In the situation the OP described, I would ignore the tip jar.
Do you tip your cashier at WalMart? We’re talking about a tip jar here, for people who make at least minimum wage. Your argument is sound for servers at full service restaurants, who make server’s wages below minimum wage, but it’s completely irrelevant in a thread about tip jars.
I refer you to my post upthread in which I mention the sandwich counter at my gym, and where I tip infrequently at best. The woman who is usually behind the counter is nice and we chat when she makes my protein shake. The other day she complimented me on my shirt and then told me a story about how she was out shopping and went into the Armani store because her husband loves everything in there. She bought him a few things, including a pair of flip-flops.
So, I have to wonder how destitute she is if she shops at Armani, and for things that most people would buy much more cheaply at Target. Armani? I make a pretty good living and I don’t shop there. And I certainly wouldn’t get something as mundane as flip-flops there. My point is, either she doesn’t have the slightest idea of the value of money, or she and her husband are financially stable enough that she can make protein shakes at the gym just because she enjoys it and doesn’t need the money. Either way, I’m not inclined to toss too much extra cash her way.
Don’t presume that the person behind the counter is as needy as it might appear.
I see this same issue crop up again and again. Here’s what I don’t understand, how is it not self evident that the tip jar is there for people who feel like leaving a little something?
Yes, we get that it’s a ‘shack’, no refills. But how does that have anything to do with normal, everyday customer relations like, “Can I get my fries extra crispy?”, or three pickles, or “Can you just heat up my baby’s bottle?”, or just having a counter person be pleasant and smiling and generous of time and attention?
You may be unaware (what planet do you live on?), but tons of people worked these kinds of shitty jobs, getting through school, when just starting out, etc. Once they are a little better off they just want to kick a little back. Is that really so hard to understand?
It’s a tip jar, not the church alms plate. No one is judging you for tipping or not, to a tip jar, okay? It’s entirely up to you. Got great smiles/service, a special request met? Remember how it sucked to work this hard for your money, and want to make someones day for a few cents? Don’t want all that change in the pocket of your shorts? Feeling especially generous of spirit? Leave a tip. Or don’t. Either way, no one really cares, it’s entirely optional, you’re not being judged, quit overthinking the damn thing!
A tip jar, all tip ‘jars’ should scream the same thing to you - “Tip or don’t, entirely not expected, but nice to get anyway, thank you!” They most likely have a tip jar because customer after customer told them they should put one out, by the way!
This didn’t sound anything like Starbucks or McDonalds. I don’t know what they’re paying at those places, but it’s probably not enough either. Nobody’s making you throw anything in the jar, so enjoy your extra 17 cents. Besides your miniscule savings, you’re teaching those greedy minimum wage workers a valuable lesson in economics.
I dont tip these
I almost never use cash, so tip jars mean nothing to me. I tip for good service (putting my food in a bag is hardly service) and I tip generously for great service. I’ll leave a buck per person at a buffet restaurant where the staff keeps our drinks filled - otherwise, nothing. I don’t tip when I pick up my pizza myself, although if I had a huge order that I needed at a certain time and they had it ready to go for me, I’d tip.
All in all, I hate the concept of tipping. But since I’m not Queen of the World, I can’t change it, so I live by my own rules. And one of those rules is that I don’t throw money in tip jars.
Do you get that no one is asking you to? That no one is judging you? And that no one cares about how you feel about it, ultimately?
So, you’re on both sides of the fence?
Nicely played!
This is a joke right?
If not, I’m going to have to declare this the second dumbest post I’ve read on the SDMB in my 12+ years here.
I’ve always figured these jars are for people who get special service service. I may not throw down for my hamburger (unless I’m just getting rid of loose change), but if I’m ordering for an unruly softball team of picky eaters, and the counter worker is really helpful about my predicament, I might slip something in.
I don’t think anyone cares if you don’t tip, and I’m a little baffled why people are choosing this particular hill to die on.
For what it’s worth, when I was a hostess at a diner, packaging orders WERE a significant amount of work, and probably was more work than serving a sit-down table. My process was:
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Take the phone call- which is often from a distracted, rushed, on-the-road person on a staticy cell-phone. Often they don’t have a menu in front of them and have no idea what they are trying to order, so it can take several minutes and a lot of questions and confusion to actually get an order out of them. Sometimes, you end up just outright having to read the whole menu to people.
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Run all over the restaurant gathering styrofoam packages, napkins, condiments (which customers often want a precise mix of), utensils packets, and all those fiddly little special containers for your extra dressing and the whatnot. SInce to-go orders are relatively rare and low-priority, to-go materials are stored in the least convenient spots; on high shelves, in low cabinets, and at distant workstations. They often are not restocked appropriately, leading to lots of emergency rushes through the storage rooms.
