I just read a blog posting in which the author was whining about the lack of tipping at a restaurant they worked at. The author quit because some of the customers were allegedly too cheap to tip.
This is not the first time I have heard such a notion, almost always from people who work in the food services industry. My gut reaction: tipping is a load of crap. Quit your bellyaching.
Oh, they work hard. It's long hours on your feet. There's a fast pace. The base wage is usually minimum wage. It's expected. The person was there for hours, and they only drank water. They're underappreciated.
Crap, crap, crap.
Let's apply the same expectation to tip line of reasoning to other industries:
Retail - grocery - A clerk at the till is on her feet all day long, serving irate customers who are lined up six deep because the store either cannot find additional staff to open more tills, or are too cheap to do so. Does she ever have an expectation of a tip? Nope.
Service - gas station - A Gas pump jockey gets minimum wage to freeze his arse off, standing all day, in -32 C weather plus a wind chill. People are snarky if their oil isn't checked, or all the windows aren't cleaned, even though there are cars at all 12 pumps, and only two people pumping gas. Does he get tips? Negative.
Services - hotel - Some poor (literally) person has to clean up your soiled underwear, barf and beer after whooping it up in the hotel room last night. Do you lay out a few dollars on the desk for the cleaning staff? Heck no! If a dollar is missing from the table, the cleaning lady is fired.
Industry - oilpatch or mining - Your life can be extinguished at any time due to equipment failure, idiocy, fatigue or any number of ways. While the wages are generally good, do they get tips? Are you kidding?
Medical support services - When was the last time the food services staff got a tip, for doing the exact same job as a waitress? Oh, they get union wages and benefits, you say. Except the food services staff doesn't get to wear tight black clothes, flirt with the guys, and pocket $50 to $200 or more (as a bar waitress) a night in undeclared income. Don't tell me it doesn't happen, because I know people who were quite attractive and got a lot more than that a night, slinging beers.
Retail - merchandising staff - When was the last time you tipped the guy who brought all the carts into the store during the middle of a blizzard? I've been that guy, pushing carts at Christmas time with four inches of snow on the ground. Not easy to do, when you only weigh 145 pounds. Plus the manager is on your back because the store is short on carts, your aisle hasn't been restocked yet and you have a price check every three minutes.
Truckers - They work 18-20 hours a day, sleep highly irregular hours in the cab of a truck, yet can be working for almost nothing after truck expenses and fuel bills. Or they might not be getting enough miles to make a profit due to a slowdown in the economy. Added bonus: odds are, if you are a career long haul trucker, some idiot will pull out in front of you and you will smear them across the pavement under your rig. You get nightmares for life, and they get a pine box. Did you tip the trucker at the loading dock for bringing the food to the back of the restaurant? Har-dee-har-har!
Police - Why thank you Mr. Officer for working your fourth night shift in a row, clearing out bar brawls and responding to domestic disputes. I so appreciate your services, I would like to put this $50 bill in your pocket, "to improve service."
Military - An infantry soldier puts his life on the line 24/7 through two tours of Afghanistan. Did someone pass him a 15 per cent gratuity when he got his leg blown off?
What the food services need to do is pay fair wages and benefits to begin with, build it into their prices, and scrap this idea of implied, expected or automatic gratuities. No one else in this world gets tips, so stop crying to me about it, or expecting me to pay it.
Brian Zinchuk is editor of Pipeline News. He can be reached at brian.zinchuk@sasktel.net
