What better way to start a Saturday than remembering how much better things were back in the "good old days".
With this one, however, there's actually data to back it up.
There was a better time in our society when tips were reserved for those who actually earned them.
In 2024, I think most of us suffer from tip fatigue and the practice has diluted what was once an honourable and generous practice.
A June Lightspeed consumer survey backed up the notion that Canadians feel the tipping issue is getting worse.
According to the survey, 67 per cent of people feel more pressure to tip, with 53 per cent saying inflation impacted their ability to tip.
Also, across all global regions surveyed, Canadians are cutting back on tipping the most, with 25 per cent are tipping less.
Before paying with debit or credit cards became so popular in North America, a tip went straight into an individual's pocket, rather than a collective pot that's split evenly among the staff (more commonly known as tip sharing).
You were rewarding that individual for good service and it was generally accepted that tipping 20 per cent was an indication of a job well done.
That's all flipped on its head now. Tips are becoming more and more "expected" and even I feel bad if I leave a less than 20 per cent tip at a restaurant, because you know the person working to serve you is relying on that and with the beast that is the service industry, they are likely balancing a hundred different things on top of serving you.
For the most part, at restaurants where people are taking your order, delivering your food, ensuring you have a pleasant experience at their restaurant, a tip is earned.
At the gas station or in the drive-thru, there's no need for that. More and more businesses are making you click "no-tip" for something that I would've never considered tipping before. At least in my view any way, it hurts my conscience just a tiny bit, even at places where I would've never tipped before, when I click the no-tip option.
A Canadian Change.org petition popped up in my email earlier this week, sparking my motivation to write on this.
The petition, which was started on July 24, has close to 10,000 signatures. While the petition is still in its infancy, you will find endless threads about the issue on Facebook or Reddit and it seems to pop up in many conversations I have with friends and family. The topic has been growing more and more attention in recent years, with the rise of POS (point of sales) terminals being the main source of transactions for consumers.
Businesses seem to rely on that built-in culture and Canadian kindness, that if we are prompted to tip, regardless of how little service is actually involved in the transaction, we will leave a tip. Those tips generally seem to be between 15- 25 per cent.
In most other cultures around the world, if a tip option is offered, it's usually 10 per cent or less of the total bill but largely considered optional.
And for Canadians, that's not the only problem. Overall, 77 per cent of Canadian diners in the Lightspeed survey said they don't like auto-tipping prompts on digital screens. Canadians also feel the most strongly about eliminating the need for tipping altogether (34 per cent; tied with Belgium) compared to consumers in other global regions.
And our Canadian kindness also plays a factor in all this.
The survey found that 36 per cent of Canadians feel that the pressure to tip comes from wanting to avoid appearing stingy or cheap.
Meanwhile, compared to people in the U.S., the majority of Canadians are less likely to tip higher percentages.The survey found that 47 per cent of Canadians said they prefer to tip between 10-15 per cent and 15 per tipping less than 10 per cent overall.
On the other end, 27 per cent of Canadians are willing to tip 16-20 per cent, but this falls flat when 38 per cent of Americans are willing to tip the same amount.
And in scenarios outside of the normal tipping etiquette, those surveyed were generally more supportive of tipping delivery drivers (48 per cent), while coffee shops (22 per cent) and ordering at the counter (15 per cent) were much lower.
This data clearly shows that Canadians are feeling pressure to tip more, and overall, tipping seems to have lost its value. I feel for workers who rely on tips and work hard to earn them. Those in the service industry, in particular, grind day in and day out and do it with a smile.
However, if tips lose their value and importance to consumers, these workers will suffer. Paying workers a fairer wage in these industries is also something that has proven to work in other countries and is something we need to consider in North America as well.
If more industries decide to illuminate auto-tipping prompts, it will help eliminate the tip fatigue that many Canadian consumers are feeling.
The overhaul might take time, but it will benefit us all in the long run.
Byron Hackett is the Managing Editor of the Red Deer Advocate and Regional Editor for Black Press Media.
