No More Tips At Restaurants? New Policy Might Not Catch On Anytime Soon
The tipping issue will probably always be a hot button debate, especially now that a CNN article covering a couple of eateries and their new “no tipping policy” has gone viral, collecting plenty of social media shares and comments from folks raging on either side of the “yes, tipping is good” versus “no, tipping is bad” debate.
At the beginning of 2015, places like Bar Agricole and sister restaurant Trou Normand in San Francisco won’t expect customers to leave a tip – because meal prices will be increased by 20 percent in order to make up for the shortfall, and to help bring in the monies to pay the wait staff what they deserve. It’s the same no-tipping deal enacted at the Kentucky-based Packhouse, whose meatball shop owner automatically placed the tax and tipping rates into his menu costs when the eatery opened in 2014.
The “no tipping” movement is reportedly slowly catching on in major cities around the United States, but one wonders how much this “no tipping” thing will really traverse around the nation. That’s because the urge to tip has been built into the mindsets of many people – hopefully – for years, especially African Americans like me who are well aware of the criticisms levied against blacks for having a reputation of not tipping well.
Oprah Winfrey once spoke about this fallacy of thought, and said that she makes sure she tips very well in order to go against the stereotype of blacks being bad tippers. In fact, when a false rumor spread around the web claiming Oprah advised folks to only tip 10 percent during the recession, the official Oprah Winfrey Facebook page responded, saying Oprah believes in generously tipping waiters and waitresses.
I also believe in generous tipping, and felt bad when I only tipped my manicurist the recommended 18 percent gratuity on a recent trip – but felt much better when I could raise it to the standard 20 percent I believe should be the minimum amount of a tip received for services rendered. This writer even believes in tipping when going to pick up a pizza from the Donatos drive-thru window, which is a long way away from my days as a starving college student, not realizing I should’ve been handing the pizza delivery guy a fiver tip with each delivery.
In fact, I wish more places had things like the “dip jar” reported about in TechCrunch, a device that’s akin to an electronic tip jar for those of use who don’t carry much cash around but still love to tip generously with our credit and debit cards.
As reported by the Inquisitr, a certain establishment may have received criticism for the way it tried to elicit higher tips for their wait staff. However, the thought of great tips for great service in an industry that relies on good tips can’t be a bad idea.
[Image credit: Bigstockphoto.com]
