# Tipping the "to-go" person **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 21, 2005, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-the-to-go-person/322655 "2005-09-21T03:22:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![The\_New\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@The\_New\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_New_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-the-to-go-person/322655/61 "2005-09-25T01:33:23Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > I think the issue is that this person is not getting paid for you ‘the customer’ (since no tip) therefore they don’t really want to serve you. It is sort of a bad attitude which has been created by the tipping system (not their fault) No, I understand what the issue is. What I pointed out was that “working for free” is not an accurate description of that issue. If Audrey wants to say “working for less” or “working for no tip”, I wouldn’t object. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-the-to-go-person/322655/62 "2005-09-25T10:01:30Z")
> [@The New Guy](#): > > I don’t see how “not getting a tip” = “working for free”. AFAIK, all legal jobs pay an hourly wage. You may be making _less_, but you’re not working for free. I got paid, as do most tipped jobs, $2.13 an hour. This is paid on the assumption that I will get tipped, as no reasonable person will work for two bucks an hour minus taxes on sales rung in. So whether you’d care to believe it or not, “not getting a tip” DOES equal “working for free” in the minds of anybody who works in the service industry. The paycheck on that two bucks an hour pretty much covers taxes. The reason that $2.13 is legal is b/c the government assumes you will get tipped for your labor. In fact, if you have lots more sales than tips, you end up owing taxes on it, which means it cost you to serve certain people. > [@The New Guy](#): > > You don’t mind if I express my opinion that taking a tip _before_ the service is given defeats the entire purpose of having a system of tipping, do you? No, not at all. Feel free. I don’t care about “the system.” I care about getting paid. > [@The New Guy](#): > > Well, no, if your boss isn’t paying a realistic wage, it would be YOUR responsibility to bring it up with him. The customers don’t know how much you get paid. And like I said, I don’t care what the customers know. I’m not going to educate every single customer I have. And my boss was aware of the fact that half the people who order to-go don’t tip. He didn’t care. Why should I? Should I put on my Super Employee Cape and go out on a limb-for-free? Would you? > [@The New Guy](#): > > Look, if you deliberately perform a given task _faster_ when you have been ‘bribed’, as you called it, then logically, you are performing the task _slower_ when you have not been ‘bribed’. We can argue semantics as to what “deliberate” means, but it doesn’t change the facts. I never argued the facts. I go to work to make money; if I had nothing better to do, if the bar was slow, I got a to-go order as fast as it hit the deck. I wanted to get rid of them as quickly as possible so that in case I got busy, I wouldn’t have to deal with them. If I was making money elsewhere, I got to it when I could, unless they tipped me. I didn’t care what to-go people thought of my service; THEY DIDN’T PAY FOR IT. They paid for their food, and they got their food. That’s all they paid for. > [@The New Guy](#): > > I’m not saying you’re a bad person for doing it. I’ll admit I do some things at work that aren’t really ethical; for example, browsing message boards. 😉 But I’m not gonna sit here and tell you I’m proud of it. I’m not arguing ethics here; to me that’s not even a question. They paid for their food and they got their food. How quickly they got it was the difference; if I gave them extra stuff (more bread, extra toppings, more condiments, etc.) was the difference. If someone waited fifteen minutes vs. thirty for their food is not, to me, an ethical issue; my bills don’t get paid on ethics. They get paid with cash, the same way I do. And if you’re debating this while you’re at work, your entire posting history in this thread is a straw man. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MizGrand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cdc98d/32.png) [@MizGrand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizGrand)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-the-to-go-person/322655/63 "2005-09-25T11:24:12Z")
This thread is a trainwreck. I do not and **will not ever** tip on a to-go order that I’ve driven across town to pick up. Like others mentioned, I believe that a to-go order is inherently less physical work than waiting on me at a table. Puh-leaze, you’re complaining about having to put little packets into a bag? For FREE? That’s certainly easier than picking up after my four y/o has trashed the table (which I clean up to the best of my ability prior to leaving). C’mon. Does the feeling of entitlement ever end? ---
