Got tipping rage? This barista reveals what it's like to be behind the tip screen

What a terrible pandering article. It essentially brings up 3 points:

Employees don't make enough without tips: If employees are having to rely on the kindness of customers for a living wage then they should be angry at their bosses, not the customers. If businesses don't make enough to pay their employees a living wage then they should raise their prices. If raising their prices means customers stop coming in then they don't have a sustainable business model.

Reminds people that their is a tipped hourly wage that is $2.13: Apparently this category of worker is twice as likely to be in poverty so we should just tip to subsidize? How about we abolish that law? Fuck the government for continuing to subsidize shitty business practices by allowing a law to exist that statistically shows a 100% increase in the likelihood a citizen will be in poverty. Also this argument is already immediately moot for a majority of states which either don't allow tipped wages or already tie tipped wages to minimum wage so that you can't be paid less than your states minimum wage. Honestly this argument is so stupid it reminds me of people who say they can't earn more money because they'll make less money because they don't understand progressive tax brackets. What a shallow analysis by NPR.

"You hurt my feelings when you don't tip like you don't value my labor": Fuck you. Your boss doesn't value your labor. My job as a customer isn't to pay you for doing your job. I obviously value your labor because I'm buying stuff at the store that you work at. Your boss doesn't value your labor. It's just easier for you to bully and guilt customers into paying your wage rather than demand your rightful value from your employer.

It seems like everyone would be better off if we did away with tipping and paid works a fair wage instead. Employees would know how much they’re taking home every week, and customers wouldn’t feel pressured about how much they should add on. This is already standard at many restaurants for larger parties. Just do it for everyone, and build the price into the food, rather than as an add-on.

Tbh, I've got tipping rage. I breeze past the tip screen, and even this article that's sympathetic to tipping culture won't change my mindset. I'm being asked to tip for things that never asked for one before the pandemic, all while the prices of the goods have gone up. I'm already paying more for the food/goods. How dare you ask for more? I'm tired of being fleeced for even more money. If you didn't do anything beyond your job to prepare my order, and you're not actively waiting on me at a sit down restaurant, then I pay the cost of the good. If your employer isn't paying you enough, take it up with them.

Those unwilling to do the difficult task of striking or otherwise demanding higher wages and actively supporting politics that do the same are asking others to prop up those poor wages with money from the others’ hard work.

IOW give me your hard earned money so I don’t have to try to demand more money from my boss for my hard work.

On that note, fuck the food/service industry for basically dodging payroll tax with underreported cash tips and underpaid workers.

I tip for service normally. When I’m at a self serve market you’re not getting a tip, but I’ll tip well at a restaurant or (previously) for delivery drivers.

The current culture of tipping for self service and non-service things is what’s getting out of hand.

This quote is at the heart of the matter: "Tips are a wage subsidy to the employer," she says. "It's not a tip. It goes to your wage. It is just the amount that the employer doesn't have to pay you. And people don't understand that."