I might, if I ordered elaborate, laboriously prepared cappucino type coffees, but I only ever order plain black coffee in a coffeehouse. Somehow I don’t think pulling a cup of coffee is tipworthy.
On the other hand, at one cafe near my house the barista brews each cup individually using a vacuum brewing device, which is more involved than just pouring from the urn. It’ also the best coffee I’ve ever tasted, so I do try to tip there, depending on what the change is and/or what I have in my pocket or wallet.
I tip at Dunkin’ Donuts because I used to work at one. We were never allowed to have a tip jar out (and rightly so) because we had some charity thing for people’s change and we didn’t want to compete with that. Every once in a while people would drop off a buck or two… and after the night’s cash was split up we’d sometimes get upwards of 6 bucks on a good busy night (hey, that made me pretty happy).
One time a lady dropped off a couple of lottery tickets, I guess she does that from time to time, according to the other person working with me. Thankfully it was only the two of us working because we won 40 bucks and got to split it.
A friend of mine that works at a McDonald’s told me that she isn’t allowed to accept tips… I don’t know if that’s just that particular franchise or what.
I’m all about tipping, but I think tipping at fast food places is a little over the top. I really don’t see the difference between tipping a cashier at Mcdonalds and tipping a safeway clerk. They’re punching numbers in a cash register, taking your money and giving you change. They’re not making your food, they’re not bringing you your food, they’re not carrying anything for you and their salary does not depend on tips.
Honestly, can someone point out the difference between tipping a cashier at McDonalds and tipping a cashier at Borders?
Here, tip jars are commonplace in most coffee houses and can be found in a smattering of other fast foods. I usually drop some change because I used to work at DQ and the tips used to determine what I’d be buying in the way of groceries.
I’m pretty sure that tips are split, where it is allowed. The guy in the back is working his ass off for not much money. How is he different from, say, the waitress at the diner down the street?
I know he could quit and find another job. But man, if you get a meal that is fresh and fast I think the guy in the back deserves a bit of thanks just as much as that waitress.
The difference is that minimum wage for tipped employees (the waitress down the street) is significantly lower than theminimum wage for non-tipped emplyees (the fast food worker.)
In Wisconsin I think it is currently
Tipped MW - $2.33/hr
Non-Tipped MW = $5.70/hr (moving up to $6.50/hr in June 2007)
Depends on the state. Here in Nevada, it’s $5.15, regardless of tips, and is going up to $6.15. Under federal law they can make less than minimum wage so long as they make at least minimum wage in tips to make up for it.
But it does depend on the state. Here in Nevada you wouldn’t find someone working for less than $5.15 ever, but that doesn’t mean much - it’s still shitty pay.
I wasn’t sure if this would come up so I just left it alone to keep from confusing laws state to state, but in those states that do allow the lower than minimum wage have waitresses whom at a busy time of day will make more than $3 in tips. Signifigantly more than $3 in tips. In a really dead time, maybe only that. And that is based upon the effort they put forth in a service they do.
And in effect that service is moving plates the twenty feet from the kitchen to your table, asking if you need more coffee poured into your cup once or twice, and taking your plates back before wiping the table. Hell, they don’t even have to wash the dishes. But you tip them. Why? Because they are doing you a service. One that someone up above decided that, although necessary in our society, would recieve jack all for compensation.
The guy behind the counter at your local burger joint (and the guy back in the kitchen trying to keep up with the drive-thru and the counter when everyone wanted their order 30 seconds before they ordered it) don’t get that 15 percent if they do an awesome job. Hell, they don’t even get the pocket change of the guy who says “Wow, that was fast!”
Okay, I’ve never worked as a waitress, but I have worked in fast food, and I do think its fair to say that, in general, waiting tables demands more customer service skills than working at fast food. I also think its fair to say that waitstaff jobs are more likely to ask for previous experience. So, given that, it seems reasonable that waiting tables would pay more (after tips) than fast food. Maybe someone who has had both jobs could tell me if they disagree or not?
Please note that I’m not saying that people who work at McDonalds don’t have people skills or work experience, I’m saying that its not as much of a requirement for them to get the job, relative to being a waitress.