**Author:** ![AndyPolley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@AndyPolley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyPolley)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-the-to-go-person/322655/64 "2005-09-25T13:36:06Z")
I tip for take out orders, but usually it’s not as much as when I sit down. In the 10-15% area. My first reaction to the arguments made by **even sven** & **Audrey Levins** was “Get over it, do your job.” I thought about it for a few minutes, and changed my mind. I remembered my not-to-distant past of bartending. While tending the bar, it became pretty easy to divert attention to the customers who you know were going to be dropping more cash from the leeches who stuck you with a fifty cent tip the night before. If low-tipping loudmouth had to wait an extra few minutes for his hot wings, it’s his own damn fault. There doesn’t appear to be an incentive for the staff to give attention to the to-go aspect of a restaurant. It seems to me that it’s a company decision designed to make the restaurant more money, without substantially increasing the cost of staffing. Same pay (actually, _less_ pay) and more work. If that creates disgruntled employees, I can understand why. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-the-to-go-person/322655/65 "2005-09-25T13:37:25Z")
> [@RSSchen](#): > > C’mon. Does the feeling of entitlement ever end? Sometimes I wonder if I’m reading the same thread as some people. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-the-to-go-person/322655/66 "2005-09-25T16:20:54Z")
Well, if I would have gotten an order from **Audrey Levins** , I would have been screwed. I _always_ tip to go people (usually 10%ish, depending on size of order. Sometimes up to 30%, assuming they had to do a lot/carry a lot/arrange a lot), _after_ they hand me the food. Heck, I’ve never seen someone tip a to go person before they were handed the food. I don’t tip regular waiters before they take my order, that logic makes no sense. If the to go person has my stuff ready when I get there, it’s correct, and they are pleasant- I’ll tip them. If I have to sit and wait for 15 minutes while they talk with so and so or do whatever (when I called my order in two hours ago), then the tip is certainly going to be downgraded. If I caught on to the fact that **Audrey Levins** was intentionally putting my second or purposely giving me bad service, then he (she?) probably wouldn’t get a tip from me when I got my food. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-the-to-go-person/322655/67 "2005-09-25T16:41:13Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t tip regular waiters before they take my order, that logic makes no sense. Actually it does. Tips use to be paid in advance so you would get better service then the common Joe. That said I never tip in advance because I don’t know what the service is, but then again I might start as a experiment (again not of to-go orders). I still would like to know from the people who work in the industry if the pay is exactly the same including tips and you would be serving the same # of customers would you rather just do table eat in orders or to-go orders? I’m betting of on the to-go orders because though you don’t like to admit it they are easier, faster, and less complaints about the food which has to be redone. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-the-to-go-person/322655/68 "2005-09-25T19:01:18Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > I still would like to know from the people who work in the industry if the pay is exactly the same including tips and you would be serving the same # of customers would you rather just do table eat in orders or to-go orders? Depends on the order. If it’s just a single hot entree, I’d rather have it to go. But if there are drinks, salads, desserts or a lot of sauces to deal with, I’d rather have it sit-down. The whole system is designed to involve putting stuff on plates, so to-go orders really gum up the works and are a pain in the ass. Plus, I enjoy human interaction. ---
**Author:** ![BoringDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@BoringDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoringDad)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-the-to-go-person/322655/69 "2005-09-25T19:39:50Z")
> [@even sven](#): > > Depends on the order. If it’s just a single hot entree, I’d rather have it to go. But if there are drinks, salads, desserts or a lot of sauces to deal with, I’d rather have it sit-down. The whole system is designed to involve putting stuff on plates, so to-go orders really gum up the works and are a pain in the ass. You have mentioned these things time and again in this thread. You are basing your theory on the difficulty of preparing a to-go order on your personal anecdotal data from a restaurant that was obviously very poorly set up to handle to-go orders. Surely there are some restaurants that have the sauces all pre-prepared and sitting there right at a convienient location, don’t sell drinks to go, etc that make the to-go order quite easy. I find **Audrey Levins’** method perfectly acceptable. If she couldn’t fit my order into her schedule on a time frame that I found acceptable, then I simply wouldn’t order carry out from her restaurant anymore, and would mention to my friends who were asked what food they should bring over not to try getting carry-out from there. Eventually perhaps the boss would try to figue out what could be done to increase carry out business which is surely more profitable. That’s how the market works. ---
