip for personal service, not because someone is cheeky enough to tape a sign to a jar. Those don't bother me, I ignore them. Counter help and deli workers don't get tips.
I like tipping the kid who loads me up with bags of mulch at Home Depot. I fold up a fiver and have it in my palm when I shake his hand. It's often a naive high school kid, so that's fun.
"Uh, we're not allowed to take tips."
"Shut up, stuff it you pocket. Be cool, man."
I'm not sure where the writer quoted gets his information, but most food workers are making at least $12 an hour in Texas and even fast food places are hiring at $15 or more for experience employees. I tip 20% for decent service in restaurants where I sit down in a chair and don't have to get my own straws or ketchup. I do not tip at fastfood places where the work is handing me a sack of food and I am not sure the true workers in the kitchen benefit. What is super annoying is going to the AAC for a Stars game and they are all cashless with a tip option being the first pay option for grossly overpriced soda and beer. No thanks.
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