dear God when will it end?

[Alobar]

Maybe this is common (god I hope not) and I just never knew it cuz I dont go to Starbucks. But I went to starbucks tonight to get hot chocolate for the GF, and there was a [censored] tip cup sitting on the ledge at the drive thru. Now to be clear, it wasnt the McDonalds, spare change for the needy type bin. It was a plastic cup with the word "Tips" written on it.

Even worse, it was actually full of money. I prayed to baby jesus that someone would drive off with it

[OtisTheMarsupial]

You obviously do not appreciate a good barrista.

[Unoriginalname]

I never put money in those things. I'll put my loose change into the charity type containers but for some reason I go out of my way not to put any money in the tip cups. Is this the way most people are or am I just a dick?

[Alobar]

[ QUOTE ]
You obviously do not appreciate a good barrista.

[/ QUOTE ]

about as much as I appreciate the guy who makes my chalupa at taco bell, yet im not made to feel obliged to tip him.

[PokerFink]

There's drive thru starbucks?

WTF? How did I miss this? Not that I drink starbucks anyway.

[surfinillini]

do you tip bartenders?

[Alobar]

[ QUOTE ]
do you tip bartenders?

[/ QUOTE ]

I dont tip the bartender because he did such an awesome job pulling the lever to poor my beer. I tip him so that in the future I get served quicker, or so that hes a little more generous when making my long island. neither of which is happening at the drive thru of a coffee shop.

[surfinillini]

the only reasoning I would agree with you is that starbucks servers make their $$ off of their hourly wage.

Bartenders in the biggest clubs get paid [censored] hourly and primarly make their $$ from tips

[GuyOnTilt]

Meh. If you don't want to tip, then don't. But why so upset at having it there for people who do want to tip?

FWIW, I almost never tip at coffee shops. If the girl at the counter is especially cute I might. If I paid cash, I always leave my change on the countertop for the next person (same with fast food before I gave it up and grocery stores and stuff). Funny thing, yesterday at the coffee shop right outside Nordstrom I put my change on the counter (some really rando amount like $.72 or something) and walked over to pick up my drip. Like 15 seconds later as I was walking away to join some friends who already had a table, the 30'ish year old lady who was behind me in line yells at me in excitement to tell me I left her the exact change she needed. She seemed really over-excited by it which made me smile.

GoT

[jba]

[ QUOTE ]

Meh. If you don't want to tip, then don't. But why so upset at having it there for people who do want to tip?

FWIW, I [...] never tip at coffee shops.

[/ QUOTE ]

[Alobar]

[ QUOTE ]
Meh. If you don't want to tip, then don't. But why so upset at having it there for people who do want to tip?

[/ QUOTE ]

I hate feeling like an [censored] for not tipping. Which I suppose is some inner conflict I need to resolve and not the fault of the chick at starbucks.

Either way tho I think it is incredibly lame that the people who work at places like starbucks and subway feel they are entitled to tips, yet their job is nothing like any of the other proffesions that earn tips, and is pretty much exactly like the guy working the fryer at Mcdonalds who would never dream of getting tipped.

[ QUOTE ]
FWIW, I almost never tip at coffee shops. If the girl at the counter is especially cute I might. If I paid cash, I always leave my change on the countertop for the next person (same with fast food before I gave it up and grocery stores and stuff). Funny thing, yesterday at the coffee shop right outside Nordstrom I put my change on the counter (some really rando amount like $.72 or something) and walked over to pick up my drip. Like 15 seconds later as I was walking away to join some friends who already had a table, the 30'ish year old lady who was behind me in line yells at me in excitement to tell me I left her the exact change she needed. She seemed really over-excited by it which made me smile.

GoT

[/ QUOTE ]

I remember a long time ago in a thread talking about how I throw my pennies away because I dont want them, and you mentioned how you leave your change on the counter all the time. Since then i've been doing that a lot.

The drive thru by Hollywood Park used to have one, but I'm guessing it got stolen too many times.

[New001]

I always toss pennies and nickels (dimes sometimes, it depends) in the tip cups because I never spend them anyway, and that's better than them ending up on the floor or between the couch cushions or in the trash or wherever.

[GuyOnTilt]

[ QUOTE ]
Either way tho I think it is incredibly lame that the people who work at places like starbucks and subway feel they are entitled to tips, yet their job is nothing like any of the other proffesions that earn tips, and is pretty much exactly like the guy working the fryer at Mcdonalds who would never dream of getting tipped.

