Got tipping rage? This barista reveals what it's like to be behind the tip screen ( www.npr.org )

Excerpt from the article:

Schenker says that after his years in the service industry, he has watched tipping evolve into a major part of his pay.

“If there is some means of tipping that’s available to you, that should signal to you that workers there aren’t being paid enough,” says Schenker. “Tipping is sort of an acknowledgment of that fact.”

To Schenker, customers who don’t tip are not understanding that businesses treat tips as a baked-in part of workers’ wages.

“They subsidize lower prices by paying employees less,” he says. “If you aren’t tipping, you are taking advantage of that labor.”

He was so close… Especially for someone who says himself does not make much money.

vittoria666 ,

I only get about $60 at a time. When my aunt takes me out to eat, I may have spent some of the money and also have some to spend after. I can’t really afford to tip.

Scew ,
@Scew@lemmy.world avatar

spoilerThen you can’t really afford to eat out because you’re robbing someone for their services…

PlanetOfOrd ,

With inflation happening across the economy, businesses have been dealing with rising costs for years. At the same time, there’s a lot of pressure to keep prices low for increasingly price-conscious customers.

Yup, pretty much.

A business is there to make money. Obviously, businesses that pay employees better have lower turnover and higher employee satisfaction. But what do you do if the price of keeping the lights on goes up? You can either increase prices, which will see fewer customers, but keep in mind that customers will just go to a coffee shop that’s cheaper. So the better option is to keep the prices the same and lower employee wages.

Business are feeling the pressure of our failing economy. Are some being jerks about it? You bet. I even worked for some. But I believe in a truly wealth-equal economy people are so well off jerk employers are just ignored.

But most people currently don’t have that choice. Quit an employer and you have a 50/50 chance of getting a job within a few weeks or ending up on the streets.

But I believe we can get to a more sustainable economy. It might take a lot of effort, but I believe we can get there!

hahattpro ,

Tipping is a way customers sponsoring greedy capitalist ability to pay below minimum wage.

In my country, people usually don’t tip. They only tip in some special service, such as sex workers.

SCB ,

Being tipped is a way to make vastly more than you would ordinarily make per hour.

You can always tell the people who haven’t worked for tips lol

reddit_sux ,

Customer pays for the wages of the server when he pays the bill period.

Compactor9679 ,

And why whould I take the slack? You made a deal on how much you will get paied… Is it too little? Negociate… Dont ask for charity

DrTautology ,

Unfucking believable. Not a single mention of the actual problem in that article. Not a single mention of who is to blame.

Moghul ,

Humans are dumb as fuck. Reddit was full of people mad at moderators for protesting Reddit’s api changes just a few weeks ago.

Rakonat ,

Dollars to donuts most of those were probably bots

Moghul ,

Nah, people are absolutely dumb enough to call the mods childish losers for standing up for themselves.

PlanetOfOrd ,

What is the actual problem that’s not mentioned?

DrTautology , (edited )

Billion dollar companies can pay their employees $2 an hour…

PlanetOfOrd ,

Why do you think they do this?

DrTautology ,

Because they’re greedy and it’s legal…

SCB ,

No it’s because customers are happier this way and the service staff makes more than they would otherwise, in a way that responds to inflationary pressures.

DrTautology ,

Not only is this untrue, but it is disingenuous. I suggest you do more research about tipping and service wages in general.

SCB ,

It is absolutely true and I worked as a server for a decade, and still have friends working tipped jobs.

CoderKat ,

I disagree that customers are happier. People constantly complain about tipping. Those people are clearly not happy. Much of the world doesn’t do the tipping model, so it doesn’t seem like it is worthwhile for quality of service.

I do agree that staff are happier because they on average would make more (at least more than the paltry minimum wage most states have). But it comes at the cost of taking advantage of customers (basically trying to guilt trip them into paying more). I don’t support such business practices. Not to mention it’s not actually fair pay. You’re not actually being paid for quality of service. You’re paid for how much they like you, which leads to racial and gender pay disparities.

