‘Out of control’: No one knows how much to tip

My general rule of thumb is that I'm not going to tip to provide base compensation for someone's employees. That is their responsibility.

The one exception being wait staff who can deplorably earn a lesser minimum wage under the assumption that thier employers be allowed to dodge payroll and taxes by foisting it onto others.

When I do tip outside of the wait staff context it only for unexpectedly great service. I would never tip for someone just doing their job.

My wife and I argue about this frequently as she likes to tip seemingly everyone for everything.

Checkout cashiers at coffee shops are certainly the worst example of this in my opinion. I am explicitly asked to tip prior to knowing how long my order will take or if it is correct at all.

After that, it is the entire hotel industry that irks me. Guy at the curb, guy at the door, person checking me in, guy who wants to take my bags the gal who cleans my room. They all want a handout.

When was the last time your flight attendant or pilot asked for a tip? Anyone ever leave 10 bucks in the back of the seat pocket to thank the plane's cleaning crew?

Please properly compensate your staff so they dont grovel for money at my feet. It demeans them and makes me feel like a gross fat cat out of a Dickens story showering the plebs with coins as I walk about.

I'm relatively wealthy - relative to a cashier or waitstaff in any case.

My minimum tip is $2. Even for a 50cent coffee. Because I can and they could use it.

For my regular folks at the diner, I slap down however many $20's cover the bill, and if the tip is too small after that I put down another one. Because I have a relationship with these folks, they are generally struggling college students, and it's nothing to me (a few minutes of consulting fees).

I can understand that doesn't clear anything up for most folks. I just happen to be in a circumstance that permits me to do it.

As my old minister used to say "We can have all the morals we can afford." Well tipping isn't morals but I think that covers it.

In countries where service workers are paid decently, tips, when given, often take the form of rounding the bill to a convenient number for making change.

> ...the practice has a troubled history in the United States.

The practice is inconsistent with the ideals of the US, but highly consistent with the country as it pragmatically is.

This thing is quite usual in Sweden - you are given a payment terminal with the price you have to pay and you are asked to input this or higher amount by yourself.