Lousy Tippers – Beware

Lousy Tippers – Beware – by Liam Sweeny.

I want to start out by saying that I tip. I do. I don’t go out much, but when I do, I lay the money down. Sometimes I’ll tip a hundred percent, if the meal was like ten bucks, I’ll throw twenty down. Most of the time, I just tip 20%. And this reminds me that the $5 I tip for my sub guy that drives a block to my house, I should probably go $7-8 to catch that twenty percent, but he seems happy that I tip at all. But I tip.

I’m not saying that I should or shouldn’t have to. In Europe, they don’t tip as a practice. But they pay restaurant workers a wage they can live on. So are we tipping to help out a server live or a boss pad their bottom line? Who knows, answer might vary depending on your philosophical bent. But either way, in America, you tip, however begrudgingly.

So when a restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida put up a sign that says “Sh*tty Tippers, with names, receipts and (meager) tips left, it created quite a stir, and a whole lot of controversy.

It’s called ‘Bay Street Sh*tty Tippers’ so go ahead, look it up online. Hey Jacksonville peeps, see anyone you know? Now to be fair, the restaurant has a ‘Good Tippers’ sign too, but it’s not the same draw, you know?

Now this got some people pissed. I’m sure everyone everyone on the ‘Sh*tty Tippers’ list is, but even just regular people (a.k.a. the internet.) Some people feel that tipping has gone too far. An example given was a self service checkout that had a screen to leave a tip. This makes one wonder who would get that tip – maybe it would spit you out a coupon, since you’re your own server in that case. But clearly, something like that has crossed the line.

The biggest argument against tipping so far is that, if it is socially and culturally expected, to the point sh*tty tippers will be outed like people who bounce checks, why not just add 20% to the bill? Why not just incorporate it? And then, if someone goes above and beyond, you give them a little extra for appreciation.

I’ll still tip, because I just know that whatever I spend, add 20%. I don’t base it on service because maybe they didn’t get any sleep, or they have some troubles I don’t know about. And agin, it is kind of mandatory in our country. So I don’t miss the money. If I want to express my displeasure, I’ll go to Yelp (which I personally never do, because life’s too short.)

What say you? Should more restaurants have a ‘Sh*tty Tippers’ sign?

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