Here's A Tip: Throw Out The Cup!
Picking up a sandwich at Subway for my Dearly Beloved the other day brought me face to face with what I'm told is a growing trend across the industry. As I went to pay for my food at Subway, there was a highly decorated paper cup by the cash register that said *TiPs*!
Tips?!
Apparently Subway isn't the only semi-fast food place that has the beggar's cup. But where is the value-added service that deserves a tip? You came to work to make sandwiches, for which you are paid--probably not as much as you'd like to be, but you are paid. You're not a waiter. You don't fetch various things throughout the meal, remove plates, box my food, check on my general experience and/or chat with me. Why should I give these people tips for doing what they were hired to do? Waiters are paid chicken feed ($2.14/hour) because they are expected to make up the rest in tips based on their skill level. Waiters can do everything from mix drinks to recommend wine pairings with food. They get that extra oomph because they add value to the experience.
How does a surly high schooler working a summer job who clearly would rather be picking his nose and surfing YouTube, for whom even the basic instructions of making a sub sandwich prove to be cause for irritation, deserve a freakin' tip?
-- Virgil
posted by contemplator at Thursday, June 28, 2007
5 Comments:
I've been seeing those for a while, thank you for expressing so clearly what's wrong with the idea.
Oh, I love it when you get tough with douchebags, especially those with a sense of entitlement, DV.
I was thinking:
What if this is actually the managers' idea? Maybe they see other restaurants getting away with paying their staff less because they get tips and think they can do the same.
Whoever started the plan, it's bullshit. Tipping is a very questionable practice anyway when it comes to who gets tipped. I really don't like the idea of tipping the pizza delivery guy - after all, he doesn't do anything else. But I figure, it's not wise to upset someone who knows where you live and has a crappy job.
Well, but the pizza guy uses his gas to drive to your house because your lazy ass won't go out and pick a pizza up. :D That's value added service. Slapping veggies on a sandwich and wrapping it is what they get paid to do. Nothing else. I don't know what I think about the tip jar at the Blue Moose, though. I can't decide if it's "value added" or not.
Hmmmm.... touche, contemplator.
Post a Comment
<< Home