[/ QUOTE ]
If somebody, even if it's only one customer, might want to leave a tip for me, should I not accept it? It seems illogical for the employees not to have a tip cup available as long as the company allows it. That the cup is out there doesn't necessarily mean the employees feel any sort of "entitlement" to tips at all, although I would suspect some mentality of entitlement would form over time in the minds of some employees in some industries.

[ QUOTE ]
I remember a long time ago in a thread talking about how I throw my pennies away because I dont want them, and you mentioned how you leave your change on the counter all the time. Since then i've been doing that a lot.

[/ QUOTE ]
Woot!

GoT

[Alobar]

[ QUOTE ]

If somebody, even if it's only one customer, might want to leave a tip for me, should I not accept it? It seems illogical for the employees not to have a tip cup available as long as the company allows it.

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah, I suppose, but I think that falls into the "when will it end??" point of my post. How long before there is a tip cup at the counter of blockbusters, or in front of the cashier at WAL-mart? At some point you have to admit it becomes completely absurd, for me that point is a drive thru window at a menial job

[ QUOTE ]
That the cup is out there doesn't necessarily mean the employees feel any sort of "entitlement" to tips at all, although I would suspect some mentality of entitlement would form over time in the minds of some employees in some industries.

[/ QUOTE ]

I dunno, I think when you are perching a plastic cup on a 2" ledge outside a drive thru window, which is lets be honest, a completely RETARDED location in terms of security, it comes off as you feeling entilted to it.

[wacki]

[ QUOTE ]
If the girl at the counter is especially cute I might.

[/ QUOTE ]

/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

http://www.ankegroener.de/anke1/Bilder/reservoir_dogs.jpg

hi didnt tip.

[Skip Brutale]

[ QUOTE ]
Maybe this is common (god I hope not) and I just never knew it cuz I dont go to Starbucks. But I went to starbucks tonight to get hot chocolate for the GF, and there was a [censored] tip cup sitting on the ledge at the drive thru. Now to be clear, it wasnt the McDonalds, spare change for the needy type bin. It was a plastic cup with the word "Tips" written on it.

Even worse, it was actually full of money. I prayed to baby jesus that someone would drive off with it

[/ QUOTE ]

Why do you have a problem with starbucks employees getting tips? Do you feel they are overpayed?

[AJay2000]

being a server myself, I don't tip at starbucks, dunkin donuts, etc., because they don't SERVE me the way I do throughout an entire dining experience. Have I felt guilty at times about it? Yes, but I do a lot more [censored] than they do over the course of an hour or two than I should feel guilty about giving them .50-1.00

[MrFeelNothin]

[ QUOTE ]
http://www.ankegroener.de/anke1/Bilder/reservoir_dogs.jpg

hi didnt tip.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, Mr. Pink was the one that didn't tip. Thanks for playing, maybe next time.

[Gunny Highway]

The really disturbing thing is your girlfriend sending you down to starbucks in the middle of the night so she can have an overpriced hot chocolate.

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/5130/inherpooper8nz.jpg

[BadBoyBenny]

I think they are much more analogous to a bartender than the fryer cook.

FWIW I rarely tip if I am getting coffee or hot chocolate, but will tip if the drink requies some skill or effort.

[ QUOTE ]
There's drive thru starbucks?

WTF? How did I miss this? Not that I drink starbucks anyway.

[/ QUOTE ]

We have them all over ABQ. On every damned corner, and there's more to come I think.

Just tip your change, you cheap bastards.

ScottieK

[fyodor]

I always tip the change at donut/coffee shops whether I am inside or doing the drive-thru. We're talking about 25c here. What's the big deal?

I have never seen a tip cup at a drive-thru though.

Also a lot of drive-thru attendants are kind of shocked when I give them back the change. Might not be too common.

[odellthurman]

[ QUOTE ]
I always toss pennies and nickels (dimes sometimes, it depends) in the tip cups because I never spend them anyway, and that's better than them ending up on the floor or between the couch cushions or in the trash or wherever.

[/ QUOTE ]

People actually throw money into the trash?

[tolbiny]

[ QUOTE ]
The really disturbing thing is your girlfriend sending you down to starbucks in the middle of the night so she can have an overpriced hot chocolate.

