Should I feel bad if I don't tip?
"In the mornings on my way to work, I like to buy a coffee to go from an American coffee shop chain, which is generally quite expensive. For the past few weeks, I've had to make two decisions each time I pay by card: whether and how much I want to tip—or refuse to tip. This annoys me because it requires me to make a decision every morning and therefore creates uneasy feelings that I don't want to deal with every time I buy a coffee. I'm generally generous and like to tip. But right now, I've lost the desire to do so. What should I do?" Gisela K., Munich
First of all, it helps your mood to realize why these tip buttons exist. It has nothing to do with harassment, but rather with the fact that cash payments are becoming less and less common – and when paying by card, fewer people spontaneously think of tipping staff. This was noticed, and tip buttons were therefore firmly integrated into the payment system. The idea originated in the USA, where tips are also a necessity: They make up a large portion of the employees' wages, who truly depend on their ten to twenty percent tip .
In Germany, many large coffeehouse chains pay their employees according to collective agreements. In smaller cafés, at least the legal minimum wage is paid, which is currently €12.82 an hour. Perhaps you sometimes feel the need to supplement that hourly wage, which isn't a lot of money. In that case, it's convenient to simply press a button. But you don't have to. It's a voluntary donation, and you're certainly not alone in feeling pressured by having to turn it down by pressing a button. That makes you come across as aggressive, which isn't what you meant.
To free yourself from this perceived psychological pressure, you have the following options. A) Pay in cash wherever possible. B) First, decide to always press the "No tip" button. Eventually, you'll get used to it, just as you can train yourself to say no to a request, and you'll do it without remorse. Once you've achieved this inner coolness, you're free. Then you can press one button or another depending on the situation and your mood. That's the goal.
süeddeutsche
