Public shaming on tipping sparks debate: Who pays 25 percent to a cashier for a muffin?

Every day across America, an untold number of men and women are being guilt-tripped into tipping cashiers as they purchase items from coffee shops, food trucks, gas stations and other businesses that charge their customers via the mobile iPhone/iPad payment app Square.

It’s one thing to tip a server; it’s another altogether to tip a cashier. Yet the Square app has been designed in such a fashion that most customers wind up feeling compelled to leave a tip.

“It’s so awkward. You press the middle button so you don’t look cheap to the people behind you in line,” Connecticut resident Mina Dimyan said to The Wall Street, describing what happens every time he purchases a $3 cup of coffee from his local cafe.

He explained that after the cashier swipes his credit card, she swivels the cafe’s iPad his way so that he may sign his name and choose a tip: 18%, 20%, 25%, custom or no tip.

Dimyan would rather not leave a tip for a $3 purchase handed to him by a cashier, but he doesn’t want to feel embarrassed or offend the employee. He’s not alone. The Journal cited numerous other Americans who experience the same ordeal day in and day out.

Included among them was not comedian Michael Loftus, who made it clear during an appearance Saturday morning on “Fox & Friends” that he doesn’t play the guilt-trip game.

“That’s not how any of this works!” he declared. “I waited tables. I would work people through an entire evening … there’s a process. I actually worked. When you just bend over and hand me a stale blueberry muffin, you don’t get extra. They should actually tip us for not choking them.”

As for those like Dimyan who feel compelled to tip when confronted by the mischievous iPad, Loftus suggested they find someone as “rude” as him to accompany them.

“Hopefully you’ve got someone like me with you — someone who will be rude,” he said. “I’ll say, ‘The iPad’s broken. I don’t want to leave a tip.’ I will be rude. I will look at everybody else in line like, ‘I’m taking one for the team.’ I’m going to be the loud, obnoxious guy who refuses to tip. You’re welcome!”

When one of the hosts asked him if perhaps the app was purposefully designed to shame people, he replied by arguing that “it’s all about public shaming.”

“There’s a Chinese food in the food court close to where I live … and they ask you if you want to like donate your extra change to some crazy charity. And they like ask you out loud. Like all of a sudden, you have to answer, ‘Nooooo. I just want some chicken-fried rice. I don’t hate children!'”

That’s funny. So were some of the reactions on social media:

Then again, some of the reactions on social media were very whiny — kind of like liberals:

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!

Success! Thank you for donating. Please share BPR content to help combat the lies.
Vivek Saxena

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

BPR INSIDER COMMENTS

Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!

Latest Articles