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/5130/inherpooper8nz.jpg

[/ QUOTE ]


this is totally unecessary. The family guy "she'll pretty much have to" is far funnier, and better done.

[chesspain]

I stopped leaving change in the tip cups after it hit me that these semi-braindead employees rarely, if ever, will say "Thank You" afterwards.

[disjunction]

[ QUOTE ]

If somebody, even if it's only one customer, might want to leave a tip for me, should I not accept it?



[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed. My father once told me that there's a simple question you can ask yourself if you're the employee in a situation like this where you have a close situation, and you're deciding whether to leave the tip jar out or not:

"Would I rather the money were in my pocket or somebody else's?"

[Gunny Highway]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

If somebody, even if it's only one customer, might want to leave a tip for me, should I not accept it?



[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed. My father once told me that there's a simple question you can ask yourself if you're the employee in a situation like this where you have a close situation, and you're deciding whether to leave the tip jar out or not:

"Would I rather the money were in my pocket or somebody else's?"

[/ QUOTE ]

This is pathetic. It's like saying, "I'm, going to be standing around in this park anyway. I might as well put a tin cup out and panhandle."

[roundest]

I went to Chipotle a couple days ago. They had a tip jar as well. I'm not tipping in a freakin' cafeteria style restaurant.

[vexvelour]

If I have to get up and get my food, I'm not tipping. Tipping is for:

Tattoos/Piercings
Waiters/Waitresess
Pizza Guys/Chinese Delivery

and that's it. Starbucks is so overpriced as it is, I wouldn't give them another dime. (Exception: I know someone working and they give me free coffee, then I tip)

[disjunction]

Congratulations. You have discovered the fact that panhandlers make more money than they would if they didn't panhandle.

Now the only question is hourly rate.

Tipping at Starbucks is not like tipping a bartender because at Starbucks there is an exact way they have to make your drink. Whereas a bartender might poor a little extra alcohol in your mixed drink, a barista is not going to hook up any extra espresso or probably even think that you would want any extra. Starbucks is not freehand drink making, they go to school and learn exact proportions for uniformity of product. I recommend stealing the tip jar and giving it to one of the people who ring the bells at storefronts. I would never tip a coffee maker, same as I don't tip a bartender for opening a beer. A tip is money for service above and beyond, and all too often it's expected. I have ZERO problem not tipping, and I have worked in the service industry before.

[Gunny Highway]

[ QUOTE ]
Congratulations. You have discovered the fact that panhandlers make more money than they would if they didn't panhandle.

Now the only question is hourly rate.

[/ QUOTE ]

You just made my point. Of course they make money at it, but it's still pathetic, just like putting the stupid styrofoam cup out on the counter at Starbucks. There are a lot of things one can do for money if he's really pathetic. For instance, I'll give you $20 to eat some dog poo. You'll have money, but you'll also still be pathetic.

[disjunction]

[ QUOTE ]


You just made my point. Of course they make money at it, but it's still pathetic, just like putting the stupid styrofoam cup out on the counter at Starbucks. There are a lot of things one can do for money if he's really pathetic. For instance, I'll give you $20 to eat some dog poo. You'll have money, but you'll also still be pathetic.

[/ QUOTE ]

I said "if it's a close situation". Is eating dog poo a close situation? Panhandling might be if the money means something to you. I'm sure that the money in the tip jar means something to the workers. Enough that they probably wouldn't sweat a thread or two in OOT.

[Gunny Highway]

[ QUOTE ]
I said "if it's a close situation". Is eating dog poo a close situation? Panhandling might be if the money means something to you. I'm sure that the money in the tip jar means something to the workers. Enough that they probably wouldn't sweat a thread or two in OOT.

[/ QUOTE ]

Anything so pathetic as begging inappropriately for money (ie. putting a cup on a Starbucks counter) is not close.

[disjunction]

[ QUOTE ]


Anything so pathetic as begging inappropriately for money (ie. putting a cup on a Starbucks counter) is not close.

[/ QUOTE ]

You must have either a lot of money or a very low tolerance for people looking down on you.

[soko]

This is a friendly reminder to always tip generously to your food delivery couriers.

That is all

[Gunny Highway]

[ QUOTE ]
You must have either a lot of money or a very low tolerance for people looking down on you.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not really. I just have a sense of what is an appropriate way to earn a living versus begging. As I said, doing this is pretty much the same thing as panhandling, which I also don't do. Not because I care what strangers think of me for doing it, but because I care what I would think of me for doing it.

