Perhaps you’ve noticed. We have reached a tipping point in the country over tipping.
To tip or not to tip has led to Shakespearean soliloquies by customers explaining why they refuse to tip for certain things.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, customers were grateful for those who seemingly risked their safety so we could get groceries, order dinner or anything that made our lives feel normal. A nice tip was the least we could do to show gratitude.
But now that we are out about and back to normal, the custom of tipping for just about everything has somehow remained; and customers are upset.
A new study from Pew Research shows most American adults say tipping is expected in more places than it was five years ago, and there’s no real consensus about how tipping should work.
This seems to be more of a United States issue rather than a Western issue. In Canada, we didn’t start tipping businesses all of a sudden that were never part of tipping culture. We always tipped delivery drivers, and servers, and bartenders, and hairstylists, and uber drivers. I’ve never seen a tip screen on a McDonalds or Wendys or Popeyes debit machine. I’ve never seen a tip screen on a retail debit machine. What the hell is going on in the US with tipping? What changed?
I’m in Europe. I’ve seen tipping pop up in random places in different countries. It’s most definitely not a US issue.