I was reading the local paper (online) the other day and came across a short blip about a woman who swiped a tip jar from the counter of Delicious Orchards, the area’s toniest market. Outside of the market is a grill and ice cream bar which is where the jar was located. I’ve eaten at the grill a few times and it’s usually manned by a few surly teenagers who move slower than molasses in winter; I’ve never left a tip. Hmmm, I’m starting to sound like a grouchy old bag at age 35.
But the crux of my post isn’t thievery or surly teens…it’s the wretched TIP JAR. It’s probably been said a million times before, but the sheer nerve of people to put a tip jar on the counter galls me beyond belief. I don’t mind tipping for services that call for it (ie. porters, bell hops, hair dressers, manicurists) but to just stick a paper cup (or the more ambitious HUGE glass jar) makes me want to scream.
To compound the situation, some of these tip jars are festooned with doodles and pleas: Help! We’re poor college students! (sad smiley face) or other inane sentiments. Why do I get so riled up about this? For most of my teen years I worked the counters of various bakeries and cafes never did we put up a Tip Jar. Maybe I’m just salty because I didn’t come up with this devious scheme on my own!
Listen, I don’t begrudge tipping waitresses or waiters, but tipping the cranky barista for making my hot cocoa? Tipping the DRY CLEANER?!!? I don’t think so.
What about you? What’s your take on the whole Tip Jar phenomenon? Does it even phase you? Are you guilted into tipping?
*On a personal note, I’m sorry that I’ve been an absentee blogger and commentor of late. My laptop committed hari kari and I have a few personal and professional things going on that are taking up most of my time. I miss you all and hope you won’t give up on CWG all together! I hope to be back on track by month’s end. XOXO
I HATE the stupid Tip Jar. I agree, in that I don’t mind tipping people where a tip is actually a part of the job…but to put a jar on the counter of a gas station, bistro, etc. and expect to get tipped for DOING YOUR JOB is stupid. That’s like me putting up a tip jar on my desk and expecting people to tip me for being a secretary.
From whose perspective do you see this? From the perspective of a stingy cafe connoseiur? I do agree that Dry Cleaning is a somewhat rich call. I mean a service as such is priced by the owners of the business, so they can increase the prices and decrease according to what works in their market…Any extra in this instance is plain greedy!. But come the feck on. a Tip JAR for a bunch of poorly coffee makers that see all their purpose in life is to scrape piggy cafe dwellers lunch into a bin, and then get paid measly wages. Fair enough, a tip jar, a vase, a bucket is more than justified.
I am aware though that you are Americano where the tip culture varies drastically from melbourne’s prolific tip jars, no tipping culture and generous mummies taking their babies (note that you are kid free
…) for a hot choc.
interesting point you make, and certainly to see a tip jar swiped in Melbourne would be unheard of!
a. i’m dying laughing from “come the feck on…” that is hilarious and i’m adopting it.
b. i’d hardy call myself stingy…i do tip well for services that are tip-worthy. but pouring a cup of cocoa? it’s not even something challenging like a tall venti smooth-a-latte carmel half-skim, half-whip macciatto soy with a sprinkle of nutmeg or whatever people drink these days. THOSE people SHOULD tip. in fact, they should tip ME for waiting in line behind them as they spew their ridiculous orders. ha!
I agree with you, CWG. Tip jars are lame. As a server, it is understood that you are working for tips. You earn half the minimum wage. As a barista, it’s shameful to beg for tips. I prefer to put pennies in the spare penny cup.
I put my pennies in the penny cup too! See, I’m not that much of a Scrooge. Hee hee. Oh, and also tip when I get take out from the local deli…because if I was eating in i’d tip…
I hate those tip jars too. I have been working in the restaurant industry for many years, and even then I would never assume that people “should” leave a tip. I know a lot of my coworkers disagree, but I see getting a tip as a appreciation for my service. Sometimes, people will be cheap and leave very little, if anything… even if you have gone out of your way to make their dinner experience a good one. But there will always be the great customers that will leave huge tips. It usually balances things.
If I go to a restaurant, I don’t want the waiter to tell me to leave 15% or 20 % (as it is often the custom with large parties). Let me decide!!
In stores, I think it’s a absolute no-no. I couldn’t even justify why in the first place you would want a tip for what you are being paid to do!
I too do the penny dump (mainly because my wallet already weighs 15 pounds, due to change), but feel guilty about it.
