4 ms·

>If you don't like to tip, there are plenty of restaurants where tipping isn't expected; specifically those where you carry the food yourself from the counter t

by astura 4y ago

>If you don't like to tip, there are plenty of restaurants where tipping isn't expected; specifically those where you carry the food yourself from the counter to your table These places still ask for a tip. Even to-go only places practically demand tips. I was recently told by a friend that it was just as socially expected to tip for counter service as it is to tip at a sit down restaurant.

autoexec 4y ago
Your friend is crazy, or rather it seems they fell victim to the scam. Businesses want you to tip for counter service because you're helping to pay for their labor expenses and they get to pocket the difference. The person behind the counter hopes that you'll tip because they were told when they were hired that tipping would help make up for their low wages. They want to push the perception that society thinks you should tip for counter service, but it's not real (at least not yet). I don't tip for carry out or for retail transactions. Tips are reserved for people who perform a service (waiting on my table, cutting my hair, etc) and not for every employee I interact with who handles food. There was an exception made at the height of the pandemic for restaurants that had few if any indoor diners. We tipped them for carry out because it's money they would have been getting if it were safe to eat inside like we wanted to. Now that most people are back to their old habits (safe or not) I think it's fine to stop tipping for carry out orders.
- astura 4y ago
  I don't agree with my friend, but she was incredibly outraged that I choose a tip of zero at a donut shop, this is how this came up. If you're being intellectually honest there's no logical justification for why a server "deserves" a tip and counter staff don't.* Half the time the server isn't even the one physically bringing you your food/drink - that's often done by a runner or a bus boy. Because the entire tipping culture is based upon shame if a non-insignificant amount of people feel that they are expected to tip whenever asked for a tip, it ends up being the the same as if there was an actual social obligation to tip. Then there can become one. *There actually is a social obligation to tip counter staff - only if you're ordering an alcoholic drink though.
  - autoexec 4y ago
    Waitstaff put in more time bringing food (if they do that, but tips are pooled anyway), topping off drinks, handling odd requests, and then taking care of checkout. They also make $2 an hour while the person handing doughnuts gets at least minimum wage which seems like a good justification for hitting 0% at the bakery register. You're right about bartenders being the exception. That I tend to view more as an outright bribe for better drinks and faster service which is honestly not ideal either. I do think businesses are taking advantage of our guilt and conditioning to try to normalize tips where they never existed before. Hopefully your friend can be brought around to see that. The fewer people who accept it, the slower it will spread. I really hope "tip creep" pisses people off enough that we start to question the entire culture of tipping.
    - astura 4y ago
      >They also make $2 an hour while the person handing doughnuts gets at least minimum wage which seems like a good justification for hitting 0% at the bakery register. False! In my locale waitstaff make the same (high) minimum wage as everyone else.

by astura 4y ago

autoexec 4y ago

Your friend is crazy, or rather it seems they fell victim to the scam. Businesses want you to tip for counter service because you're helping to pay for their labor expenses and they get to pocket the difference. The person behind the counter hopes that you'll tip because they were told when they were hired that tipping would help make up for their low wages. They want to push the perception that society thinks you should tip for counter service, but it's not real (at least not yet). I don't tip for carry out or for retail transactions. Tips are reserved for people who perform a service (waiting on my table, cutting my hair, etc) and not for every employee I interact with who handles food. There was an exception made at the height of the pandemic for restaurants that had few if any indoor diners. We tipped them for carry out because it's money they would have been getting if it were safe to eat inside like we wanted to. Now that most people are back to their old habits (safe or not) I think it's fine to stop tipping for carry out orders.

astura 4y ago
I don't agree with my friend, but she was incredibly outraged that I choose a tip of zero at a donut shop, this is how this came up. If you're being intellectually honest there's no logical justification for why a server "deserves" a tip and counter staff don't.* Half the time the server isn't even the one physically bringing you your food/drink - that's often done by a runner or a bus boy. Because the entire tipping culture is based upon shame if a non-insignificant amount of people feel that they are expected to tip whenever asked for a tip, it ends up being the the same as if there was an actual social obligation to tip. Then there can become one. *There actually is a social obligation to tip counter staff - only if you're ordering an alcoholic drink though.
- autoexec 4y ago
  Waitstaff put in more time bringing food (if they do that, but tips are pooled anyway), topping off drinks, handling odd requests, and then taking care of checkout. They also make $2 an hour while the person handing doughnuts gets at least minimum wage which seems like a good justification for hitting 0% at the bakery register. You're right about bartenders being the exception. That I tend to view more as an outright bribe for better drinks and faster service which is honestly not ideal either. I do think businesses are taking advantage of our guilt and conditioning to try to normalize tips where they never existed before. Hopefully your friend can be brought around to see that. The fewer people who accept it, the slower it will spread. I really hope "tip creep" pisses people off enough that we start to question the entire culture of tipping.
  - astura 4y ago
    >They also make $2 an hour while the person handing doughnuts gets at least minimum wage which seems like a good justification for hitting 0% at the bakery register. False! In my locale waitstaff make the same (high) minimum wage as everyone else.