And the real winner? The business that gets to pay pennies to wait staff. They could incorporate the average tip into their prices and maintain the same pay. But they don’t want to. They want to advertise low prices so that they can get the full value from low tippers. They often even outright push mandatory tipping with auto gratuities, which is peak sleazeball behavior.

SCB ,

People only complain about tipping online. In the real world, that doesn’t happen.

Crisps ,

Tipping a barista while paying would almost always mean tipping BEFORE the service is rendered. This is not a tip, it is just an added fee.

Chocrates ,

True but other than sit down restaurants where do you tip after the service is rendered? I agree that it is just an added fee and we are just subsidizing capitalists.

I don’t know how to fix it though. Not tipping does nothing but hurt the workers.

wagesj45 ,
@wagesj45@kbin.social avatar

At some point the responsibility falls on the workers to unionize. I'm aware that is painful. It is also the only true answer because if we wait on the corporate overlords to benevolently raise wages to an acceptable living standard and disband tipping, we'll be waiting forever.

Crisps ,

Barbers, taxis and full service restaurants. Aka the only places you tipped 10 years ago.

Bazzatron ,

Honestly - I can’t see any way but this.

If those jobs no longer pay enough to survive, nobody will take them on, and the capitalist will have to adapt or die.

This is something the government should be protecting workers against, but people are so scared to even unionise, it’s tragic.

Eladarling ,

Hair salons, nail salons, valet, dog grooming, any sort of contract work around your house like lawnmowing, bars…

Chocrates ,

Oof really good examples.

Crisps ,

Nobody tips lawn mowers and contractors!

PlanetOfOrd ,

When I was well off I’d try to tip everyone who did even a half-decent job. Gas station attendants, grocery store workers, doesn’t matter…unless they refused as part of their work rules (some are like that) I would try to tip them.

yata ,

Not tipping does nothing but hurt the workers.

A business which can’t afford to pay their workers a livable wage doesn’t deserve to exist. If people stopped paying tips then that work no longer provides a livable wage and it becomes difficult for employers to find employees.

In the end they may even decide to pay their employees a livable wage. Some businesses have already done so.

darkseer ,

They’re called tips because tips have certain legal protections, while fees are up to the discretion of the business to give to their employees. Trust me. That delivery fee that you pay Papa Johns goes toward liability insurance, software fees, and other incidentals. None of it goes to the driver. And always pre tip more than 5 dollars if you don’t want to be the last delivery of 3.

Candybar121 ,

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    Eloise ,

    As is your right, still makes you an asshole though. Yeah, it’s fucked up workers aren’t paid enough but that IS the reality of the situation. Tipping at this point is like flushing the toilet - technically optional but not doing it is pretty shitty.

    Candybar121 , (edited )

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    darkseer ,

    That’s not true. I’ve heard accounts of early servers who only made money off of tips and were expected to pay the restaurant a portion of their tips for the privilege of serving there. In fact the only way to get service was to tip them beforehand and how much you tipped determined the level of service you received. This tip for good service is just a myth that is an excuse to avoid tipping.

    darkseer ,

    As someone who used to live on tips that’s short sighted. The customer will always get the short end of the stick in this type of fight. If everyone refuses to give the employee 20% of the ticket then the business will charge the customer 40% of the ticket and give the employee 15%.

    yata ,

    Blaming the customer for not tipping is the short sighted take. A business which can’t afford to pay its employees a livable wage doesn’t deserve to exist.

    Scew ,
    @Scew@lemmy.world avatar

    Yes but the argument here seems to be that these businesses that shouldn’t exist still have patrons in this thread refusing to tip. Refusing to tip in an institution where it’s already the system AND using their services IS the customer giving a big middle-finger to the service staff. If you don’t agree with tipping in general don’t use those services where people’s livelihoods are already tied to the expectation of a tip. Otherwise you are the asshole.

