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What is with the tip jar common in U.S. cafés even when you are not being served?
LoneIgadzra
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
This has always mystified me: why do many cafes in the U.S., where you order and get served at the counter, have a tip jar? The only service being rendered typically is food preparation, which at a restaurant is included in the bill.
I have never worked in food service, so someone please enlighten me.
I have never worked in food service, so someone please enlighten me.
LoneIgadzra on
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That being said at coffee shops and the like those jars seem like mostly a receptacle for unwanted change.
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Thank you that explains everything.
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So, it's to tip, because they make a lot less.
Also, Tipping is not a city in China.
You generally only tip your waiter directly, but they share their tips with others, like busboys and chefs, I think.
Also, it harkens back to the apocryphal meaning of the word "tip" (To Insure Prompt service) in that if you frequently visit an establishment, tossing a buck in there every now and then is noticed, appreciated, and significantly increases your chances of getting above-average treatment.
^This. A tip jar on the counter can basically be ignored with no adverse social consequences.
Your cashier is different from a waiter... which is also different from your barista.
Would I tip someone at starbucks? Maybe if I went there everyday and it was the same person every day. Local shop? Yeah probably.
Go to a Cold Stone Creamery ice cream shop and put a dollar in the tip jar. They sing a fucking song. Its goddamn surreal.
God that is the worst. I think corporate headquarters must want to discourage tips for some reason; I can't think of any other reason to mandate a tip-song. It's so awkward that I can't tip there anymore. My tip is not forcing them to sing a stupid song.
As for tip jars in starbucks and the like, I usually save my change but I'll put it in the jar if I feel like being friendly that day, or if I come back to the shop a lot. One of the coffee shops I go to uses a sort of wide bowl and they treat it like a penny tray (but with bigger coins as well) so if my bill is $2.09 they give me my extra dollar back and take .09 out of the jar rather than having to count out $0.91 of change. The times I do have change I'm more likely to put it in the jar.
If you pay with a credit card you don't have to worry about it either way - no change to deal with. I don't think anyone expects a one-time customer to dig out extra money to put in a jar.
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It has the opposite effect on me. I tip hard and only when no one is looking. I do this because I used to work insanely embarassing jobs when I was a kid and I feel tremendous fucking sympathy.
If I wasn't 100% sure you were joking, I would be straining my hate muscle from hating you so fucking much.
Nobody will think less of you for not throwing a few quarters in the box, but depending on where you are, it can indeed be a good way to be remembered as a good customer. If I'm at a Dunkin Donuts, I never tip, because for one thing, they usually have a big enough staff roster that I'm never going to get the same person twice in a row anyway, and for another, those staff members are performing a very simple job - even their cappuccinos are powder, mixed with water at the press of a button. If I'm at a real coffee shop, though, where they actually brew espresso and steam milk and make drinks, and if I know from experience that the staff member working that day does a good job, I'll throw a dollar in the jar to show my appreciation for the fact that they take the time to make my coffee right - which, ideally, leads to continued or even improved quality of coffee the next time I come in.
Including me.