Man Says He's Done Tipping After Tattoo Artist Asks Why He Didn't Tip On A $1000 Tattoo
He isn't alone in his frustration around today's tipping culture.
PeopleImages | Shutterstock A man recently shared on Reddit that he paid $1,000 for a tattoo and wasn't aware he was expected to give a tip. Now, he's questioning the integrity of tipping culture and considering stopping the practice altogether.
He certainly isn't wrong. Tipping fatigue is becoming a real problem. Getting a coffee? Tip. Using a self-checkout screen? Tip. It started off as a fair way to pay service industry workers better and to show appreciation for good service, but it feels like it’s gotten out of hand.
A man said he's done with tipping after he was asked why he didn't tip after paying for a premium $1,000 tattoo.
Manel Ponce Rodriguez | Shutterstock
The frustrated man explained that he was born in another country but grew up in Western Canada. When he learned about tipping, it made sense, as it seemed fair to give servers extra money since they’re paid less than minimum wage. “Fair enough, I guess,” the man wrote.
He said he didn't think much about the whole tipping practice, aside from it being generally reserved for servers, until he got a tattoo from a "premium artist." It was his first piece. He loved the result and was happy to pay $1,000 for it. But afterward, a mutual friend asked him if he didn’t like the tattoo. The man replied that he actually loved it, only for the friend to tell him the artist said he hadn’t tipped him.
He wrote, "I was like, 'Wait… what was the $1,000 for then?' He just said, 'Yeah, but the tip is separate.' I was so confused, lol." Unfortunately, even with the steep pricetag, tipping for tattoos is pretty standard in the industry. Despite his snafu, it led him down a rabbit hole of tipping culture in general and left him bitter about the practice.
The man expressed his frustration with tipping being expected in almost all retail situations.
He wrote, "Now it feels like everyone wants a tip the barista, the sandwich guy, even the self-checkout screen sometimes. I’ve been hitting 'zero tip' at Starbucks and Subway without a second of guilt."
He's certainly not alone in his frustration; in fact, the term tipping fatigue has been coined to express exactly how hard it is to be generous when everyone seems to have their hand out.
"Consumers have reached something called 'tipping fatigue,'" Ted Jenkin, co-founder of oXYGen Financial, told FOX Business. "Americans do want to tip a job well done, but they don’t want to be told what they should tip while someone watches them enter their tip. It’s that tipping pressure of the automated systems that is creating this counterculture of people wanting to tip less."
It's more than that, though. Tips were once reserved for workers who earned less than the minimum wage, like servers, and then, occasionally, tipping was done to show appreciation to others. Now, it's seen as an obligation. You're judged for how much or how little, and if you tip at all. But does the pharmacist need a tip? How about the electrician? Self-checkout lanes certainly don't need a tip, but they still ask for one.
Servers in Canada make minimum wage.
The man's disappointment with the tattoo artist seemed to bleed into his distaste for tipping in general, and it's the perfect example of how things have gone truly wrong when it comes to a practice that was meant to be something positive once upon a time.
Not all countries have a tipping salary like in the U.S., where servers are paid below minimum wage because tips are factored into their salary. In fact, in Canada, most provinces don’t have a tipped minimum wage, which means workers who receive tips are paid the same as non-tipped workers.
The man then added that because of this, he’s planning on not tipping at restaurants anymore. “I’ll pay for the food,” he wrote, “and if servers want more money, maybe they should take it up with their employers instead of customers.” After having to tip in so many different places, he said he doesn’t want to do it anywhere anymore.
A recent survey by WalletHub found that nearly 9 in 10 Americans think tipping culture has gotten out of control, meaning it’s everywhere. In addition, 3 in 5 Americans believe that businesses are using customer tips to replace the pay they should be giving their employees.
And it doesn’t stop there. Researchers also found that 83% of people think automatic service charges, which have become quite popular lately, should be banned. An interesting and almost funny finding is that nearly 3 in 10 Americans tip less whenever they’re presented with a tip suggestion screen.
While this particular guy's rant is a bit all over the place, the fact is, when tips are expected everywhere for everything, the meaning is completely lost. We are all sort of scraping by in the current economy, and it's getting harder to discern where tips are actually needed and deserved.
Matt Machado is a writer studying journalism at the University of Central Florida. He covers relationships, psychology, celebrities, pop culture, and human interest topics.