    KombatWombat ,

    People in the comments seem to think the barista likes supports tipping culture and resents customers who don’t tip, but that’s not the impression I get. He sympathizes with the awkwardness of the position and the tighter budgets people have, but nonetheless relies on tips for the meager amount they provide.

    I hate tips as much as the next guy, but you should not protest by refusing to tip/undertipping in situations where there is a reasonable expectation of a tip. The only one who suffers in such a case is a low-wage worker. Rather, take your business somewhere without tips.

    DrPop ,

    A better way to protect would be to not use those services. It sucks for the employee but the only way to hurry the business is too not use it. Other is advocating for the minimum wage to go up but with our current Congress that’s important.

    ChexMax ,

    I think some of the issues people are having is that it’s not clear where there is a reasonable expectation to tip. Sit down restaurant, yes. Hair dresser, yes. Dunkin donuts? They just turned around and gave me something that was already made. Do I need to tip on that? A pickup order? It seems like yes, but when I get Uber eats, I’m only tipping the driver, and that’s still a pickup order. The convenience store where I bring everything I want up to the counter? Because the tipping prompt comes up there. I’m not sure where there is a reasonable expectation anymore and it’s making me feel less financially able to be generous overall.

    little_hoarse ,
    @little_hoarse@sh.itjust.works avatar

    Stop making the customers pay your workers. They’re not our responsibility

    golamas1999 ,

    I would feel less offended if on every bill they would just raise the price my 20% and give that to the workers.

    Nemo ,

    If they raised the prices 20%, most of that’s not going to the workers. You know it and I know it.

    Devccoon ,
    @Devccoon@lemmy.world avatar

    They effectively have, via tipping. And the employer pays less so ultimately the employee gets screwed no matter what.

    The fact they look to us as the problem and not their employers just tells me the scheme is working. Count the money, twirl the moustache and pet the evil lap cat, villains of the world. You’ve won as always, and the downtrodden are still too busy infighting over scraps to realize whose boot they’re under.

    darkseer ,

    Try greater than 40%. A tip is for service provided directly to you. If the employer increases the servers wages by 20% then that’s every hour they work and there may not be any customers for some of the servers shift.

    qball ,
    @qball@kbin.social avatar

    Recognizing that the act of asking for an unsolicited tip as a requisite part of buying a coffee is making both customers and himself uncomfortable, acknowledging that his take home pay is so abysmally low that he depends on tips to make a living, and then after all of that, blaming the customer as the primary problem for not being willing to tip in the current economy/environment, is like making a 95 yard run and then tripping over your own shoelaces at the endzone.

    Frog-Brawler ,
    @Frog-Brawler@kbin.social avatar

    Sometimes you need to burn some clock before getting the TD. I understand what you’re getting at with your analogy, but felt like being slightly ornery for my own amusement. 😏

    fearout ,
    @fearout@kbin.social avatar

    I like the way Europe handles tipping. A lot of the restaurants generally add a fixed service charge (most often it’s about €3 per person), and that’s kinda it. It’s common to leave a couple of euros extra, but nothing too drastic. Huge tips are not expected, and like half of the machines don’t even support the tipping function (more common in France/Italy, for example, while countries like Greece are more likely to have tipping enabled).

    There might be a bit more pressure to tip in more touristy city center places, but you’re better off avoiding those in general anyway. Smaller local restaurants are way better.

    Furthermore, tipping isn’t expected outside of restaurants/deliveries at all. The amount of jobs that seem to require tipping in the US is insane. Like guys, just put it in the bill and tell me the price.

    hypna ,

    I feel for this guy having to make a living with the meager pay of a barista, but setting the minimum wage to a livable level and pegging it to inflation is a much better solution. Hell, throw in some single-payer, universal healthcare, and take that item off everyone’s personal budget while we’re at it.

    lildictator ,

    > throw in some single-payer, universal healthcare

    When you do that, don’t forget to include coverage for the stuff around your head: dental care, eyeglasses and mental health. Many countries forgot to include coverage for these things and it is a shitshow.

    Nougat ,

    selfawarewolves

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