A woman who has spent time working in restaurants says she is not against tipping. She is against tipping for everything. In a fired up TikTok video, @yourcorporatebestie lays out exactly who gets a tip from her and who does not, and the drive thru window and the ice cream counter did not make the cut.
“Tipping culture is out of control bro kiss my butt,” she wrote in her caption, which gives a pretty good sense of the mood.
She makes it clear from the first second that she is not looking for agreement. Her complaint is about tip requests for things that, in her words, nobody would have thought to tip for until about three years ago. “I’m sorry, it’s not happening,” she says.
Who Makes Her Tip List
Her rules are not stingy. In fact, her list of people she happily tips is long.
“Service providers are one thing,” she says, naming tattoo artists, cosmetologists, estheticians, hairdressers and makeup artists. Servers and delivery drivers are on the list too.
She even tips on some takeout and to go orders, and she explains why. She has worked in restaurants herself as a server, an expo, the person who gets plates out of the kitchen and to the right table, and a host. “I get it,” she says.
Then she gets to the two places where she draws a hard line. “Drive through, no,” she says, with a few words we cannot print. And a single scoop at Ben and Jerry’s? Also no. “It’s not happening.”
Her point is not that the people working those jobs do not work hard. It is that a tip used to be a reward for personal service, and she does not see handing a cone across a counter or passing a bag through a window as the same thing as cutting hair or carrying plates to a table for an hour.
@yourcorporatebestie
Why Tip Requests Seem to Be Everywhere
If you feel like you are being asked for a tip more often than you used to be, you are not imagining it. The spread of tablet style payment systems at counters made it easy for any business to add a tip prompt, and many did. Today you may see one at a bakery, a sandwich shop, a self serve frozen yogurt store, a car wash and even some retail checkouts.
The screens are designed to nudge. Many start at 18 or 20 percent, put the no tip option in small print, and swing the screen toward you while an employee stands right there. It is no wonder so many people feel guilty tapping skip.
There is also a difference in how workers are paid. Sit down restaurant servers in many states can be paid a lower hourly wage, with tips expected to make up the rest. Most counter and drive thru workers are paid at least the regular minimum wage. That is one reason many people, like this creator, see tipping a server as necessary and tipping a cashier as optional.
A Simple Tipping Guide for Today
Tipping customs are personal, and there is no law that tells you what to leave. But these common standards can help you feel confident instead of pressured:
- Sit down restaurants: 15 to 20 percent of the pre tax bill, more for great service or a demanding table.
- Hair stylists, barbers, nail techs and estheticians: about 15 to 20 percent is customary. If the salon owner does your service, many people still tip.
- Food delivery: a few dollars at minimum, or 10 to 20 percent of the order, more in bad weather or for a long drive.
- Takeout: optional. Many people leave around 10 percent for a big or complicated order that took time to pack.
- Counter service, coffee and ice cream: optional. Change in the tip jar or a dollar or two is a nice gesture, especially at a place you visit often, but it is not expected the way a restaurant tip is.
- Hotel housekeeping: a few dollars per night, left daily with a short note so it is clear the money is meant for the person cleaning your room.
- Drive thru: generally not expected, and many fast food chains do not allow employees to accept tips at all.
How to Say No Without the Guilt
If you decide not to tip on a screen, you do not need to explain yourself. Tap no tip, smile and say thank you. Nobody keeps score, and the worker likely sees dozens of skipped screens a day.
If you want to tip but not at the suggested amount, look for the custom button and enter a dollar figure instead of a percentage. On a $5 ice cream cone, 20 percent is only a dollar, but on a large family order the percentages add up quickly.
And if you are not sure whether the tip goes to the employees, it is fair to ask. Most workers will gladly tell you how tips are shared.
The bottom line is that a tip should feel like a thank you, not a toll. Deciding your own rules ahead of time, the way this creator has, makes every checkout a little less awkward.
More From Cultivated Comfort
- Woman Says It Is Immoral to Tip in Certain Situations After an Airbnb Host Sent a Message Telling a Guest They Expected a Tip and Listed Suggested Tip Amounts
- Diner Orders at a Self Serve Kiosk Fills Their Own Drink and Stacks Their Own Dishes Then the Screen Still Asks for a Twenty Twenty Five or Thirty Percent Tip
- Former Applebees Waiter Who Worked Fourteen Hour Shifts for Two Dollars an Hour Says Servers Today Take Fifteen Minutes to Bring a Sweet Tea and Still Want a Fifteen Dollar Tip
