A Little Tip

I'm going to talk about a sensitive topic.
I know this topic can get people all riled up - tipping.
I also know most don't agree with me.

Tipping is a very American thing. It is not done in Europe even remotely as much as here.
I had a boss from Ireland that would get so upset about having to tip someone who wasn't a server.
The man who drives the hotel shuttle to the airport drove him bat shit crazy. 
He would say to me, "why are you tipping him to do his job?"   
I feel the exact same way as he does but if you said that out loud you are looked upon as a cheap bastard or worse. So I tip out of obligation when it is someone other than a server.  
He simply refused. 
One day he said to me, "Are your customers tipping you when you do your job well?" 
Excellent point. 

I hate tipping hairdressers. Here is how I feel about that. When I lived in Cleveland Ohio I went to a salon that had a sign that said, "No tipping. We are professionals, do you tip your dentist?"
EXACTLY what I used to say and it was actually a bit comforting to see it in large print on a sign.  I got a great color and cut and I never paid more than the cost of the services. 

I had a stylist who has since moved from this area. She became a friend. She traveled the world, lived in a beautiful home, drove a very expensive car and was single and childless. She carved a nice world for herself. She was happy and she was very good at what she did.  One night before leaving town we went out for drinks. Somehow it came out that she made 150K+ a year doing hair (some years more she said) and about 25K-30K of that was tips. 

Again why should someone who makes 125 a year be given tips? She is making a living wage.
Servers make $2.00/hr and depend on tipping to survive.
Does someone making 125K a year need to get tips?
She went to school and is a professional.  I agree with the sign, my dentist does a great job not making me feel pain so should I tip him? When my gyno warmers up her instruments should I tip her as a thank you? Not gonna happen from me anyway.

I don't tip baristas any more than I would tip the clerk at the grocery store who checks me out. Just because the barista makes my coffee my way for me and is pleasant, it is their damn job to do that exactly and with a smile. When the grocery check out girl asks me if I want paper or plastic and bags my groceries well I do not tip. Should I? 

In America we are expected to tip the people who deliver our paper, our mail person, our hair cutters, our taxi drivers, our drivers of any kind, anyone who touches our luggage during travel, the valet, the concierge. On a cruise you tip a good portion of your stay, it's crazy. Everyone expects tips. I do it, but I hate it.I feel obligated so most of these things I do.
So will they not be nice to me because I don't tip them for doing the job they were hired for? Oh well, I take my chances. 

So you can see when I tip sometimes it is not given in the spirit it should be given in. 
I honestly feel like my hairdresser, while good, should not get tips. 
I don't think the barista at Starbucks should get tips for doing her job anymore than the zit faced kid at the fryer giving me fries from McDonalds should get a tip. 
It. is. your. job.period. 

Now I have tipped those packing up my house on a hot and humid day to move me across the country. Normally I buy food and give them pop and water. When they have gone above and beyond I have been know to say a thank you with a $20 a piece. So I am not a total scrooge. But overall I hate that we are a society that requires us to tip every damn person we come across anymore. And more than that I hate that people get so upset if they aren't tipped if they are not a server.

I gave a customer something for free and worked my ass off calling other customers to move their appointments so that she could get this job done before closing. Should I have gotten a tip? In our society people seem to act like I should. No that is my damn job.

Now please understand that I feel strongly that servers should be tipped. As I said earlier they only make $2.00 an hour. We should just pay them a living wage but they don't so tipping is required. 

You would think since I hate tipping I would not tip well. It really is the exact opposite. 
I was a server so I am very generous there. I tip my hairdresser so she doesn't make my hair fall out. I tip her generously as well more than 20%. I tip the taxi driver who isn't going to kill me driving like a lunatic and isn't on the phone. This past weekend we took turns paying for the taxi's. My friend who makes 7 figures tips $1.00. That rather embarrasses me. I make far far far less and I tipped them all very generously. 

I remember when I went to travel school way back in the stone age we learned who to tip and what were acceptable amounts. (the maid, the valet, cruises, tour guides etc) And is there anything more annoying than a tour guide putting his hand out? I find that so offensive. I was on a tour bus either in NYC or Chicago when at the end of the tour the guide said you can tip me as you are leaving as she held out her hand.  I found that ballsy, let alone in bad taste. I hate hate hate being quilted into tipping. I should have had the balls to walk by and slap her hand on the way out like a high five and give her nothing. But chicken shit me didn't. 

My Grandmother owned a hotel or two in our tourist town where I grew up. 
In the summertime when a cleaning woman didn't show up at the hotel to work guess who my Grandmother called to help her out and to clean rooms? Yep, moi. 
I saw some disgusting things and disgusting people and nary a tip. (first time I had ever seen a condom too! Hanging from the bed post, used - that's another story for another day)

So imagine my surprise when at 18 yrs old I learned that people should be tipping their hotel maids. I came home from school and told my Grandmother,"hey I never got a tip" and she laughed. She said most don't do it but it is still your job to clean the rooms to the best of your ability so the next guest has a nice room. And she's right it was my job on any given day I was called. But you know what? I never even got paid. I got feed, but I didn't get paid. I was helping my grandmother out. Besides she spoiled me rotten in other ways. My parents would have had a fit if she paid me.

Am I really the only person in America who feels we tip too damn much for people who are just doing their job?

Have you been given a tip today?