A Trend To Stop Tipping Is Starting In New Jersey

There is definitely tipping fatigue happening in New Jersey.  It is spawning a trend to say no to the tip in a pandemic world, so I have to ask, from a consumer standpoint, are you being asked to tip too often?

Many of you are saying absolutely and it is getting out of hand.  Most of us are dealing with financial restraints, not just servers.  It can feel like you can't do anything anymore without someone asking for more money. 

Are you a good tipper generally?  I can tell you as someone who used to serve tables in between non-compete radio contracts, we appreciate the generosity deeply.  It is like Christmas morning to see what you left us on that table.  What you decide to leave can make or break the entire night for us because the paycheck of a server won't get it done alone.

CNBC looked into the concept of tipping and how people feel about it in a pandemic world.  There is absolutely tip fatigue happening because money is tight overall. As a result, there is an anti-tipping movement out there.  As an on-and-off-again server, you would think I would be 100% against the trend but I'm not. 

Get ready for my famous bluntness.  When it comes to tipping at a restaurant, if you can’t afford to tip, then you can’t afford to eat out.  I mean it, stay home. With that said, there is a tip jar at every single coffee shop, acai bowl smoothie shop, or bubble tea joint and that is what needs to stop. 

Employees that work solely off tips will need to be tipped.  That's how it’s been since the beginning of time. The advent of the tip jar at hourly wage jobs is new and it's greedy.  It puts unnecessary pressure on the consumer because the person serving you that coffee or bubble tea is standing right in front of you waiting to see if you selected a 15, 20, or 25% tip or declined to tip altogether.  No pressure there. 

Why are we tipping you to do your job?  At the end of the day, they are getting paid twice to do that job, and it's nuts.  In a pandemic world where the cost of everything has gone up, including that coffee you are buying, and now we have to tip someone on top of it?  It’s not a good look for the business and I say stop it stat.

By having tip jars everywhere, it waters down overall tipping generosity.  It nickels and dimes every patron at every turn.  Why not give it a break and allow patrons to be able to afford to tip the servers that rely on it for a living?  If you want to be tipped, become a server.  

Let's take this a step further, (again this is just my humble opinion), but the worst offenders are the owners of iPad restaurants.  They expect us to put in our own orders and tip a server that has a food runner bringing out our food?  Beat it. I won’t dine in a place that has me putting in my own meal order, that is simply not my job (at least not at the moment). When I do get to go out to eat, it's a big deal and I'm there to have fun and relax.

When I was a server, there was nothing I would not do to make your experience better.  I would do tricks for the kids with silverware, crack jokes and refill our soda before you even knew you wanted it.  I studied the wine list to give you an informed recommendation for the proper paring with your meal selection. 

Being a great server is a craft and it takes hard work, people skills, and time management.  I relied on your generosity then and I’m super generous with servers now.  You have to try very hard not to get 25% from me for table-side service. 

Can we agree to do away with the tip jars and tip more for our hard-working servers?

Where do you stand on this issue?  By the way, if you are looking for a great new restaurant The Food Network loves these New Jersey spots!