I don't tip baristas.

The title says it all; why should I tip the person that takes 15 seconds to press two buttons on a machine and pour the results into a cup?

I really resent our “tip-crazy” culture to begin with, with bizarre laws allowing employers to pay waitstaff $2 an hour, effectively forcing the customer to pay their wages in addition to the price of food. That’s bad enough, but social mores have moved toward tipping 20% as a bare minimum; I attempted to leave only 15 recently (for poor service, at that!) and was lambasted by my dining companions.

The barista thing is the final straw. We don’t tip fast food workers, who work their asess off in miserable conditions, and we don’t tip employees of grocery stores or retail stores for their hard work. Why should we tip baristas, who are doing a fraction of the work in comparatively plush conditions?

I just don’t buy it. I was never tipped for working my ass off to wrestle a 300 lb. TV out of the storeroom at Wal-Mart and loading it into a customer’s car. I was never tipped for sweltering in front of hot frying machines and heat lamps, working at a panic-level pace for hours on end just to barely stay caught up when I worked in fast food.

Why should the barista, who leisurely presses two buttons on a machine, get a tip?

Been there, done that.

:wink:

I can see the justification for tipping baristas when they make those elaborate drinks involving several ingredients and heart-shaped swirls on top. But if it’s just pressing a button and filling a cup with black coffee, maybe not so much.

I rarely tip them either, if the major point of tipping is that certain groups are paid less in expectation of tips, why tip those not in that group? It makes as much sense to tip a minimum wage barista as it does to tip the minimum wage cashier at the drugstore, the receptionist at the vet’s office, the counter jockey at 7-11, etc.

However, if they’re cute and flirt well, sure, then I tip. :smiley:

I usually go to Starbucks and get a mocha frappachino. I’d say every third visit I put a dollar in the tip jar, otherwise it’s just the change from my order.

Pardon my ignorance, but what the hell is a barista? Some kind of bartender or something?

Barista

Thanks, astro. I must really be out of it. I have no idea how I’ve managed to avoid ever hearing that term before. I always just called them “coffee dudes.”

The term most people use is “clerks.” Working in a coffee joint is about as hard as working in a convenience store and about as professional and I don’t tip them, either.

Well, that’s not entirely true. If I end up with small coins, I’ll toss those in.

If you want real tips, become an actual waiter. Now, that’s a job that deserves tips.

I should note: the place I go to usually has my coffee ready for me (just the way I like it, no whip, extra pump of chocolate) when they see me at the door, they refer to me by name, etc. I tip them because they go above and beyond (to a degree :)) for me, but- even then- it is every so often.

Given the nature of the job, it can hardly be said that Starbucks baristas are poorly paid, either. In the Bay Area, they’re paid well above the prevailing wage for resturant / retail workers (which is of course already much higher than federal / state minumums). They get good benefits including health care if they work more than 30 hours per week.

In general, though I only someone who comes to take my order after I’m seated, brings me my order, and ensures that I’m satisfied. This most definitely excludes people who never come out from behind the counter while they’re serving me. I don’t tip in places where you order at the counter but someone brings the food to your table either unless the service goes beyond that.

I tip “baristas” the same amount I tip the cashier at McDonalds: 0%

Waiters, bartenders, cab drivers and pizza deliverers: at least 20%

Movers: $20 each

I was told they pool it at the end of the night and buy beer with it; ergo, I contribute a buck or so if I have it, just b/c I believe in sponsoring beer. :smiley:

I don’t tip baristas either.

Lawyers make far too much money as it is.

sorry - somebody had to do it

:Groan:

I never tip anyone - living in London, nobody expects a tip except maybe taxi drivers and hairdressers but I never take taxis and have no hair to dress.

And I never refer to anyone by their poncy professional title. Who’s the bloke at the controls of your aeroplane? The driver. At the helm of your ocean liner? The driver. Selling you a cup of black liquid at 5,000 degrees that tastes like muck? The bloke behind the counter.

The tipping culture in the US is bizarre in the extreme, to those of us who haven’t grown up with it. London has more of a tipping culture than the rest of the UK, since I moved here I’ve got into the habit of always tipping waiters and taxi drivers - before I’d only do that if I’d particularly good service. Even then, it’s only really waiters in restaurants - it’d be unusual to tip a waiter in a cafe or coffee shop. You’re not expected to tip bar staff in the UK, although it’s common to offer to buy them a drink, especially if you’re ordering a large round. Other than that, the only people I tip are hairdressers - and I always do, even if I hate what they’ve done to my hair, because they terrify me!

The baristas at my Starbucks get my change, because they’re young and cute and I don’t want to carry the change around. Also, they see me regularly and sometimes have my Mocha no-whip ready when I arrive. But mostly because they’re young and cute and it makes me happy to do so.

I gave the guys who delivered and installed our new washer and dryer $20 a couple weeks ago. The guy I gave it to said “you don’t have to do that, sir,” and I replied “I know, but you went above and beyond and I want you to know I appreciate it.” (I didn’t have the correct fitting for the gass hookup, and he scrounged one out of his truck. According to the rules, he coulda/shoulda left it unhooked and gone on to the next job). He took the twenty without further argument, and we both were happy.

Amen.

I don’t tip 'em, and I’m not going to use a pretentious title to describe their job.

Denver ran a radio ad for some blue collar beer a while back. Had that deep, Chevytruck announcer guy voice detailing the thankless misery of the barista who overcomes adversity to soldier on…it ends with, “Sure, you charge $5 for a cup of coffee. But that tip jar, now that takes guts!”