As I check out from Subway, a digital display pops up asking for a tip ranging from 10-20%. I indiscreetly click the lowest option and yet my final bill still inflates by a good amount. What was a $10 meal is now $11 and as I walk away from the register, I still feel guilty for clicking the lowest option. Tipping culture has gotten out of hand in the United States due the demand for excessive tips, the stigma around not tipping and the need for businesses to ask for tips whenever possible.
Tipping used to be a generous act usually saved for more formal occasions like a dinner night out at a restaurant. Today, we are asked to tip someone who just put a sandwich in a bag and clicked a few buttons on the register. On top of that, we’re asked to tip for something as small as a pickup order. The amount of different situations asking for tips seems endless.
Tipping in its own nature is not bad, and although many countries are not accustomed to it, it’s a kind act that can be found all across the US. Its use has been abused and is threatening. The United States has built a tradition around tipping and there is now a stigma that surrounds it. Everyone expects you to tip and there’s a certain guilt that comes with not tipping. However, not everyone can afford tips and with the extreme tips companies expect nowadays, it’s even further out of reach financially for some people. Companies are asking for upwards of 30% for a tip and it doesn’t seem to end. Will this tip percentage keep rising or is it time to draw a line?
The food industry is one of the hardest industries to work in and many people count on tips. However, many of these corporations have enough money to raise these employees salaries, yet they expect tips to make up a large portion of their income. A tip no longer feels deserved but it feels mandatory. You can always click no tip but there’s always a fear of being looked down upon by the cashier or the feeling that you did something wrong.
We need to end this reputation tipping has and restore it to where it belongs. It deserves to be a generous act and not something that people expect for the smallest things. Now, everyone should try to tip when they can, but this trend of turning around the kiosk asking for a tip after ordering a drink has to stop. Tipping should continue to be customary for servers at sit-down restaurants that provide good service or events such as those but it needs to take a step back from the current state it’s in.
