Thoughts on Tipping

Tipping. Often our brain's last remaining useful application of mental math. You've had a nice meal with friends or your date and then the bill comes back. The stress begins and you tug at your collar or fidget with your jewelry as the thought bubbles begin to flood your mind:

How much to tip? (15%?)
Was the service really that bad? (20%?)
Was it really that good? (let's compromise at 18)
Who do I blame for that salty pork chop? (18?...Shit, I need a calculator)
I wanted ranch on the side!!! (I'll just round to the nearest dollar)
I know I tip the bellman but what about the person who cleans my room? (Carry the 1...)
I know restaurants are at least X percent, but what about the nail salon?
-Quick - let's leave before they see what we wrote!

While a stressful practice stateside, tipping is not practiced extensively in most developed countries, and it can even be considered rude.  From restaurants and bars to nail and hair salons, tipping is woven into many of society's transactions.  If not for credit cards, you'd need more $1's than Blondie if you were to take a cab from the airport to your upscale hotel, make a quick trip to the nail salon before dinner and then meet a friend for dinner.  As part of the tipping debate, it's necessary to emphasize that in many of these service industries, those receiving these tips rely on them as a significant part of their income, and without them, many of these workers would not earn what most consider a living wage.

A recent discussion prompted me to consider why we tip. Is it a customary procedure to keep our STEM skills sharpened?  Is it to reward those who are exceptional at their job - to in effect give micro-bonuses? As someone who is privileged/spoiled to have very limited service industry experience, I have no firsthand knowledge of the effort, patience and energy it takes to work these jobs.  Furthermore, this same privilege and desired career track has led me to a salaried position that provides 8 hours' pay, even when some hours are admittedly more productive than others. Most days I believe I add value to the projects I'm working on and teams I'm a part of; however, some days my mind drifts more than it perhaps should or I didn't sleep well or one or a hundred possibilities.
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Pretend it's 4:00 on Friday, just before your 3 day weekend begins and the office is already nearly empty.  Or maybe you're not feeling well but can't afford to take time off.  Or maybe you've had a death or serious illness in your family but are still at work, trying to push through until the funeral.  Whatever the reason - hangover or heartache, many of us have the privilege of being able to continue billing hours, even when we know we're not giving our best work, and we know there will likely be no direct impact.  No one bills these hours at a lower rate or tells their supervisor - "I didn't deserve my full salary today when I was thinking about my ill family member...or my upcoming vacation"  Yet, conversely, how many of us start to wonder if we deserve a bonus after a few focused 10 hour+ days, weekend warrior campaigns, or back to back weeks of exceptional effort?
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After that tough day at the office, you head to the nearest restaurant to avoid the effort of cooking and cleaning.  Your service is a little slow, the food isn't cooked to your liking, and they forgot to put ranch on the side.  Or, after heading to the salon after a long day at the office you notice your new 'do doesn't look quite as fresh as it usually does or perhaps your cab driver missed a street on the way home, adding precious minute(s) to your trip home.
In how many of these instances does your waitress/stylist/driver deserve a lower tip?  Most would argue that we tip on performance, just as salaries/bonuses are similarly influenced by production.  Yet, it could be argued that in service industries, the relationship between performance and compensation is both more immediate and greater in magnitude than in most professional industries.

Most professional jobs come with higher salary ceiling than most service industry jobs. Should society further reduce service industry workers' wages if they aren't at the very top of their game 100% of the time?  An alternative compensation structure would be to increase service workers' hourly wages so that they can earn a decent living without tips, and then encourage society only to tip when service is extraordinary.  If service is average, then the servers/stylists/etc will receive no additional money, but if they go above and beyond, you can leave an additional 5 or 10%, knowing that the worker will see this gesture to indicate a job well-done.  Workers are still incentivized to get it right and give extra effort, but are not punished severely on off-nights.
In addition to perhaps becoming a small solution to the nation's growing income mobility and inequality issues, this policy would simplify our shopping, dining, and transportation experiences.  Forget calculating the tip.  That $15.00 quinoa burger & kale fries might come with sticker shock, but the listed price would capture the true cost of preparing it for you and paying the wait staff, not $12.49 + whatever tip you think should be added.

Paralleling other wage-related and inequality issues, the American service industry should re-consider its stance on tipping and transition from an industry where its workers often rely on tips to one where tips are merely appreciated.  If they work 40 hours a week, stylists, waiters, taxi drivers and many other service industry workers should make enough in base salary to cover their own food and shelter needs.  If they give great service, then diners and others should be encouraged to give an additional tip for a job well done - like an immediate micro spot bonus that many of your companies may give.  If service was average, customers can leave without tipping but with the knowledge the person serving them was still paid a decent wage. Service workers can do their jobs without the stress of worrying about rude college kids leaving a 10 cent tip on a 40 dollar meal, while still having an incentive to provide impeccable service.

Research: http://tippingresearch.com/uploads/Waiter_Survey_Initial_Report__1_.pdf

http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/04/everything-dont-know-tipping.html
Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes353031.htm