The Buck Stops Where?

We decided on a burger for dinner last night, so Five Guys it was. Dr. SJ did the ordering and, when she was done, informed me that my personal favorite, the bacon cheeseburger, was now $12.39. What? I quickly checked the google machine, and a website updated as of April, 2022, said it costs $8.69. But on the Five Guys online ordering website for the store by me, it was most definitely $12.39.

To be fair, they informed us of the price and we decided to order anyway. High as it might be, we made our choice. But then, what about the tip?

Paying via tablet is now the convenient norm at pizzerias, coffee shops, fast food joints and other quick-service spots across the city, but the gadgets are quick to ask if you want to add a healthy gratuity to your order. Touchscreens typically prompt patrons to leave a tip ranging from 18 to 30% — and sometimes even higher — when they grab and go.

The NY Post calls this “guilt tipping,” which is not merely a cute turn of phrase, but an accurate one as well. There is was, when time came to pay, the opportunity to add a tip to the purchase. There are no servers. There is no table service. Yet there was the subtle pressure to add a tip.

Occasionally, the prompts replace the old tip jar — upping the ante on what was customarily a tossed buck or some loose change. But in many instances, patrons are being pressured to pony up at places where they’ve never been expected to tip before — say, for waiting on line for their burgers and fries at Five Guys. And they’re not happy about the sudden ubiquity of gratuity gauging.

Over the past few years, much has been made about the hard work and poor wages of service people. There is, of course, the argument that these are “unskilled” jobs, meaning that there is neither special education, experience nor licensing required such that they’re fungible. Anyone can be hired without any credentials and taught to flip a burger. Others will argue that no job is “unskilled,” and it’s demeaning to suggest such a thing.

But the fact remains that tipping has now found its way into purchases for which there is no tradition of tipping, because the employees need more money. Won’t you think of the poor employees?

“I was somewhere spending $23 on just coffee and pastries and the suggested tip was another $8 and I simply said no way. I’ll give a dollar or so as a custom tip amount, but let’s have a reality check here,” said Jared Goodman, a 26-year-old recruiter who lives in Brooklyn. “Recently I got a quick bite with my girlfriend and the suggested tip amounts were 25, 35 and even 40%. That’s just insane.”

On the one hand, there is a fair probability that the purchasers of foodstuffs aren’t much wealthier than the makers. Should a person making minimum wage be guilted into paying another person making minimum wage a tip?

On the other hand, tips are calculated as a percentage of the purchase price, so inflated prices (I’m thinking of you, Five Guys) means inflated tips. From the customer’s side of the counter, is handing someone an overpriced coffee and pastry really a tip-worthy event?

Similarly, Linda Flaxer and Mary Canner left a $10 gratuity for two lobster rolls they ordered from a Times Square stall.

“I love [the tablet concept], I try to be generous with tipping,” Flaxer, a Lincoln Square resident and writing tutor, told The Post, noting she will even tip 20% on takeout meals. “Those people are working really hard … I want these places to stay in business.”

And despite any kvetching, most city dwellers seem to agree: Many New Yorkers voluntarily tip 25%, according to a Popmenu report from December.

Apparently, the answer is yes, a lot of people tip, and tip well, just because. And if you don’t, you look like some mean cheapskate who hates poor, hardworking people.

“Personally, I view that the tip culture where we live has become part of the norm to the point where people don’t view it as any sort of pressure,” he added. “Whether you want to do it or not is completely up to the patron.”

Sure, be a decent moral human being or be you. Do you really want to be that selfish tightwad who hates humanity?