To Tip or Not to Tip?

Tipping: A topic that has continually sparked controversy for a length of time. Tipping has newly become a discussion carrying greater sensitivity with it´s consistent presence just about anywhere you go.

You might find yourself at the airport or local bakery purchasing a pre-made item faced with an Ipad asking you to tip 20 percent at the minimum. There was a time when a 20 percent tip was considered generous to now be bare minimum for a service that was never received.

Tipping has been referred to as a gratuity, being a way to express gratitude for a product or service. It is often a conflicting feeling when you are presented with the option to tip knowing there was no extra service worthy of a tip. Social pressure is the one contributing factor tempting you to press anything besides the ¨no tip¨ option. But when you tip that cashier 20 percent for no good reason, you are less likely to tip a generous amount to those who truly need it.

The hourly rate given to waiters and waitresses stays at a mere two dollars and thirteen cents. Oftentimes, people working jobs solely reliant on tips do not get their full tip either. To ¨tip out¨ is giving back a portion of your earned tips to those working with and around you at the establishment. People working fast food jobs allowing them to stand at a cashier and earn four times the hourly rate of workers providing services should not be tipped the hard-earned cash that would have otherwise gone to those who not only need but deserve that pay.

Tipping serves an important purpose in keeping restaurants and other service-based establishments up and running. These same businesses are vital in giving back to the community through supporting the success of related industries like real estate.

The main reason tipping is seen to be a problem in current times ties back to struggles faced in the pandemic. The pandemic resulted in considerable financial losses for businesses, and generating a solution to make up for those losses became the consumer’s responsibility. Suddenly, the option to tip has been available to customers everywhere, even in corporations having already produced billions such as Starbucks and McDonalds.

Inflated prices have already reached outrageous levels, the tipping problem is on its way there and at a frightening pace. Next time you are faced with a touchscreen prompting you to tip and the question ¨What am I tipping for? ¨ occurs to you, surely click ¨No Tip¨ without shame.