Thursday, October 09, 2008

A Little Tip

This post is not about cancer.

Imagine that.

Here is something I was thinking about at Starbucks the other night:

If you go to a bar and buy a drink, it is etiquette to leave a dollar tip. If you go to a restaurant and buy a meal, it is etiquette to leave 15-20% tip. So why, I wanted to know, is it okay to simply leave the 6 cents you got as change when you tip at a coffee shop?

I don't actually have any answers to this question. I'm not clear how much to tip in a coffee shop, either, when I'm the customer (though I try to err on the generous side for obvious reasons). I'm not exactly ranting--although when people don't tip at all, I think that's just not fair.

I certainly don't think a coffee that cost $1.73 merits a $1 tip, although some rare people are kind enough to leave that. But we are providing a service, and in this case, it's even something people could make at home. Since they are disinclined to do this, and they're paying for this beverage in the first place, you would think they could throw in a little extra for the person who made the coffee so they didn't have to . . .

Well, at least--I would think . . .

1 comment:

Craver Vii said...

It's hard for me personally to justify a tip when a little serving (doppio macchiato) costs as much as a gallon of gasoline. But if I went in for a latte, and they served it lid-off with latte art, that would make me think I should tip them.

Or maybe if I went in often enough for someone to recognize me and they ask me to sample something else that they think might suit my tastes.

My oldest son just started working at Starbucks last month, and I'm sure we'll have more conversations about tipping.

Not cow tipping. ;-)