In my experience, it depends on the place. Obviously, fast food restaurants as a whole don’t need a lot of previous experience, but a good chunk of restaurants don’t need it either - I know for a fact that at three of the restaurants my sister worked at, the abilities to write legibly and balance something in your hand were the ONLY qualifications for being a waitress. They were still decent places, but they were about as picky as McDonalds with staff.
Yeah. Jack-In-The-Box is pretty much the only place serving food when I get off work so I actually got to know the guys there pretty well.
Unfortunately, how much of a difference would a $1-$2 tip MAKE? Will increase the price of your food by 60% and will hardly make a difference. I did it once after an especially good night at work then never did again. I just say thank you and drive off.
If I spend a 5 at Dunkin’ donuts on a 3 dollar meal I’ll leave the extra 2 bucks if the service was good. If it took a long time, I won’t. If I don’t really think I can spare the extra buck fifty or two bucks I won’t. Sometimes I’ll leave a buck if I don’t feel like I have quite enough change in the car for stuff I need.
When I worked there a few years ago we had enough regulars leaving change (and a couple that each day would leave a buck or two) that we would, on a busy night, get the equivilant of an hour of work or so more out of an 8 hour shift.
Most people did not know we even accepted them, as most fast food joints don’t (I mentioned above why we don’t advertise this fact).
I do the same for the gas station attendants who pump gas. I was one for some of high school. You think that extra dime a gallon goes to pay the gas kid’s “extra” money? Hell no! That goes to pay their minimum wage. If the boss were to make a bit extra he’d keep it (though that wouldn’t really happen, most people went to self serve, but having the extra dime took a bite out of paying an already low paid employee for working a register). An extra 3 or 4 bucks at the end of the night when you’re outside at the beginning of January (zero degrees F or so) pumping gas every 5 to 10 minutes (again, most people didn’t tip, so even being the one worker tips didn’t add up to a whole lot). Tip your gas guy. Hell, 50 cents was nice to add to the bit of change in your pocket when you’re making minimum wage.
I went somewhere once - I cannot for the LIFE of me remember where - where you had to have your gas pumped because of a law of some sort. I think it might have been New Jersey.
Anyway, even though I had never, ever had non-self-service gas before in my life, I still tipped the guy a couple bucks. I thought that was proper protocol. Am I wrong?
I don’t know. I never really talked with too many people about it. All I know is that most people didn’t where I am (NY, where self service is the norm). I can only think of maybe 2 places that offer it within fifty or so miles, but I usually would go to the same places anyway (self service), so I may be wrong. Its just not at all common here for full service to be offered. Perhaps that’s why not too many people tipped.
A funny story… I was at a local gas station buying a newspaper. I ran into a friend I hadn’'t seen in some time outside the door and stopped to talk for a moment. An elderly woman pulled into the self service pump (there was no full service) and honked her horn. Myself and my friend looked over then looked back at each other, a :dubious: then a shrug. Continued conversation.
A minute later, another honk. My friend went in to pick up whatever he came to the store for and I started to walk away. Another honk. Hm, ok… I walked past her car on the way back and she rolled down the window and said “Fill it up, please.” So I did, chuckling to myself and thinking back to a few years before when I used to do this every day. It came to something and 40 cents. She paid me with something and fifty cents and told me to keep the change and to have a good day. I went inside and paid for her gas, dropping the dime in the give a penny, take a penny dish while starting to tell the cashier of the story. He was chuckling himself, saying he saw the whole thing and that she comes there from time to time and because of her mobility he would go pump her gas if there wasn’t anyone in the store.
That doesn’t have too much to do with the theme, but I thought it amusing. Anyway, sorry to distract from the OP’s topic.
Well, the only place I ever worked with a tip cup the staff wasn’t allowed to keep the tips. It was for when your drawer was short by a few cents (or dollars as some employees tended to be) but if you were caught actually taking a tip from the tip jar you got written up. There were always a lot more tips than necessary to cover shortages though, so I think that my manager was pocketing a lot of extra cash for no effort.
It’s presumptuous. It’s a clear attempt to rewrite “the rules” on the fly for personal gain. The presence of a tip jar at a normally untipped establishment, despite any honest intentions, strongly suggests that the tip is, in fact, obligatory for even a basic level of service.
Heck, I worked in the tip system for a good while … still don’t like “tip creep”.