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Prepare and plate salads, cold appetizers, soups, some hot dishes like biscuits and gravy, drinks (including getting the right amount of milk in your coffee, brewing your tea just right, etc.), desserts, and the dreaded milkshakes. Ladle all kinds of sauces and dressings into those maddeningly difficult little containers without making a huge mess. In a five course meal, I probably prepare everything except for the entree.
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Ride the cook’s ass to actually get your order. Since I don’t tip out to the chef like the waitstaff does, I’m their last priority and half the time they just ignore my ticket until I go back there and yell at them.
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Have everything all neatly packed up and ready to go as close to when you arrive as possible- trying not to have the food sitting out for too long or having you wait while I rush around to deal with it.
It’s all a part of the job, but as the hostess I had another full-time no-downtime job to do…I’d have to work all of this in while seating customers, getting drink orders, and cashing guests out. And if I fucked those up because I was on the phone for ten minutes reading you the dessert menu for the fifteen time, I might end up in the weeds for the rest of my shift, and may even end up getting in trouble with the management. Added to this is that I was tipped out by the waitresses, and any work I did for to-go orders cut into what I’d get tipped out. So in short, that ringing phone caused a sense of dread because it’d cost me money, cause me all kinds of extra work, and keep me from being able to do my primary job.
Every now and then someone would give me a tip, and it improved my life significantly- a few extra buck at minimum wage is the difference between eating a whole burrito or eating half and saving the other half for dinner. I never expected it, but it sure was welcome when it happened.
I think it’s because they feel judged. They feel if everyone else does it, they are obligated to, or look bad, if they don’t. Entirely on them. No one is judging you. No one cares if you tip or don’t.
I also think a lot of non tippers use the, ‘feeling obligated to,’ as an excuse for their cheap selves - they just won’t conform - they are rebels! That’s why they are always explaining their well reasoned stance, lest you identify them as just too cheap.
Tip or don’t tip. As you wish. We really don’t care about your rationalizations, or your excuses, or whatever it is that you tell yourself, your self imposed hard and fast rules. Do whatever you want.
(Then do everyone around you a favour and take the chip off your shoulder. It really doesn’t matter to anyone, as much as it seems to matter to you! We don’t need to hear it, truly.)
If they’re doing a great job maybe, but just the leftover change. I’ve always wondered, do employees take offense if you put coins in a tip jar? Money is money is my view.
If the employees aren’t classified as waiters or waitresses aren’t they being paid at least minimum wage anyway? It’s a different situation than a sit-down restaurant.
I love these ‘get better jobs’ people on everything that requires they give up an extra couple of bucks.
You do realize that no matter what, SOMEONE has to be a waiter/valet/barber/maid/food preparers/etc. right? Otherwise your cheap ass wouldn’t be able to get those nice services.
And don’t harp to me about the 2.13 or 5.15 they get, and how it should change. It won’t. It’s social convention in the society you live in. Deal with it.
Tipped employees are a very broad scale… and they all usually make $2.13 an hour, which is usually used to pay taxes on the tips they get, so often their actual paychecks are ZERO and you owe more.
This is everything from the normal waiters/bartenders crowd to stuff you might not think of like dealers at a casino, most types of attendants, and a lots of personal cleaning staff.
As for leftover change… no it’s not offensive to give coins as not only is something better than nothing, but in this situation a tip jar is usually next to a till so they just put the coins right back and take out bills.
I remember the Seinfeld episode in which George Costanza put some money in the tip jar, but the person behind the counter was turned around, so they didn’t notice. So he tried to remove the money from the jar to put it back, but of course got caught doing so.
Yeah, the tip jar coins are great for refilling your change slots with just enough to get you through the rest of the shift. Few things ruined my night more than having to open an entire roll of quarters or pennies with an hour before I had to count out.
I’m surprised by how many people still carry around and pay with cash.
I don’t tip at these type of places since I pretty much never have any spare change on me to throw in the jar.
Every place I go to takes credit/debit cards these days so in order to tip I would have to carry extra cash on me or ask for a receipt and write down and extra tip amount for them.
Those tip jars are out of control.
I went to by a bottle of champagne and the liquor store had a tip jar at the register.
You must be kidding me?
Yes, the tip jar solves the economic riddles of the 21st Century. Your 9 cents for the win.
I wish these jars were labeled “keep the change” instead of “TIPS”.
The former gives you a place to toss your 14 cents in change if you don’t feel like fiddling with it, while the latter screams “please give us money” almost in a pan-handling sort of way.