When you’ve worked several years of your life as a server/bartender in a number of restaurants and bars making $2.13 per hour and relying solely on tips for income, you know how to tip at a restaurant or a bar.
There’s no worse feeling to a server than getting stiffed or under-tipped, so most of us who have done the physically/mentally demanding and financially unpredictable work are the most easygoing and generous customers.
But sometimes, these days, we are pressured to pay up gratuities in situations that aren’t so straightforward.
How about the pricey coffee shop where the baristas probably make as much, when you break it down by hour, as an entry-level reporter?
There is a tip jar by the register at Starbucks, but if you pay by card, there isn’t a “tip” line on the credit card slip.
The Starbucks marketing manager once told the NY Daily News that, the tip boxes at Starbucks registers are there “to avoid loose tips on tables and counters throughout the store.” And the attitude at Starbucks seems to reflect that . The box is there. The baristas don’t seem to notice when someone doesn’t leave something in it.
There are other coffee houses, one in our neighborhood, that put a little more pressure on the customer. There are tip jars inside and in the drive-thru decorated in cute tip-box promotions. (I will note here that I am worried about that tip cup that one particular place has hanging out the drive thru window. A swift thief is going to make off with that thing one day soon).
This has come up in more than one conversation I have been part of: are you supposed to tip someone for pouring coffee in a cup? A reader last summer told me the barista at one neighborhood shop made a snarky comment after she didn’t tip for her coffee at the drive through. (Because that is unverified, I’m not including the name of the place in this post, though you’ll probably figure it out).
Some of our neighborhood baristas are true experts, their concoctions are works of art and I want to give them extra money, of my own volition. I don’t want them to expect or demand it.
It irritates me when I am at the drive through, the barista does nothing more than pour coffee and pass it to me without so much as a “how are you doing this morning” and then hands me a credit card slip with that “tip” line staring me in the face. This guy doesn’t deserve anything extra, I think. He didn’t make anything special and didn’t even smile at me. But if I don’t tip, then I am that loathsome non-tipper. The dilemma is something I don’t need in the morning. The thought sometimes causes me to avoid the thing altogether. Which brings me to the rules I’ve come to live by:
If I am fretting over a dollar or two, I probably should be making my coffee at home. I can’t afford specialty coffee.
Treat the barista who makes a coffee concoction — especially one of those frothy chemistry projects — as you would your good bartender: They make you a $5 drink, then give ‘em a buck. Order a round for the office? Tip 20 percent. Their salary or hourly pay is none of my concern. Don’t be jealous just because I couldn’t get this gig when I was in college.
If they are just pouring coffee, my spare change is, I assume, appreciated.
Remember that the rude and/or incompetent ones are few and far between, not the norm.
No, sometimes they will not see me put the change or the dollar in the jar. Oh well. This isn’t really about them anyway. My dollar won’t make or break them. It’s about me being OK with myself and not feeling like a stingy penny pincher who makes the waitress’ life miserable (Sure, I might have some issues).
Next time, we’ll discuss valets and coat check stations or maybe the donation requests at the grocery store. Meanwhile, let us know how you feel about coffee shop gratuity, and, if you feel so inclined, use the comments section to expound on your answer.
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