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

It's crazy how some workers actually defend the tipping system and blame the consumer. They're doing the work of their oppressors and can't even realize it. The business isn't subsidizing lower prices, they're lining the pockets of their investors and telling the workers to get mad at the consumers.

I feel for this guy having to make a living with the meager pay of a barista, but setting the minimum wage to a livable level and pegging it to inflation is a much better solution. Hell, throw in some single-payer, universal healthcare, and take that item off everyone's personal budget while we're at it.

Unfucking believable. Not a single mention of the actual problem in that article. Not a single mention of who is to blame.

I’ve worked minimum wage customer service jobs for a decade. I haven’t worked in jobs that rely on tips (though I have worked in a bar where tipping exists, but is way more normalized) but there’s no way in hell the customer is the answer to paying employees a livable wage—that’s just insane. The burden here shouldn’t be on the customer to subsidize the employer, this “economist” has it ass backwards. This is a situation that has to get worse before it gets better, I am not going to tip more to help the greedy owner undercut their employees

Tipping a barista while paying would almost always mean tipping BEFORE the service is rendered. This is not a tip, it is just an added fee.

I've dropped my average tip percentage back down to 15% (20% for good waiters / waitresses I see often). Complying with larger tip percentage is exactly what the business owners want us to do, and to think that it's going to stop at 25%? 30%? Their default tip range will just keep climbing.

I would feel less offended if on every bill they would just raise the price my 20% and give that to the workers.

Tipping is a way customers sponsoring greedy capitalist ability to pay below minimum wage.

In my country, people usually don't tip. They only tip in some special service, such as sex workers.

Recognizing that the act of asking for an unsolicited tip as a requisite part of buying a coffee is making both customers and himself uncomfortable, acknowledging that his take home pay is so abysmally low that he depends on tips to make a living, and then after all of that, blaming the customer as the primary problem for not being willing to tip in the current economy/environment, is like making a 95 yard run and then tripping over your own shoelaces at the endzone.

Stop making the customers pay your workers. They’re not our responsibility

And why whould I take the slack? You made a deal on how much you will get paied... Is it too little? Negociate.... Dont ask for charity

Customer pays for the wages of the server when he pays the bill period.

Permanently Deleted

I like the way Europe handles tipping. A lot of the restaurants generally add a fixed service charge (most often it’s about €3 per person), and that’s kinda it. It’s common to leave a couple of euros extra, but nothing too drastic. Huge tips are not expected, and like half of the machines don’t even support the tipping function (more common in France/Italy, for example, while countries like Greece are more likely to have tipping enabled).

There might be a bit more pressure to tip in more touristy city center places, but you’re better off avoiding those in general anyway. Smaller local restaurants are way better.

Furthermore, tipping isn’t expected outside of restaurants/deliveries at all. The amount of jobs that seem to require tipping in the US is insane. Like guys, just put it in the bill and tell me the price.

I only get about $60 at a time. When my aunt takes me out to eat, I may have spent some of the money and also have some to spend after. I can’t really afford to tip.

selfawarewolves

With inflation happening across the economy, businesses have been dealing with rising costs for years. At the same time, there's a lot of pressure to keep prices low for increasingly price-conscious customers.

Yup, pretty much.

A business is there to make money. Obviously, businesses that pay employees better have lower turnover and higher employee satisfaction. But what do you do if the price of keeping the lights on goes up? You can either increase prices, which will see fewer customers, but keep in mind that customers will just go to a coffee shop that's cheaper. So the better option is to keep the prices the same and lower employee wages.

Business are feeling the pressure of our failing economy. Are some being jerks about it? You bet. I even worked for some. But I believe in a truly wealth-equal economy people are so well off jerk employers are just ignored.

But most people currently don't have that choice. Quit an employer and you have a 50/50 chance of getting a job within a few weeks or ending up on the streets.

But I believe we can get to a more sustainable economy. It might take a lot of effort, but I believe we can get there!

People in the comments seem to think the barista likes supports tipping culture and resents customers who don't tip, but that's not the impression I get. He sympathizes with the awkwardness of the position and the tighter budgets people have, but nonetheless relies on tips for the meager amount they provide.

I hate tips as much as the next guy, but you should not protest by refusing to tip/undertipping in situations where there is a reasonable expectation of a tip. The only one who suffers in such a case is a low-wage worker. Rather, take your business somewhere without tips.

What is going on with the comments here? Tipping is great for the worker. It allows me to sell my labor directly to consumers without the ownership class taking a cut as middleman.

Frankly, I have to reemphasize what the author said: Not tipping changes nothing for the owner; it only exploits the laborer.