FAILING TO TIP

Let me second my friend and fellow blogger Bill Geist on “tipping” or the plague of low or no tippers.

Coincidentally, at DCVB we’re updating the tipping guidelines used to inform residents and visitors how and when to tip.

But it started me wondering, how many parents, how many schools cover tipping when they teach “life skills?” How do people learn to tip and what amount to tip and what a tip represents? Seems to me tipping guidelines should also be clearly posted where it is customary…,e.g. cabs, restaurants, bars, bell stands, night stands, etc.

Tipping represents two things. One, it is maybe the first form of performance based incentive or compensation and two, where customary, it is an implied contract between customer and business that a part of the person’s compensation will be tips. As an article on msnbc.com reported, we shouldn’t eliminate a tip altogether for the front line person who may be at the mercy of other employees. If we have a complaint, fill out a complaint form…don’t just stiff someone.

So why are people cheap? I wonder if a big piece of it is a combination of ignorance and lack of information.