Just the Tip of the Iceberg…
Johnny-on-the-Spot … by John Foster …
Tip.
For a tiny, three-letter word, it offers a lot of options.
In the news business, “tip” can be a scoop or information not generally available to the public.
News people used to like tips.
“Tip” can also be some advice, a recommendation, suggestion or instruction.
“I’ll give you a tip on how to finish that project”.
“Tip” can also be the act of positioning or an instance of being positioned at an angle.
In other words, a tilt.
“A tip of the hat indicates it’s time to go”.
In Great Britain, a “tip” is another word for a dump or landfill.
But the tip I’m going to delve deeply into is the money a customer leaves for an employee above and over the amount due for the goods sold or the services rendered.
This type of tipping started in Tudor England in medieval times as a master/serf custom.
When a serf performed well, he or she would be paid a little extra.
In the mid 1850’s, American travelers in Europe would offer extra money to ensure quick and good service in taverns.
The word “tip” is actually an acronym for “to insure promptness”.
Here in American in the early 1900’s, in parts of the country, tipping was begrudgingly accepted or met with actual hostility by some customers.
There were “anti-tipping” hotels containing service doors with compartments on both sides.
Food and drinks could be passed through these doors and the guests would never have to see the faces of servers.
Since the 1960’s, employers have been able to pay employees less than the minimum hourly wage if those workers earned tips.
Congress called it the “tipping credit”.
What’s interesting today is all the noise about tipping in this country and how it’s insufficient despite the fact that Americans and Canadians are the world’s best tippers (15-20%).
In the U.S., the best diner tippers are in New Hampshire and Ohio while California is the worst.
(Must be the smog and traffic.)
In Japan, tipping is not common and can be seen as rude or impolite.
Most suggest a tip of 15-20% and even a minimum of 10% even with poor service.
You should also figure your tip on the pre-tax portion of the bill although my wife and I just tip based on the final bill amount.
Many authorities say tipping for take out orders is nice but not required.
Most food industry servers prefer cash tips because they don’t have to wait on charged meals to be processed and they actually lose a small percentage for the credit card handling charges.
My wife always carries extra cash for tipping when we charge our meals.
How many Americans don’t tip at all?
About 7%.
Most experts say unless the service is an absolute disaster, it’s hard to justify no tipping at all.
Most waiters and waitresses don’t get mad when not receiving a tip but they do find it irritating or insulting.
On average, though, we Americans tip about 16%.
Where the water got murky was during the pandemic when customers started tipping people we didn’t use top as a way to support essential services in times of crisis.
Now we even have “tip shaming”.
My wife and I dine out a lot since retirement and we tip better than most.
Those eateries we frequent have staffs that many times bring the drinks to our table before were even get the menus.
They know us.
They know we tip well.
They like serving us.
When traveling, we’ve often had waitstaff catch us before we leave and say “Thanks!” for the tip we left behind.
I figure if you can’t afford to tip generously, you shouldn’t be eating out.
While I’ve never worked in the food service industry, I’ve been tip by appreciative fans when I’ve played in bands or by family members at funerals who were especially moved by our honor guard efforts at their services.
My “best” tip was two tiny Walmart pies for emceeing a county fair event in sweltering heat and humidity.
That’s when one of those lemon shake-ups would have been better.
To me, tipping is an act of empathy and let’s face it…some folks have very little if any.
Which reminds me.
One time, a waitress came to our table as we were finishing our meal and she spied some leftover food.
“Would you want a box for that?”
To which I replied, “No, but I’ll wrestle you for it”.
I don’t think she got my sense of humor.
But we did tip her nicely.