Oh Goody Another Tip Jar
Tip Jar
What the hell’s with the tip jars, those ever present containers that are constantly soliciting for funds on counter tops from coast to coast. In the last few years these little beggars have sprung up everywhere. I blame coffee vendors. They clearly need to pay their employees more money and stop asking us to subsidize their wages.
The price of a cup of coffee has risen faster then a helium balloon. We obviously like and want our designer coffee, and are willing to pay for it. That’s fine, but tips are not gratuities for simply doing your job. They are extra remuneration to show appreciation for providing exemplary service. In a coffee shop I have to wait in line, decide and order with no guidance or suggestions from the staff. I have to pay and tip when I order, before I even know if the product is any good or my order is correct or how long I will have to wait to get it. Then I generally have to stand around until it’s done, get my own lid, straw, napkin, sugar and cheap wooden stirrer, bring it all to the table myself and bus the table when I’m finished. Damn, I almost feel like I should come back after hours to empty the trash and mop the floor. What’s the tip for? Smiling at me. Making the coffee. I know what you’re thinking, What’s with the bitch? Just don’t tip. I’m sure your right, but there is clearly pressure to tip. The placement of the evil little tip jar. The cute little “My College Loan Thanks You” sign with the little stars and smily faces. The slightly pleading look in the cashier’s eyes. The blank tip line on the credit card slip. The cashier’s awareness of who tips and who doesn’t. Why not just put a forlorn looking panhandler next to the cash register. “Thanks A Latte”.
What really set me off was when I saw a tip jar in the dry cleaners the other day. The dry cleaners! Really?? I even saw one at a flea market yesterday. What’s next, Home Depot? The DMV?
No Tipping Please
Bruce and Wendy. I’m so happy your starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel as a family business. We love you and Wendy to death. We have had this discussion many times over fresh fish and rice. It is just the liberal way that our society has become, with expectations. Heaven forbid you have to work for anything anymore.
“Socialism is a philosophy of failure,
The creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy,
Its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery..”
— Winston Churchill
So if you don’t think a tip is warranted, don’t
give one. I don’t believe in “something for nothing” either, but I don’t see anything wrong with providing a receptacle for the times when I deem the service worthy of a tip.
Great rant. I’ve had similar myself. Love your sign idea!
TIP: To Insure Promptness. If the PERSON provides exemplary service, by all means tip them. I know my employees appreciate tips, but they also don’t stand at the table with their hand out, like the coffee places Bruce mentions and others. They earn them. All these tip jars on counters “just because” puts a bad light on the people that actually EARN the tips. I don’t really care about someone’s “college fund”. I do however, care about my single mom server, who works her ass off for every nickel she gets. Good rant, Bruce!
My nephew, who is from Tasmania, is completely befuddled by tipping in this country, especially this issue where someone seems to be asking for money because they handed you food over a counter. I tell him not to worry – as along as he has an Australian accent, which Americans seem to love, they don’t expect him to even pay for his food, much less tip.