OPINION

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By Lawson Vaughan

The digital kiosk at a local ice cream store, Deluca Gelato. Photo credit: Lawson Vaughan. 

Have you ever felt that two-second panic when the cashier turns their iPad around, and you’re not sure whether or not to tip on your already expensive $6.00 ice cream cone? The options you’re presented with are 10%, 15%, 20%, and the dreaded “None.” You can feel the cashier’s eyes watching you make your decision. You were always told that the courteous thing to do is to tip 20% on a meal, but what do you tip on ice cream? Do you really want to spend $7.20 on your small ice cream? If you have gotten a sweet treat lately, you have probably endured this stressful situation. Being prompted for a 20%, 25%, and 35% tip on a coffee or a takeout meal is starting to feel overwhelmingly unnecessary.

In a study reported from Pew Research in November, around 72% of Americans feel that they are being asked to tip at more places than five years ago. Sarah Morrison at Vox calls it “tipflation.” She describes three stories of people who were asked for a tip on something that does not require a service, which included merchandise at a concert, items from a local grocery store, and making a reservation online for apple picking. All of these included no specific customer service. Morrison writes that tip inflation has been impacted by technology, social pressure, and the pandemic. 

I agree with the idea that technology has created an impact on tipping culture in America. The use of technology with digital payments and touch screen tips makes money seem theoretical. With the use of online payments and digital transactions, the physical idea of money is lost, which can result in the customer tipping differently than they usually would. The kiosks prompt the customer to give money without having to say anything. Morrison explains the impact of social pressure on tipping; most people tip due to social pressure because they feel as though they “don’t want to deviate from a long-established norm — especially if other people are watching and possibly judging them.”

Most Americans have a clear understanding of what is customary to tip at a restaurant. According to Pew Research, 92% say they always or often tip when they sit down to eat at a restaurant. This is considered standard in America, due to the hospitality of waiters and waitresses, and the low base wages that they often make. And 25% say they always or often tip when buying a beverage at a coffee shop. But should we be tipping our baristas? 

Minimum wage for those who work for tips is $2.13 in Virginia, but their total wages plus tips must exceed standard minimum wage, which is $12.00 an hour. It’s due to these sorts of policies that  companies and restaurants can pay their employees less, if tips compensate for wages. But a tip should be given for good service, not to pay wages. The issue in tipping is not with the companies whose workers provide a service for these tips; it’s people who don’t work for the tips asking for them. I think tips should be paid to baristas when the service is appropriate, not out of obligation or social pressures. 

Maddie Jewett (‘25) says, “I feel anxiety when the iPad flips to me, and I have to pick a tip.” Harper Hailes (‘24) feels that the new tipping culture in America “makes the customer feel uncomfortable when they are asked if they should leave a tip for a worker who hasn’t done much.” 

In a CNBC article explaining how tipping has gotten out of control, Mike Lynn, a professor of consumer behavior and marketing at Cornell University, stated that, “I have to believe tips are going to go up from where they are today. But I also think there’s got to be a logical ceiling somewhere. I just don’t know where it is.” Tipping in America has truly changed, making people tip in new places and situations.