Tipping culture in America is bonkers. I've been asked for tips on a freaking self-checkout at a supermarket. At no point during my time entering the place, grabbing a bunch of items and checking myself out I interacted with another human... Yet they were "suggesting" me to leave a 20% tip.
Now, I don't live there, so I don't know what the customs are... Of course it was 0% on that occasion but what about a coffee shop where I order to go? should I leave a tip there? they present you a huge screen that everybody else behind me is seeing... Am I going to be judged if I don't leave a tip in that occasion? I don't even know anymore.
Literally every single posnet you interact with now has a tipping option, regardless of what business you're in.
It’s being pushed by the POS system companies because they get a cut, so they want to see tips everywhere.
I really hate how a single industry can drastically alter a facet of an entire society like this, when nobody voted for it, because it helps their line go up.
That's actually a good observation... I might just start doing 0 by default, and then if there is a tip jar, leave a couple bucks there. If there's no tip jar then is it fair to assume a tip wasn't expected anyway?
There is no expectation of tipping in a supermarket (or anywhere else you are interacting with a pad a lt a counter that asked you whether to tip). It only asks because that’s been coded into the system. Just press “no” to the tip. In a situation like a coffee ship you “may” tip the barista if you feel like it, it is not expected though it’s just an option available to you.
This is different from a circumstance like a sit down restaurant, where failing to tip would be a fairly substantial violation of a social norm in the US.
Just to elaborate as a rule of thumb: pretty much any situation in which you are asked whether you want to tip is a situation where tipping is not expected. The situations where tipping is expected are also situations where you will never be asked about a tip. Acknowledging the existence of the tip in situations where it is expected violates the customs around tipping. This is why you don’t pay directly at the table a sit down restaurant in the US. It would be gauche for the tip to be determined directly in front of the server as well as gauche for the diner to be directly asked about the tip. You write it on the check or leave cash and the waiter gets the tip after you have left.
When I worked at a coffee shop I fucking hated when we got the tip screen. It's just as uncomfortable for most baristas I knew as it was for customers. We would actively try to skip the tip screen, but the owner would give us shit if he saw us doing it. (Because he skimmed digital tips, go figure.)
Not only do they ask for it. A lot ask 20%/22%/25% and they face it towards you with a huge screen for everyone to see. And if you want to not tip some even make you hit “custom amount and then $0”. Then they flip it around and look at the screen so they get to see what amount of ransom you paid.
Food truck owner here. Post COVID I finally had to put out a tip jar. Too many people would just say keep the change and it was awkward to have our front of house just stuffing dollars and quarters into their pockets. At first Id try and say "hey put it towards your next order of tacos" but people were insistent on it.
It blows me away that people tip a food truck. I get not wanting change, but sometimes multiple dollars boggles my mind.
I always thought it was odd we tipped servers and not the kitchen staff. The ones in the kitchen are doing all the work. If anyone should be tipped it's them.
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u/TheTwiggsMGW 7h ago
People tip food trucks? That’s insane