The pressure customers feel when the screen is flipped to them and they have a choice between tipping has become more of a social standard than a moral obligation.
Gratuity means something given voluntarily or beyond obligation usually sometimes for service, which is what tipping does.
Whether it is included gratuity, a tip jar or a screen full of percentage options, tipping is in our faces every day. Depending on where you live in the United States, some servers live off tips because of the low minimum wage and cost of living.
It’s still legal in some states to pay under the minimum wage if employees are earning tips. With a slim paycheck that goes to rent, utilities and groceries, whatever is left becomes highly confined.
A 2022 Trend Survey Report from Toast found that people choose to tip digitally more often. Delaware was found to be the most generous tipper with an average tip of 21.8 percent and California had the lowest average tip of 17.5 percent.
Tipping culture varies across the globe; in some places, tipping is not customary and can even offend such as in Japan.
North America has the practice of tipping more and more often. Many people from other places such as Britain and Europe are shocked by the comparatively high tips in America. Europeans average a tip of five to ten percent if the tip isn’t included.
In my experience working at various restaurants and food chains, it is not uncommon for European customers to not tip at all.
According to the Pew Research Center, 72% of U.S. adults say tipping is expected more now than it was five years ago and about 7 in 10 oppose business with an automatic service charge or tip on the bill.
Attitudes toward tipping vary among age groups but if you go out to eat with your grandparents, you are no stranger to this. My grandmother’s consistent $5 tip on any meal has always shocked me since I was a kid. It has become a habit to carry cash every time I go out to eat with her.
As the cost of living continues to rise, does this mean the standard tipping practices should evolve as well? I think it’s circumstantial based on your experience and franchise level.
Last week I went to a restaurant where the servers brought our drinks and didn’t come back for another 45 minutes to take our order. They were nowhere to be found and they offered to make our meals complimentary for their incompetence but we were tired and hungry, so we asked for the bill.
Paying for only a beer and a soda, we still felt obligated to tip since it was a small, family-owned business, but nowhere near the average 20%. I wondered if this moral obligation was valid and I regretted tipping when I left the door but knew I would’ve felt guilty if I didn’t tip at all.
I think those who have worked in the service industry tend to be more generous and aware of tipping habits. However, the pressures of tipping have become more about social etiquette than a selfless deed.
Not only is the action of tipping important but what you use to tip, coins, cash or card, also has stigmas.
I have heard annoyed coworkers say, “Change is worse than no tip,” after a customer throws their spare change in the tip jar. Personally, an extra quarter or two never hurts as I have a laundry machine that requires coins.
A little tip can go a long way and sometimes even enhance your experience. When workers see a generous tip, they can be more inclined to give you a free item or a free charge for an extra topping, as I am guilty of that at my juice bar job (please don’t tell my boss).