**Author:** ![The\_New\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@The\_New\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_New_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-the-to-go-person/322655/70 "2005-09-25T19:42:07Z")
> [@Audrey Levins](#): > > I got paid, as do most tipped jobs, $2.13 an hour. Then you’re not working “for free”. Case closed. > [@](#): > > No, not at all. Feel free. Thank you. > [@](#): > > And like I said, I don’t care what the customers know. I’m not going to educate every single customer I have. And my boss was aware of the fact that half the people who order to-go don’t tip. He didn’t care. Why should I? Should I put on my Super Employee Cape and go out on a limb-for-free? Would you? I would do my job. If the terms of my employment were unsatisfactory, I would bring it up with my boss. If my boss refused to treat me fairly, I would quit. I would not punish the customers simply because I was being treated unfairly by the boss. Actually, strike that. I _might_ do that, because I admit I’m as fallible as the next guy. What I would NOT do is brag about it as though I were proud of what I did. > [@](#): > > I didn’t care what to-go people thought of my service; THEY DIDN’T PAY FOR IT. They paid for their food, and they got their food. That’s all they paid for. They paid for HOT food, which they probably didn’t get if you let it sit 'til you got around to it. > [@](#): > > I’m not arguing ethics here; to me that’s not even a question. They paid for their food and they got their food. How quickly they got it was the difference; if I gave them extra stuff (more bread, extra toppings, more condiments, etc.) was the difference. If someone waited fifteen minutes vs. thirty for their food is not, to me, an ethical issue; my bills don’t get paid on ethics. They get paid with cash, the same way I do. Now you’re saying you even went so far as to give them extra stuff for bribing you. IMO, that’s unethical too. The tip went into YOUR pocket, but the extra stuff you gave them came out of the COMPANY’S pocket. > [@](#): > > And if you’re debating this while you’re at work, your entire posting history in this thread is a straw man. 😉 No it’s not, because I already ADMITTED that what I do is unethical. Besides which, it’s the weekend, and I’m not at work. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![The\_New\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@The\_New\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_New_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-the-to-go-person/322655/71 "2005-09-25T19:52:46Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Actually it does. Tips use[sic] to be paid in advance so you would get better service then[sic] the common Joe. Cite? I’m 42, and never in my experience have tips been given in advance. If that were done in the 1960s and earlier, it would be outside my experience, but I somehow doubt it. Since, at a sit-down restaurant, you pay for the food _after_ the meal, how would you even know how much to tip? It’s a percentage of the check, which you don’t have yet before you eat. The only time I’ve ever seen a tip given in advance was as a joke on “3rd Rock From the Sun”, where he puts a stack of $1 bills on the table as the “potential tip”, and begins removing them one by one whenever the waiter displeases him. A tip is supposed to be a reward for good service, not a bribe to prevent _bad_ service. ---
**Author:** ![The\_New\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@The\_New\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_New_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-the-to-go-person/322655/72 "2005-09-25T19:57:09Z")
> [@AndyPolley](#): > > It seems to me that it’s a company decision designed to make the restaurant more money, without substantially increasing the cost of staffing. Same pay (actually, _less_ pay) and more work. If that creates disgruntled employees, I can understand why. I agree. But it seems they’re taking it out on the wrong person. Bad business decisions are not the _customer’s_ fault. ---
**Author:** ![AndyPolley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@AndyPolley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyPolley)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-the-to-go-person/322655/73 "2005-09-25T21:03:11Z")
> [@The New Guy](#): > > But it seems they’re taking it out on the wrong person. Bad business decisions are not the _customer’s_ fault. I agree, but ultimately, it’s the customer who _suffers._ We’re just getting a little behind-the-scenes look at the reasons why. ---
**Author:** ![Large\_Marge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/50afbb/32.png) [@Large\_Marge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Large_Marge)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-the-to-go-person/322655/74 "2005-09-25T21:28:27Z")
> [@BoringDad](#): > > So once again… is this not a failure of managment to properly staff? Because you are overworked by uncaring managment, we owe more money for our food? > > Your forks, napkins, and condiments are not readily at hand and have to be gathered from all across the room and slopped into little containers? Once again, failure of management to set things up properly. I have been to many restaurants where they scoop these things up with one hand as they get out the stapler to close the bag. So your managment screwed you and I have