Hernandez 1

Randy Hernandez

Professor Rosenfeld

9/27/17

ENG 113A

Final Draft Tipping: The Social Nuisance

Why does the average everyday consumer tip? Is it because they like the service they

were given, or maybe because they feel sorry for the waiters/waitress minimum wage? Dozens

of questions such as the ones shown above, have been asked as to why consumers tip. In his

article,The Capitalists: The Case Against Tipping, Michael Lewis states that tipping is

unnecessary and it sometimes doesnt give the consumer the benefit of discretion, he goes into

detail how tipping has become a social annoyance and even relates the modern day tip to a tax.

Michael Lewis uses some minor vulgar language to help stress his point and even brings up some

personal experiences from his sources to further help his point and ends ups trying to be

relatable. Therefore tipping should not be enacted anymore. Tipping makes the consumers feel

taken advantage of and these consumers end up feeling guilty, consumers may not be financially

stable, and business owners should pay better wages.

Other sources explain that tipping is useful, helps the economy, and it is the nice thing to

do. They also go into detail how people get paid minimum wage and show you are a good

person. However these sources fails to realize that not all consumers are financially stable to give

out money just because an employee was nice. Consumers may not be financially stable, or

might be dealing with poverty. This really affects the service these consumers get, because at
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times employees will entirely flip their behavior and give the consumer the absolute worst

service they were ever given. Consumers give tips to at times avoid these situations which make

them more inclined to leave a better tip, Diaz said(Arellano, 2016). Business owners need to

realize that not all of their consumers are financially stable. Also, the fact that some more

wealthy consumers tend to over tip for the service they were given, these people make others

look bad and is too excessive. People who tip excessively are instantly seen as dirtbag snouty

rich people.

Tipping often makes the consumer feel taken advantage of. Also, in some businesses the

tip is included in the bill and this often makes the consumer feel guilty for their discretion.

Which also affects consumers who are dealing with poverty and often feel pressured with their

decision. Whether you are financially stable or not,the more discretion you have in the matter

the more unpleasant it is,and,the less discretion the consumer has in the matter, the more

useless it is an economic incentive(Lewis,1997). Consumers often feel taken advantage of

because their discretion on tipping. As Michael Lewis tells use about the plastic cup

shakedown which is exactly what it sounds like. Consumers have usually seen plastic cups that

read We appreciate your tip or Tips Please. The Shakedown part is like sticking a gun to

someone's face and demanding them to do stuff. Tipping, in general, is always forced down the

consumers throat and hammered in with social media shaming.

Tipping is often forced by business owners by including the tip in the bill. Business

owners should pay better wages to avoid making tipping a tax and completely annihilating the

term of discretion. Throughout the years the prices for survival needs have been rising thus

making some of the consumers to having more financial troubles. This makes it even more of a
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hassle when consumers are dealing with poverty and having to pay an extra 20% to an employee

who gave terrible service. There is a line between wants and needs, and for some consumers

wants are usually not an option. Technically speaking tipping a want, You want to give this

person an extra $5, but , You dont need to because, this service worker called you selfish for

not giving them an extra $5. Julio states,I make $5 extra bucks(Julio, 2017). Which should

have been included in his paycheck. Business owners at times even publicly shame their

consumers through social media, which is both unnecessary and at the same tips scares away

future consumers and further diminishes the business owner's entire business. For example a

famous athlete gave a 0.20$ tip to a waiter, and the owner of the restaurant publicly shamed the

athlete on social media.

Appreciation is the recognition and enjoyment of the good qualities of someone or

something. Appreciation can be shown in different ways, tipping should not be one of them.

Consumers can leave them a good review on yelp as an alternative. One question is often asked:

isnt a thank you enough?, employees find a thank you more enthusiastic than receiving a

couple of dollars. Not only is tipping forced, but in other countries it is not polite. In other

countries tipping is seen as disrespectful. For example, in Japan it is like telling the employee

you are terrible at your jobor you didnt live up to your expectations, so take this money.

The reasoning to this is because if you are terrible at simple math, simply taking someones

order, or just really disrespectful; the employee is completely devoid of skills which makes

people feel sad for you. This enteren makes people want to give the employee extra money,

because you are devoid of skill, and so forth gives consumers the mentality that the employee is

completely out of job opportunities.

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In conclusion tipping should not be enacted anymore. For the reason that tipping makes

the consumers feel taken advantage of or they feel guilty for their discretion. Also, in some

businesses the tip is included in the bill and this often makes the consumer feel guilty for their

discretion. Consumers may not be financially stable and might be dealing with poverty. Business

owners should pay better wages seeing as prices are always rising. There are different ways to

show appreciation such as leaving a good review on yelp as an alternative which brings the

question ,isnt a thank you enough?. Also, in countries such as Japan it seen as impolite and

you are terrible at your jobor you didnt live up to your expectations, so take this money.
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Work Cited

The Art of Tipping by Audrey Arellano, Oct. 11, 2016, Sundial

http://sundial.csun.edu/2016/10/the-art-of-tipping/

The Capitalist: The Case Against Tipping by Michael Lewis, Sept. 21,1997, The New York

Times Magazine

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/21/magazine/the-capitalist-the-case-against-tipping.html?mcu

bz=1

Hernandez, Julio. Personal Interview. 25 September 2017