I don’t tip on anything I bring up to a register myself, or anything that’s prepackaged at a coffee shop even if the fridge (or whatever) is behind the counter. When someone makes something for me I’ll tip a dollar or two depending whether I’m being a real PITA with the complexity of my order. Taking a cab home from the train station recently (I’m in Philly) I downloaded the taxi app and set it to automatically tip 30%, with which I surprised myself, but... taxis are cheap? And underutilized? And the drivers all work so hard
I'm so old that I remember people saying "keep the change". Tips were (usually) small generosities. The tip jar was a creation of the now-so-old cash economy.
But your specific example - buying a bag of coffee beans - is almost too easy for me. I never tip when buying groceries. I rarely tip for buying a "thing". I tip for services, not for products. Nobody tips at Best Buy or CVS. If a transaction takes place at a cash register, I am unlikely to feel very served, merely sold to.
I tip on every service because it's hard out here. A friend recently worked at a popular ramen restaurant in Little Tokyo. He had to give even his cash tips to the managers and some nights he'd only get $3 back.
Thanks for your comment! The notion that managers keep the money meant for the frontline worker is, to me, an argument AGAINST tipping. I'd love more transparency about where the money actually goes, because I'm happy to do it, but obviously I think we need a system in which every worker earned a much higher base wage to begin with.
Yes, I agree about guaranteeing a high base wage. Absent of that, I hope that at least some tips make it to the server. And I guess if there isn’t that transparency, people can make their own decisions.
I don’t tip on anything I bring up to a register myself, or anything that’s prepackaged at a coffee shop even if the fridge (or whatever) is behind the counter. When someone makes something for me I’ll tip a dollar or two depending whether I’m being a real PITA with the complexity of my order. Taking a cab home from the train station recently (I’m in Philly) I downloaded the taxi app and set it to automatically tip 30%, with which I surprised myself, but... taxis are cheap? And underutilized? And the drivers all work so hard
this makes sense. thank you!
I'm so old that I remember people saying "keep the change". Tips were (usually) small generosities. The tip jar was a creation of the now-so-old cash economy.
But your specific example - buying a bag of coffee beans - is almost too easy for me. I never tip when buying groceries. I rarely tip for buying a "thing". I tip for services, not for products. Nobody tips at Best Buy or CVS. If a transaction takes place at a cash register, I am unlikely to feel very served, merely sold to.
I tip on every service because it's hard out here. A friend recently worked at a popular ramen restaurant in Little Tokyo. He had to give even his cash tips to the managers and some nights he'd only get $3 back.
Thanks for your comment! The notion that managers keep the money meant for the frontline worker is, to me, an argument AGAINST tipping. I'd love more transparency about where the money actually goes, because I'm happy to do it, but obviously I think we need a system in which every worker earned a much higher base wage to begin with.
Yes, I agree about guaranteeing a high base wage. Absent of that, I hope that at least some tips make it to the server. And I guess if there isn’t that transparency, people can make their own decisions.