[PokerFink]

Where do we stand on tipping caterers?

A) If you hired them?
B) If you're a guest, but the waiter goes out of his way to serve you?

Just curious,
Fink

The tip jars on the counters at Starbucks aren't there to tempt those of you who normally don't tip to tip. They're there because a good number of regular customers like to tip. Its become such a part of their everyday routine, that they just tip the dollar no matter what. Now, if you wanna look at the tip jar, and be like, LOL not in a million years, that's up to you. But if you think, for a second, that any of us that work at Starbucks are gonna give up free money - especially this time of year - you've gotta be outta your goddamn mind.

Customers aren't expected to tip. Sure, the baristas would like you to tip, but Starbucks doesn't pay horribly for the kind of work we do, so its not like we're struggling for our tips. Tips are beer money. Tips are - hey, you're cute, here's a buck. Or, hey, you're always polite, make conversation with me, and make me feel like Im not just another customer... here's $.50 everyday. If you went to the same McDonalds everyday for a month, do you think Miguel would go to the trouble of chatting with you, getting your name, knowing what you liked to eat... even having it ready before you were done paying?

People tip at Starbucks because Starbucks generally takes care of its regular customers. I've even had people aghast that our credit card reciepts didnt have a line for them to tip on.

Not putting out that cup is akin to saying no to an extra $1.50/hr (or more, depending on the location of the store) per person in every store. Why should the employees turn that down because some people want to look down on it?

yasher

[GuyOnTilt]

[ QUOTE ]
Where do we stand on tipping caterers?

A) If you hired them?
B) If you're a guest, but the waiter goes out of his way to serve you?

Just curious,
Fink

[/ QUOTE ]
The same way all tipping should be handled: it's completely up to you. There are no right or wrong occupations or serivces to tip. If you appreciate something they're doing for you to the point where you want to show them monetarily above their normal pay, then tip them.

I have a busted back window on my auto due to a break in and had to call in and schedule for it to be done today at a shop in conjunction with the insurance. I absolutely have to have it done by tomorrow morning and because of something with the glue that needs to sit for several hours, I had to call around to four different places before I found a guy who reluctantly agreed to help me out instead of closing up shop early for the Christmas weekend as he had planned. I plan on tipping him well, which isn't the "correct" play for this industry, but who cares?

"We"? Screw society's rules; it's your money to tip, not theirs. Tipping "rules" are dumb. Tip for things YOU care about, and tip generously for those things.

GoT

[Gunny Highway]

[ QUOTE ]
Why should the employees turn that down because some people want to look down on it?

[/ QUOTE ]

I've already explained why, but really instead of turning it down, they should never beg for it in the first place. This argument is clearly a waste of time. There are some people here that view being polite and providing adequately-speedy service at the counter as simply the way counter-service should be conducted. Evidently there are some that don't feel that way and feel that they should pay extra for not having to stand at your counter for an inordinate amount of time. As I've said, in my view putting your little tin can out at a counter is akin to begging on a street corner. Why should you turn it down? I guess you shouldn't if you're not averse to begging for a living.

On of my cute female friends works at an independent starbucks-type coffee shop. She says she can make up to 40 bucks in tips per night on top of her wages.

[GuyOnTilt]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Why should the employees turn that down because some people want to look down on it?

[/ QUOTE ]

I've already explained why, but really instead of turning it down, they should never beg for it in the first place. This argument is clearly a waste of time. There are some people here that view being polite and providing adequately-speedy service at the counter as simply the way counter-service should be conducted. Evidently there are some that don't feel that way and feel that they should pay extra for not having to stand at your counter for an inordinate amount of time. As I've said, in my view putting your little tin can out at a counter is akin to begging on a street corner. Why should you turn it down? I guess you shouldn't if you're not averse to begging for a living.

[/ QUOTE ]
Try thinking a little more objectively. You see what they do as their job and their responsibility to you. That's fine and you should in no way feel the need to tip a barrista. However, to some people coffee may be one of their biggest joys in life and picking up their drink might be one of the best times of their everyday routine. They love the experience so much they really want to tip for it. If there is even one of these people coming in, it's not just okay for the emplyees to leave a tip cup out, it would be stupid not to. Like I said earlier, I don't typically tip for coffee 'cause I don't care that much, but I'm able to think outside myself enough to understand how other people may. Just because you don't care and personally would never find this service tip-worthy does not mean nobody else does. Having the cup out does not necessarily equal begging or intrusive or entitlement or whatever.

