Tip Jars

[Misty]

I know it is customary to tip certain people: servers, valets, hairdressers, cabbies, etc; I tip them and tip well, depending on the service. But nowadays it seems like everybody expects a tip.

In just about every coffeehouse, bakery, deli, etc, I enter, there is a tip jar sitting on the counter next to the register. When did it become customary to tip these people? Throw in the fact that I live in San Francisco, the homeless capital of the US, and it seems everyone is hitting me up for spare change.

How much money can the employees make from a tip jar, anyway? Divided among everyone who worked that shift, it can't amount to more than a few dollars each.

The way I see it, if a person wants to get rid of their spare change, they are welcome to dump it in the tip jar (that's probably the theory behind it anyway). I myself feel that unlike other professions where tipping is customary, it is just a way to squeeze a few more dollars out of the customer. Therefore, I refuse to partake.

[Rapscallion]

these people

Ouch. Taken out of context, that looks pretty bad - 'these people' are your fellow forumers. Even in context, it's not pretty.

Be that as it may...

I would imagine that since working behind a counter is not classed as a 'tipped employment' in the same way that waiting is in the US, that it is probably not ingrained in the US culture that tipping is acceptable. However, if it becomes prevalent that such jars are a fact of life, the minimum wage for counter jockeys will drop to $2.18, or whatever it is. I can see people shooting themselves in the foot and earning themselves (and others) a lower base wage.

Rapscallion

[Greenday]

The reason we have tip jars is because we are trying to live off minimum wage or less. At my job doing concession at the racetrack, most people thought we were payed hourly. I laughed at them and told them with salary, it comes out to nearly a miserable five bucks an hour. Even sharing with three other people, I've still walked out with at least thirty bucks. To make 70 bucks in a day, for eight hours, is nice. If people didn't tip, I'd get a pathetic 40 bucks minus taxes. Tips are the only thing that make the job worth it.