The whoever looks at me like “Gee, thanks LADY.” and it’s like, “I didn’t have to put anything in there….”
Didya hear about that guy who put out a donation mug to raise funds for AN ENGAGEMENT RING?!?!
Right, because afterwards, they can live in his parents basement.
I tip, but mostly because I don’t like to carry change around in my wallet. When I’m paying at Starbucks with a credit card, I don’t even think about tipping, but when I pay at Subway with cash and get change back, I always throw it in the tip jar. Sometimes it hurts me to give away whole quarters, but I know how much those guys are getting paid.
There’s one sandwich shop, though, where the guy who I always order from is so nice that I feel guilted into dropping a dollar in with my change every time. His smile is totally worth it, though.
I’m also not a fan of tip jars….but I can’t say it boils my blood. I don’t usually put anything in them, unless I have change, and no pockets.
Actually, I usually feel guilty about just doing that, because it’s usually not much that I’m putting in.
Tipping in Canada is quite a bit more common that what I’ve seen in my trips to the US. (I hate to generalize, but I will). 15% at a sit down cafe is pretty typical and something that doesn’t bother me. However, I’d have to agree that tip jars are starting to pop up in some of the most bizarre places and they all have silly paper signs attached … (Maybe silly tip jar photos could be our August homework??).
The tip jar sometimes bugs me. If it’s out of the way and the counter people don’t scowl if you don’t drop your change in, I don’t mind that there’s a tip jar out–I know a ton of people ask their baristas or whatever to just keep the change, and having a tip jar gives everyone a place to dump it.
I don’t mind the tip jar at my favorite local coffeehouse because they have such a fantastically friendly staff–and at least one girl knows me by name even when my husband’s not with me. (Most people in this town remember me as “Roger’s wife.”)
And I used to tip generously at the local ice cream stand in Ohio because I’m pretty sure those kids–who were also friendly and helpful despite being teenagers with summer jobs–were actually being paid less than minimum wage because it was just a seasonal place.
But mostly I ignore tip jars. Especially the tacky, demanding ones.
All in favor of Kerri’s idea about making photos of silly tip jars our August assignment!
But I don’t know what she’s talking about regarding the tipping in Canada being more common than in the US. Sometimes it seems like it’s pulling teeth to get the people I know around here (BC) to leave more than 10% even when the service was great. Me, I’ve always been a 15-20% tipper, erring on the side of generosity–and I was raised in Ohio (which I sometimes think was the birthplace of obnoxious tip jars).
YOU ARE SO RIGHT.
Jena – must be all the ‘Big Oil’ money out here in Alberta
Delicious Orchards – I remember those days of living just down the street from that wonderful store. But I am getting away from the subject. I also never tip – do I get a tip for wiping the butts of babies? Nope!!! Few parents even give us a “thank you for taking care of my offspring today, I really appreciate it.” Most parents just walk in pick up their infant and leave without even asking how their day was…it really ticks me off. So No I do not tip in those jars.
To tip or not to tip… How much? Too Much? Not enough? Gahhhh it’s a minefield!
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO-I have always wondered what was up w/ the stoooooopid tip jar thing. Poor little Starbuck teens needing more money for stuff like cell phones and whatnot?? Come on! It is so ridiculous!
RARELY do I put anything in those counter jars. However, I would rather err on the side of being generour than stingy (sowing and reaping and all).
We (me the Mrs. and our 5 & 7 yr old) regularly go to a mexican food joint on Tuesdays. There is the line of people adding ingrediants to your order as you go through and finally the cashier. They (literally) have a gas can with a note that reads, “Gass Moneh for the Crew.” I never put money in there. They have done nothing to earn extra.
However, when I go to Planet Smoothie I always put a dollar in the caraff on the counter for the smoothie maker. The difference is that at Planet Smoothie I am treated individually, with a smile and courtiously. My order is always around $5 and I put a $1 in the caraff.
Another way to look at those counter tip jars is… at least the workers made the deliberate decision to come in to work to earn what they could. They aren’t sitting at home waiting on a government check or on the side of the road with a cardboard sign begging for money.
It never hurts to be generous.
[...] people get even more passionate than that. At the blog Curly Wurly Girly, the author bemoans the tip jars that seem to litter every business counter from the sandwich shop to the dry cleaner, [...]