GoT

Gunny,

You keep talking in circles. You say they shouldnt beg for it. I say they're not, people want to give it. You say, hey, they shouldnt beg for it. If you don't want to tip, no one's saying you have to tip a barista. Or a bartender. Or even a waitress - though, that would make you an ass.

But if you were working a $7/hr job, I don't think you'd be looking down on an extra 20%, simply by putting a cup on a counter. Maybe you would. Maybe your morals are just that strong, and your view of it as begging is just that solid. At least you're consistent.

But I don't think you'd turn it down. Its easy to look down on it, and call it begging, from afar. I don't even think twice about it, and neither do 95% of our customers. The rest - like you - probably don't go to Starbucks enough to matter. Who wants $5 coffee anyway, right?

yasher

[Gunny Highway]

No. You're the one talking in circles. When a bum puts a tin can out, is he begging?

A waiter or bertender doesn't have to put out a tip cup because tipping is a normal part of his job and people know that and will tip him because it's appropriate to do so. Tipping counter help is not normal so they have to beg people to do it by sticking a little cup on the counter.

By the way, I have no idea what a barista is.

[Meech]

I wonder if you conducted a survey, how many people tip for the sheer enjoyment of tipping -vs- the pressure they felt to tip.

Personally, I think it's silly to see tip jars at starbucks & subway. Using GoT's logic, perhaps they should put a tip jar in the crapper since my morning dump is one of the more enjoyable parts of my day.

[ QUOTE ]
When a bum puts a tin can out, is he begging?

[/ QUOTE ]

Sure.

When a street musician opens his guitar case, is he begging?

[ QUOTE ]
A waiter or bertender doesn't have to put out a tip cup because tipping is a normal part of his job and people know that and will tip him because it's appropriate to do so.

[/ QUOTE ]

Do you think it began as part of the job? You tip bartenders so they give you better/stronger drinks - or, so they don't give you crappy drinks - depending on where you are. You tip waitresses because society has deemed it okay to pay them horrible wages, because, hey, people tip now. So, now you're falling back onto a very basic and inane premise. Society says I should tip X, so I tip X, but it says I shouldn't tip Y, so I don't tip Y. As has been said many, many times before, you should tip whom you want to tip - not whom society tells you to tip. Is that so difficult to grasp? If you're tipping a waitress because society says so, and not because you want to, you're much more of an idiot than I ever made you for. I'll be honest - I tip my change at places because I don't like to carry it around, and I tip an extra dollar to counter help if they're nice, polite, decent people. Because nice, polite, decent is not the standard in the industry. Its above and beyond.

[ QUOTE ]
Tipping counter help is not normal so they have to beg people to do it by sticking a little cup on the counter.

[/ QUOTE ]

Tipping counter help is becoming more and more normal, my shortsighted friend. How is not a "normal" thing if you see the tip cups at more places than you don't see em? Burger King, McDonalds, and the like - I believe - have rules preventing those tip jars. Starbucks doesn't, and even encourages it. The tip jars are the stores I've worked in - and 90% of the stores I've been in - are very bland, small, plastic, unmarked things. They strike me as being the least intimidating, most unobtrusive way to encourage tipping. If you equate "encouraging" tipping with begging, then I don't know where else this conversation can go. I don't really like the huge, in your face, HEY TIP ME jars with big signs that say TIPS on them. But that's bias.

Oh, the barista is the dude behind the counter making your drink, exactly the way you want it, everytime you order it.

I think GoT hit the nail squarely on the head.

[ QUOTE ]
Just because you don't care and personally would never find this service tip-worthy does not mean nobody else does. Having the cup out does not necessarily equal begging or intrusive or entitlement or whatever.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why would I want to deny people the ability to tip me? Even if it means slightly suggesting it? There's certainly a line that's drawn... I don't ever suggest people tip, I don't expect tips, and I don't find ways to nudge the tip jar or whatever... that's just debasing yourself. But the act of putting the tip jar on the counter doesn't constitute begging, in my world. The choice to not put it out is a choice that cuts my coworkers salaries by 20%. Easy choice.

yasher

[StacysMom]

My first job in HS was at tacobell. I got one tip in 6 months and I had no idea if I was even allowed to accept it.