The Tipping Point

And no. This post has nothing to do with the book by Malcolm Gladwell.

We (Me and Allison) went out for supper the other night. And as anyone who has ever eaten in a restaurant with us knows, we are ridiculous. And we know it. We judge everything. But we’ve both worked in the industry and we know how it should be done. Sorry.

You know what? This service was okay. But that’s it. Nothing special. She did her job. Took our orders. Brought the right food. Cleared the plates. Brought the bill. Nothing special, did nothing out of the ordinary. Took no extra time or effort to make our experience memorable. So why should I tip her? I actually had a hard time adding the extra couple dollars. And I’ve never struggled with that before. But it just struck me. Why should I tip her, pay her extra, for just doing her job? Ah, because dear readers, that is now the social norm. Its what we’ve been told to do, and unfortunately its what all servers expect. No matter what kind of job they do, they know they’ll at least get a couple extra bucks. And this drives me crazy!

I can think of a lot more deserving people that should get tipped, rather than someone who just does their job. How’s about the hair stylist that doesn’t give you awful bangs? Yeah, I’ll tip you. Thank you for not making me look stupid. Thank you for making me want to come back. Thank you for not just doing your job by cutting my hair, but for doing it well. The guy standing in the –40 wind to pump my gas? Yeah, kind of his job. But really, I could pump my own. So he should get tipped for standing in the cold and doing it for me. The middle aged women clearing trays and dishes in the food court? Well she stopped to ask if we were done, happily took our trays, made sure our food was great, and told us to have a nice day. Being that cheerful and welcoming is not in her job description. And I would have tipped her if I could have. The barista at Starbucks? Usually they’re pompous and frigid. She was fantastic, chatted with us, was super friendly. I wish I could have tipped her directly.

But then I went to the Canada Post counter in Shoppers. And the two girls working there did not stop their conversation at all. I did not get a “hello”, all I did was set my envelopes down. Saw the total on the screen and handed her my money (all the while they’re still talking). The only thing that was said to my was “Do you want the receipt?” Which isn’t even a polite way of asking that!

So pretty much, the customer service industry is messed. And I hate leaving a tip just because its expected. Which reminds me of buffets…but that’s a whole other post.