I am not trying to sound frugal but it seems that every service we pay for now requires tipping. Apparently it is not good enough to just simply pay for services rendered anymore we have to give a little extra to every single duty performed by those that work in the service industry. Just so I have things straight so I am adequately prepared for each time I leave the house, what are the socially expected tippable jobs? I think it is safe to assume that we all know that we need to tip waiters and waitresses. No point arguing that fact. That's been done to death. But let's list and analyze all the other potential tippable situations.
Taxi drivers
This one confuses me a little bit. Why do we tip taxi drivers? The expectation
when entering a cab is you are going to be driven from point A to point
B. That is what we are paying the meter for. I can understand tipping
if the cab driver helps you unload groceries or lends a hand with your
luggage but outside of those cases what service is not being covered in
the cost for the drive? Is it the engaging conversation these people attempt
to provide us? Or perhaps the multiple near death scenarios they like
to put us through? What exactly are we tipping for? Aren't these people
making like eight dollars for six minutes worth of work? That isn't too
bad. Why do we tip taxi drivers? We don't tip bus drivers? We don't give
street car drivers a gratuity. I've never given a pilot two bucks when
getting off a plane. Then again I also have never paid a taxi driver $700
for a ride? Let's move on…
Bartenders
I don't have a problem per se with tipping a bartender I guess my issue
is with how many times we have to tip a bartender. Now I preface this
by saying clearly I have drinking problems but why do we need to tip bartenders
every single time we go get a drink? Isn't a few dollars at then end of
the night a good enough favour? Why is it expected that I am going to
give you a gratuity each time you bend over to hand me a bottle of Stella?
God forbid one time you don't give them a tip…you become invisible
to bartenders the next time you try to get a cocktail. Tell you me…bartenders
hold the worst grudges. As much as I may disagree with this tactic it
is probably a good idea to tip these people every time you get a drink.
Yup, I have problems.
Coat Check Workers
Why are we even paying for a coat check let alone tipping someone for
checking our coats? Who in the blue hell thought this was a good idea?
Tip these people…ahhhhhhh no.
Washroom Attendants
First of all these people have really bad jobs. Sorry, but you do. Standing
in a washroom and trying to hand people who have just urinated paper towels…didn't
really set the world on fire did ya Johnny? Sadly, I think I can dry my
own hands. No tip for you. You know when you think about it…there
is a lot of unnecessary tipping going on in bars and restaurants isn't
there?
Pizza Delivery Drivers
This is another case of tipping a person for just doing the requirements
of their job. Why do we have to tip a pizza delivery guy? I am assuming
they are getting paid for this job…they couldn't possibly be living
off the tips. All they are doing is fulfilling the responsibilities of
their job. Their job is to deliver pizza. I am pretty sure they aren't
the person that is making the pizza. And it is not like this restaurant
said "You know what…you stay there. I'll bring it over to your
house." Their job is to bring the food to your house. Give you a
tip? Doesn't that require some extra service? I don't recall ever having
a delivery guy tap dance his way into my living room before handing me
a pizza. Or get down on one knee and give me a rose in addition to bringing
the food. I don't understand what it is we are tipping here….good
work doing that one requirement of your job…the only requirement
in fact, well done!
Tipping has always been
a hot topic for conversation. I for one will tip if I feel there was either
very good service or someone did something above and beyond the scope
of their job. I have no problem with tipping if the situation calls for
it. But I am starting to feel more and more that there are some grey areas
in this notion of expected gratuities. I have troubles believing I am
going to tip someone for simply pouring a coffee for me. There are limits
and we need to set boundaries on what should automatically be tipped for.
Tipping is supposed to be a voluntary action, at least give us a choice
on when we see fit to do it.
...but that's just
my opinion.
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