Should companies be able to rely on the generosity of its customers to pay employees a living wage instead of eliminating tipping and just paying a fair wage?
I had an argument with my wife because I didn't tip a bud tender at a dispensary for a $6 product.
Let me start off by saying I will happily tip if someone has given me good service.
In my opinion, people don't deserve tips for doing the absolute bare minimum. Walking 3 feet to the left and grabbing a joint doesn't mean I should give you 20% of the product cost.
Imagine this:
You have 1 bud tender and 2 customers.
1 customer buys a $10 bong, the bud tender walks 3 steps to get it, then takes 30 seconds ringing it up
Another customer buys a $1,0000 bong, the bud tender walks the same 3 steps to get it, then takes 30 seconds ringing it in.
Why does one of those deserve $200 and another deserve $2? It makes absolutely zero sense.
The idea that customers have been tricked into thinking it's on them to subsidize wages is insane. It's literally the exact same thing as billionaires putting the blame of climate change the average person despite emitting a thousand times more.
Nothing will ever change in tipping culture if people continue to tip. And guess what? It's working! I've started seeing shops all over social media beginning to put signs out telling people they no longer accept tips because they've raised wages for their workers.
Companies literally put in the job description that you can make tips, like it's some kind of special bonus. The company doesn't want to pay it's employees more, so it rephrases it in a way that sounds like tips are a bonus, just because the company doesn't want to pay the wages themselves and knows they can rely on customers to make up the difference.
It's an antiquated, insane way of approaching things.
If you go above and beyond to make sure I had a memorable experience, I'll tip the shit out of you.
If all you do is walk 3 feet and ring in a joint, why the fuck would you deserve to be rewarded for that?
TL;DR I don't think people should be given tips unless they earn it and force employers to stop relying on customers to subsidize wages.