to pay extra? > > If I just order Jamalaya that gets scooped out of a pot, am I still supposed to tip even though all you did was scoop it into a container? > > What if management short staffs the dining room, do I have to tip more than 20% to make up for the short staffing? > > Most people I know get food “to go” because, well, they want to eat somewhere other than the restaurant. It has nothing to do with tips. Your reasoning makes little sense to me. You’re basically saying that the server should pay for the owner/manager’s mistakes or they should get a job elsewhere. This isn’t about one restaurant manager. And this is a theme that isn’t likely to change in the restaurant industry, or any other industry. I called Time-Warner Cable last month with a question about my bill, and after having to push about 47 buttons just to get to the menu I wanted, I was then place on hold for 24 minutes before a surly, underpaid employee answered. When I asked why it took her 24 minutes to answer the phone, guess what she said? “Sorry, we’re short-staffed.” I got the same answer the month before. It wasn’t a temporary problem. Oh, and she wasn’t able to answer my question. It’s happening everywhere. Are you seeing more mistakes in your local newspaper? Wanna take a guess why? A long line at your bank or supermarket? Why don’t they call in more people? When you call the police and it takes them 15 minutes to come, why do you think that is? Yeah, it’s a nationwide problem. Very few companies are paying their employees what they deserve. They also aren’t training them properly to do their jobs. Know why? Cuz it’s CHEAPER. It saves the company gobs of money to not hire adequate staff. So what if the line gets a little longer. If the line is long at EVERY bank, where’s the customer going to go? Training costs money, too, and means time away from work, so if they can get by without it, they will. If you want to punish employees who work for shitty companies, you’ve got a lot of work ahead. ---
**Author:** ![The\_New\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@The\_New\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_New_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-the-to-go-person/322655/75 "2005-09-25T22:00:40Z")
> [@Large Marge](#): > > Your reasoning makes little sense to me. You’re basically saying that the server should pay for the owner/manager’s mistakes or they should get a job elsewhere. Makes _perfect_ sense to me. If you don’t like your job, get another job. I used to work at a cappucino bar. Some people tipped me, and some didn’t. I gave exactly the same service to every customer, i.e. the best and fastest that I was capable of. I appreciated the tips, and I thanked the customers for them, but I did not withhold my best efforts from those who didn’t tip. I deserved more money than I was making. My solution: I got out the classifieds and found a new job. When I quit, my boss begged me to stay, and I told him that he should have appreciated me when he had the chance. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-the-to-go-person/322655/76 "2005-09-25T22:16:00Z")
> [@BoringDad](#): > > You have mentioned these things time and again in this thread. You are basing your theory on the difficulty of preparing a to-go order on your personal anecdotal data from a restaurant that was obviously very poorly set up to handle to-go orders. I’m sorry, I’m not sure of what a better way to answer the question: > [@](#): > > I still would like to know from the people who work in the industry if the pay is exactly the same including tips and you would be serving the same # of customers would you rather just do table eat in orders or to-go orders? than a “personal acedote” based on an actual restraurant. I guess I will have to go search for some empiracle data regarding “what people who work in the industry” think. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-the-to-go-person/322655/77 "2005-09-25T22:21:24Z")
**New Guy,** you are, IIRC, the only person I’ve ever met (online or IRL) who has seriously considered $2.13 an hour to be enough of a wage to be taken seriously. Like I said, _the only reason that $2.13 is legal is b/c the government assumes people getting paid that wage will get tipped on top of it._ It’s a bad call on the part of my ex-boss, and of restaurant managers everywhere, that they’d rather save payroll than pay someone a reasonable wage to do a job (to-go orders) they are very well aware does not pay. (Because trust me, like the manager who posted to this thread, they quite aware that to-go orders are not tipped very well or very often.) However, I have always considered “get a new job!” a very condescending and ignorant response to someone’s job-related problems or complaints. It isn’t always easy to get a new job; bills have to get paid even if, as you say, “my boss refused to treat me fairly.” FTR, I did eventually find a new job (at another bar that doesn’t serve food, thank God!) and I am happy not to work at that restaurant anymore. But it’s not like new jobs grow on trees, and you can just go out and replace your current one whenever you feel like it, the moment you’re unhappy at work. As far as being “proud” of what I did re: to-go orders, perhaps you misunderstood. I didn’t post in this thread to boast about how crappily I took care of to-go orders. I