Tipping

[mlydon]

SMJ,

Every job you listed above is not one where tipping is expected, and the wages they pay reflect that. In fact, if a guy at Walmart, west, or whatever, loaded some heavy purchases in your car for you, they’ve gone ‘ Above and beyond’ and a small token of appreciation for that IS appropriate, unless you’re old and infirm, or a dick.
Waitstaff, dockboys, etc., who hustle to serve you, are paid dead-minimum-wage, and strive for you to enjoy meal or service you’re consuming, because the tip is the incentive. Contrast that with your typical Walmart zombie/clerk doing the dead minimum work to remain employed, hiding out from the customers, and completely ignorant if you do catch one....those don’t deserve, or expect, tips.

Btw - people do tip garbage men, doormen, mailmen, etc.who perform regular services, usually in a Christmas envelope, if they’re helpful. I make sure to give the boatyard guys who haul my baby out every fall a case of good beer, AFTER they haul it ;-)

Finally, a dock-boy who just hands you a pump won’t earn, or expect, much in the way of tips. The one who asks if you need water, is willing to run for ice, tied you up and is going to shove you off nicely, does....


Matt





Matt

[smj]

Originally Posted by mlydon

SMJ,

Every job you listed above is not one where tipping is expected, and the wages they pay reflect that. In fact, if a guy at Walmart, west, or whatever, loaded some heavy purchases in your car for you, they’ve gone ‘ Above and beyond’ and a small token of appreciation for that IS appropriate, unless you’re old and infirm, or a dick.
Waitstaff, dockboys, etc., who hustle to serve you, are paid dead-minimum-wage, and strive for you to enjoy meal or service you’re consuming, because the tip is the incentive. Contrast that with your typical Walmart zombie/clerk doing the dead minimum work to remain employed, hiding out from the customers, and completely ignorant if you do catch one....those don’t deserve, or expect, tips.

Btw - people do tip garbage men, doormen, mailmen, etc.who perform regular services, usually in a Christmas envelope, if they’re helpful. I make sure to give the boatyard guys who haul my baby out every fall a case of good beer, AFTER they haul it ;-)

Finally, a dock-boy who just hands you a pump won’t earn, or expect, much in the way of tips. The one who asks if you need water, is willing to run for ice, tied you up and is going to shove you off nicely, does....


Matt





Matt

I asked my wife if she’s ever received a tip for helping a customer loading a heavy purchase at West Marine, she thought that was funny as she’s never received a tip in her 23 years with West.
So how does one change their occupation from being a non tipping occupation to one that is expected to receive tips? I’m sure many in the customer service industry would love to know the answer.

[Mike OReilly]

The fact that some of you are now arguing from a perspective of tips performing charity should tell you all you need to about this work environment.

mlydon, you're exactly right; "... if a guy at Walmart, west, or whatever, loaded some heavy purchases in your car for you, they’ve gone ‘ Above and beyond’ and a small token of appreciation for that IS appropriate,"

It certainly is. That's an actual tip; a financial thanks for a worker going above and beyond the normal expectations of the job. That's what a tip used to be, and still is in most parts of the world, and indeed most parts of the American (and Canadian) economies.

The faux-tip some of us are pushing back on is when tipping becomes part of the normal wage of the employee. "Tips" in the restaurant business are not tips as you've outlined them. They are an essential part of the wage of the worker. Not tipping here is depriving the worker of part of their normal wages, or perhaps as you put it, being a "dick."

A dockhand whose job it is to pump fuel is not going "above and beyond" by pumping your fuel. But in the creeping expansion of the faux-tipping economy, employers underpay their workers and customers make up the rest in these fake tips for someone doing the normal job.

If that's the entirety of the transaction then it wouldn't be such a big deal. But as we've already seen here, the difference between a tip and a bribe is thin. And far worse, it puts the workers in far more precarious positions visa vis customers and employers. So this system very quickly opens the door to abuse, as the ample research literature attest to.

No one is arguing against the practice of actual tipping (i.e. for service that goes "well and beyond" normal expectations). It is this ever-expanding faux-tipping which is the problem.

[SailRN]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

... "Tips" in the restaurant business are not tips as you've outlined them. They are an essential part of the wage of the worker. Not tipping here is depriving the worker of part of their normal wages, or perhaps as you put it, being a "dick.".

Just a reminder, the statement below by Mike is not applicable in the U.S.A. as U.S. federal law requires that restaurants must pay all staff, including waitresses waiters, and bartenders at least the minimum wage, and some states require a higher minimum wage be paid.

What the law here allows is to permit the restaurants to offset money for wages out of their pocket to be offset by tips, but if tips plus the restaurant's share is lower than minimum wage, the restaurant MUST make up the difference to ensure a minimum wage from their pockets rather than yours. So if you leave no tip, the staff still gets at least the minimum wage.

So at least here, the tips for charity is for the restaurants, not the workers. And some restaurants take from the tips for their own pockets, or to make up the wages for other staff. Completely legal but reprehensible. Yes, you're giving to the restaurant, not the worker. Think about it.

So if you really want to change the system and get restaurants to pay real wages, then stop paying the restaurant's share of wages out of your pocket. Don't be shamed into paying the restaurant's fair share of wages.

And contact your political officer to have the law changed.

And if I help someone I don't expect a tip, a simple "Thank you!" works for me. If I hire someone I pay them. I donate many volunteer hours to public health and I volunteer with various organizations such as the Salvation Army, Medical Reserve Corps, American Diabetes, Muscular Dystrophy, teaching CPR/AED and first aid, and the Poor Captains Needing Crew Society, etc. And I don't give strangers money, but I may buy them a meal.

[Icarus]

Originally Posted by creekrisen

Just curious. Just got my waste tank pumped out. How much should I have tipped the dock boy who did this for me? It took about 15 minutes. It's a family owned marina so most of his employees are his kids. We are in TN.



Thanks

Roger

10 to 20
Unless your arm are too short.

[flightlead404]

Originally Posted by smj

So how does one change their occupation from being a non tipping occupation to one that is expected to receive tips? I’m sure many in the customer service industry would love to know the answer.

Put a tip jar by the register or get one of those cash register apps that shame you into the tip....so sick of that.

[SailRN]

Originally Posted by flightlead404

Put a tip jar by the register or get one of those cash register apps that shame you into the tip....so sick of that.

I agree, it's extremely annoying to see how every receipt has several suggested amounts.



Suggested Tip: $100 X Power Ball Multiplier _____