Opinion: Tipping

By Dawson Beard, Skyline Columnist

Tipping was once an act of generosity from patrons to their various service workers in recognition of a job well done. It also gave service workers an incentive to work hard and provide the best service possible. 

Now the tables have turned, or should I say the iPads. In recent years, tipping has evolved and is now seen as a requirement, lest someone wishes to build the reputation of being the jerk who doesn’t tip, and it BETTER be at least 20 percent of the bill they have already paid for that person simply doing their job. 

Tipping practices have gotten so out of control that you cannot go into any establishment without seeing an iPad on the counter guilting you into leaving a tip for the most basic of services. The worst part being that tipping culture has bred extreme entitlement to the point where if you hit “No Tip” on the screen, you are now seen as public enemy number one.  

For example, a friend of mine went to a coffee shop one day and ordered a small, black coffee. All the employee had to do was grab a pot of coffee and pour some into a small cup. My friend was not going to give the barista extra money for such a simple and mundane task, so he hit “no tip” and spun the iPad back to her. She proceeded to throw her hands up and roll her eyes in utter disgust, an action born of the entitlement tipping culture has created. 

The biggest pro-tipping argument I hear is “Dawson, these people aren’t paid enough so they rely on tips!” 

First of all, it is not the job of the customer to pay someone’s salary. That is the employer's job. Second, these people are hardly “relying” on anything, as there are laws on the books that require, at minimum, that tipped workers make Texas’ $7.25 minimum wage when wages and tips are totalled at the end of each pay period. If tipped employees are not making the equivalent of $7.25 or more in any given pay period, the employer is required by law to make up the difference. Either way, the poor, helpless service employees will at least get paid the same minimum wage as non-tipped workers. These employees' earnings are not at the mercy of their patrons, but at the mercy of their choice in occupation. 

The average American has accepted tipping culture and looks down on those who dare to challenge it. I reject the status quo when it comes to tipping, because I find it very difficult to partake in the giving of extra money to someone for simply doing their job. Not only that, but we only tip those who work CERTAIN jobs. Food servers are tipped for bringing you a couple drinks and your plate, but chefs who slave away in a hot kitchen preparing that plate are not; pizza delivery workers are tipped for driving to a house and dropping off a pizza, but the people who work their hands to the bone making those pizzas do not. When we take a look at the big picture, tipping is a highly flawed practice, selective in nature, rewarding certain individuals over others, backed by flimsy, arbitrary reasoning created by our western society.