told the truth: if my bar was busy, I took care of the people who were taking care of me, before taking care of those who didn’t. I don’t know if you’ve ever gone to a busy bar, but this is generally the Law Of the Land in any bar I’ve ever worked at or heard of. I find it hard to believe that this is surprising or shocking or even hard to understand. And I’m not even going to take seriously the “unethical” nature of giving away bread and condiments. Like soda refills, they are free; if you spin this around the other way, what on earth would you say to me if you asked me for extra mayo and extra ketchup and I tried to charge you? “Well, sir,” I might say, “the extra stuff you’ve asked for comes out of the company’s pocket, and I consider it unethical to give you more than two ketchup packets without first consulting with the owner of this business. I believe you are trying to convince me to steal for you.” :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-the-to-go-person/322655/78 "2005-09-25T22:44:58Z")
> [@The New Guy](#): > > Makes _perfect_ sense to me. If you don’t like your job, get another job. I have only one reply to that: > **[How hiring destroys the soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=335914)** > > My company is hiring for all shifts. The job? Sucks. The company? Teetering on the brink for the last year. We might have to lay off in a month or so. We lose employees because the job is unstable, and then we need new employees, often people... ---
**Author:** ![The\_New\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@The\_New\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_New_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-the-to-go-person/322655/79 "2005-09-25T23:29:56Z")
> [@Audrey Levins](#): > > **New Guy,** you are, IIRC, the only person I’ve ever met (online or IRL) who has seriously considered $2.13 an hour to be enough of a wage to be taken seriously. Strawman. I NEVER, NEVER, NEVER said “$2.13 an hour is enough of a wage to be taken seriously.” NEVER. All I said was that it’s incorrect to say you’re working “for free” when you’re not. “For free” means you are not getting any money whatsoever. Seriously, look up “free” in the dictionary. This is not that complicated. > [@](#): > > However, I have always considered “get a new job!” a very condescending and ignorant response to someone’s job-related problems or complaints. It isn’t always easy to get a new job; bills have to get paid even if, as you say, “my boss refused to treat me fairly.” So how is giving less service to people who don’t tip, a solution to that? You’re right, that WOULD be a condescending response to someone’s job-related difficulties. But that’s not how the response was given. I gave that response to you deliberately giving less service to people who don’t tip for to-go orders. If there’s a problem with the job, that is not the correct solution. In fact, it isn’t even a solution at all. Had you said, “My boss is treating me unfairly, and I find it very difficult to get a new job”, and had I responded with “Get a new job”, then sure, that would be condescending. But what ACTUALLY happened was, you bragged about giving inferior service to people who don’t tip, and tried to fob it off on the fact that you’re overworked. Well if you’re overworked, it’s not the customers’ fault. > [@](#): > > FTR, I did eventually find a new job (at another bar that doesn’t serve food, thank God!) and I am happy not to work at that restaurant anymore. But it’s not like new jobs grow on trees, and you can just go out and replace your current one whenever you feel like it, the moment you’re unhappy at work. That’s certainly true; but again, does giving inferior service to certain customers solve that problem? > [@](#): > > And I’m not even going to take seriously the “unethical” nature of giving away bread and condiments. Like soda refills, they are free; if you spin this around the other way, what on earth would you say to me if you asked me for extra mayo and extra ketchup and I tried to charge you? “Well, sir,” I might say, “the extra stuff you’ve asked for comes out of the company’s pocket, and I consider it unethical to give you more than two ketchup packets without first consulting with the owner of this business. I believe you are trying to convince me to steal for you.” But you _weren’t_ just giving it to people who asked for it; you were giving it to people _because they gave you money_, and you _weren’t_ giving it to people who didn’t give you money. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-the-to-go-person/322655/80 "2005-09-25T23:35:16Z")
> [@The New Guy](#): > > Strawman. I NEVER, NEVER, NEVER said “$2.13 an hour is enough of a wage to be taken seriously.” NEVER. All I said was that it’s incorrect to say you’re working “for free” when you’re not. “For free” means you are not getting any money whatsoever. Seriously, look up “free” in the dictionary. This is not that complicated. And the fact that she is paying to serve you isn’t that complicated, either. She has to pay a percentage of her sales no matter what. She may lose money by serving you. That’s worse than working for free, innit? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-the-to-go-person/322655.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping-the-to-go-person/322655.md?page=5)