A Prompt to Think About Tipping
Tuesday, May 09, 2023
The Wall Street Journal reports that automated checkout screens are prompting for tips -- even for completely machine-mediated transactions.
Amusingly to me, this raises a moral dilemma for some people:
I agree that this can be irritating, but that's it because it might be an attempt at emotional blackmail.Garrett Bemiller enjoyed not removing his AirPods or making eye contact with anyone when buying an early-morning bottle of water at an OTG gift shop at New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport a few weeks ago. Seeing the option on the self-checkout screen to add 10% to 20% to his $6 bottle of water caught him off-guard.
Image by Clay Banks, via Unsplash, license.
"Just the prompt in general is a bit of emotional blackmail," says the 26-year-old, who works in public relations in New York City. He skipped the tip.
But in the end, it's emotional blackmail only if you let it be -- specifically if you subscribe to the idea, frequently mixed in with tipping, that the mere fact of having money puts you in hock to those who don't:
Do not hide behind such superficialities as whether you should or should not give a dime to a beggar. That is not the issue. The issue is whether you do or do not have the right to exist without giving him that dime. The issue is whether you must keep buying your life, dime by dime, from any beggar who might choose to approach you. The issue is whether the need of others is the first mortgage on your life and the moral purpose of your existence. The issue is whether man is to be regarded as a sacrificial animal. Any man of self-esteem will answer "No." Altruism says: "Yes." [bold added] (Ayn Rand, in "Faith and Force: The Destroyers of the Modern World," in Philosophy: Who Needs It)I personally feel zero pressure to tip from such prompts or from tip jars at counters for services for which there is no longstanding custom of tipping.
Indeed, I'll take the companies at their word who "say tips are an optional thanks for a job well done:" I can conceive of a circumstance in which I might want to leave a generous tip.
So, great: I can do that, if it happens.
But for an unassisted purchase at an automated kiosk or a self-checkout station? Absolutely not, and unlike the person in the story who tips when someone is looking, I'm happy to explain myself if some busybody ever calls me on not tipping. I'll say it's not on me to make up for a cheap employer, and that the people there should find a better one.
-- CAV
4 comments:
Another reason those tip requests are annoying is because they are impolite and represent bad manners. I put them in the same bucket as those constant dreary requests to donate or round up your payment for some charity or another.
"Sheesh. You're a business not a charity."
Also, it's one of those things where a single instance is probably no sacrifice, but everyone appears to be asking nowadays, and if you do a lot of shopping, assenting to all or even the majority of the requests would be a significant sacrifice.
Steve,
Oh, yes. Those other things are definitely for the birds and, unlike some cases of tip options, are rude attempts at emotional blackmail.
They are putting people on the spot for donations, knowing full well that many people fold like a cheap lawn chair when it comes to alleged moral obligations based on altruism.
Gus
I actually have a different take on those requests for donations. They could serve as a viable alternative to government action in the case of welfare programs--people could donate to the causes voluntarily (or not, as they choose) rather than having the money forcibly taken out of our paychecks. I'd happily hit "No" on a touch screen instead of needing to prove to the IRS that I'm not a criminal because of my employer's actions every year! Especially since I can click "No" with no consequences.
For my part I've never felt pressured to donate to a keypad, nor understand the existence of such pressure. It's just about the lowest form of peer pressure you can have; if you can't stand up to a computer asking a question, you're not going to have much money for long anyway. We are a nation founded by the bloody revolt against our rulers; we should be able to confidently tell a computer no!! Plus, for personal reasons I donate to several charities that are likely to directly help me and my family (things like research into hereditary diseases that we're prone to, for example), and I've found "I've made my budget for charitable donations for the year" effectively shuts down the conversation. And remember, a budget of $0 is still a budget.
Dinwar,
True: Whether one finds it annoying or not, these solicitations don't hold a candle to taxation.
Gus
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