One thing I find especially evident in younger kids is the inability to understand nonverbal cues, like a dirty look. I also find that a lot of younger kids don't realize that the snotty, whiny expressions are not going to win them any sort of respect or help unless the person helping feels sorry for them. It's bad enough that I had to explain the value of hard work to kids who were three years younger than me (I'm 23) in the past year, or why jobs that aren't part of the tipped service industry generally don't require tips for mediocre service.
Not that my own generation is much better sometimes... I find that there are fewer and fewer people out there in my age range that had an "old fashioned" upbringing that included some lessons in common sense and manners.
That interesting because while I worked my ass off in school, I am not out in the "real world" and have become a slacker. I'm also 23 and find it nearly impossible to work hard and focus on something I don't really care about for 8 hours a day. Even while in school, I could work hard at my part-time retail job becasue there were only 3 hour shifts. So, heh, maybe I could use a lecture on hard work cause I really don't see the point in putting forth any more effort than necessary in order to get the job done and get my paycheck.
Well, it was a sucky job, I admit. But some of these people were expecting tips when they were 1) making above minimum wage, 2) working a job that wasn't hard, and 3) not quite getting the job done properly. There's something to be said about not doing the job right in foodservice, where a job not done well can equal food poisoning.
Would you still ask for tips at a job where you made sandwiches for 50 cents above minimum wage and didn't do much else? If you did, would you still not understand that tips aren't mandatory for those who don't have to depend on tips to make minimum wage or better? Yes, the job sucked, and yes, we probably deserved to be paid more for our work, but we didn't deserve tips just because we had to do our jobs.
I don't know. I worked for above minimum wage during school and was sometimes annoyed when people didn't tip me, usually only when I was clearly really busy and people were being rude. I was just selling food and not preparing it, so didn't expect tips, but I was certainly nicer to people who tipped. I also always tip if I see a jar, though.
I agree that there is a lot to be said about not preparing food properly, and if I was doing that, I would expect to be fired. It's just the whole "above and beyond" attitude that annoys me. People should be expected to perform their job, and nothing more.
It was assembly line style food prep, so there wasn't much difficulty in preparing sandwiches. We didn't have a tip jar, and I was fine with that. However, some of the younger coworkers assumed that there "should" be a tip jar, regardless of the job. Meh, I worked harder at other jobs that paid less, so I was happy to be paid as much as I was.
They probably just realized that there were people like me, who would tip if they saw the jar. I try not to tip based on service because then it punishes people for having a bad day, and I'm know I'm not the only person like that.
Back to the article, though, I think there is a link between increased use of communications technology younger people being more willing to do things like ask for a tip jar where there isn't one because they are probably more able to find people who will validate that opinion. With increased communication like that, it's not very hard to find someone who will sympathize with you, so it's a lot easier to not care about social mores. It is all about feeling accepted, and it's likely that these people's friends, either in person or online, thought that all service workers should be tipped.
I think it depends on the job. I've worked assembly line food service before (Maggie Moo's Ice Cream, if you want to know), and it was the hardest, shittiest job I've ever had (and I've had some doozies). We had a tip jar, and it was because we made $0.25 above minimum wage, had 5 hour understaffed shifts so they didn't have to give us a lunch break or health insurance, and got screwed on the paychecks so many ways I can't count them all (e.g. forced unpaid 10 minute breaks). Sounds like you got lucky with your job.
No, the tips aren't mandatory, but it is nice to have the jar if people want to tip.
Yeah. We were working on a college campus, in a Quizno's. There was some work that nobody wanted to do (like washing dishes), but the work seriously wasn't that hard. Yes, we were almost always busy (3rd busiest Quizno's in the nation, according to stats), but it really wasn't a hard job.
I'm going to school for visual anth. in the fall. I'm not completely sure about academia, but I'll have filmmaking skills and will be able to freelance if it doesn't work out. Of course that's not very stable either, but I have to at least try.
Not that my own generation is much better sometimes... I find that there are fewer and fewer people out there in my age range that had an "old fashioned" upbringing that included some lessons in common sense and manners.
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Would you still ask for tips at a job where you made sandwiches for 50 cents above minimum wage and didn't do much else? If you did, would you still not understand that tips aren't mandatory for those who don't have to depend on tips to make minimum wage or better? Yes, the job sucked, and yes, we probably deserved to be paid more for our work, but we didn't deserve tips just because we had to do our jobs.
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I agree that there is a lot to be said about not preparing food properly, and if I was doing that, I would expect to be fired. It's just the whole "above and beyond" attitude that annoys me. People should be expected to perform their job, and nothing more.
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Back to the article, though, I think there is a link between increased use of communications technology younger people being more willing to do things like ask for a tip jar where there isn't one because they are probably more able to find people who will validate that opinion. With increased communication like that, it's not very hard to find someone who will sympathize with you, so it's a lot easier to not care about social mores. It is all about feeling accepted, and it's likely that these people's friends, either in person or online, thought that all service workers should be tipped.
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No, the tips aren't mandatory, but it is nice to have the jar if people want to tip.
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