Here's a tip for you - Shawn Loughlin editorial
Years ago, I remember a debate around the movie Reservoir Dogs and the potential impact it would have on tipping in restaurants. In the film’s crass and rather gross opening scene, Steve Buscemi’s Mr. Pink goes on a bit of a tangent about his philosophy of not tipping at restaurants. How many people who watched that movie at a young age bought what Mr. Pink was selling?
Jane Thier of Fortune magazine postulates that the art of tipping is disappearing in younger generations. This, at the same time as complaints of tip-flation abound. In an article last week, she cited figures from Bankrate that show just 35 per cent of those in Generation Z (26 and under) always tip their server at a sit-down restaurant. This, compared to those of the Baby Boomer generation, who said they always tip their server 83 per cent of the time.
While that disparity is eye-catching, Thier says it appears to be part of a larger decline in tipping. Just under two-thirds of American adults (65 per cent) report always tipping their server at a sit-down restaurant, which is down significantly from 73 per cent in 2022, 75 per cent in 2021 and 77 per cent in 2019.
This is part of a much bigger conversation. Tipping fatigue and tip-flation are very real and have kicked people while they were down in recent years. Where once tipping was reserved for sit-down restaurants and taxi rides, everyone now seems to be asking for a tip and some people are over it. Furthermore, tip-flation has seen tip options on iPads begin at 15 or 20 per cent, which used to be the norm for good service, and rise from there. Another factor is that we just have less money to give.
And, while business owners may see red when their employees are stiffed, there is a flip side to that coin, as some (over 40 per cent in the aforementioned Bankrate survey) would welcome the demise of tipping in favour of employers paying employees more, rather than expecting patrons to bridge the gap with tips.
I have to say that it was refreshing to dine at Restaurant Pearl Morissette for my birthday and have all-inclusive pricing, as the company has made a point to pay its employees well. Both from a practical standpoint and an ethical one, it’s reassuring to spend your money there.
I have always been a good tipper. Around the holidays, I bring a gift to my chiropractor. I leave chocolates for regular couriers and sanitation guys. A little gift goes a long way.
When Jess and I were on our honeymoon, we had a miscommunication at a restaurant in Edinburgh (we both thought the other had left the tip - tipping is not nearly as much of a thing in Scotland and Ireland as it is here) that treated us very well. It bothers me to this day.
I can count on one hand with fingers left over how many times I’ve left nothing for a server and such a decision has always been the result of truly atrocious service or outright hostility. Sometimes the wallet has to close.
I have worked (briefly) in a restaurant (but in the kitchen) and I put in over seven years at a retail job. Knowing the beats and challenges of those jobs goes a long way to understanding why you should tip those who work so hard. (I’ve always thought Canada should make a year of retail work mandatory to craft a better, more caring society - like mandatory military service in other countries around the world.)
I know money is tight and groceries are expensive, but, until employers can fully take care of their employees, I hope those of all ages will see the value in tipping the people working hard to provide hospitality as the restaurant world crawls back from the brink of extinction following the COVID-19 pandemic.