Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Business
Gene Marks

‘Guilt tipping’: is there any escape from the gratuitous rise in gratuities?

United States Square
Service companies are increasingly outsourcing their payroll department to your wallet.
Service companies are increasingly outsourcing their payroll department to your wallet. Photograph: Catherine McQueen/Getty Images

I’m writing this column from Las Vegas where I’m attending a conference. This morning, I went to a coffee shop in the hotel. The cost of my small coffee was $6.49 and no, I am not kidding. Welcome to Vegas.

To add insult to injury, the cashier who served me the coffee – which took her about five seconds – spun the point-of-sale device around and stared me in the eye as I looked down at that screen that is all-familiar to most of us: the request for a tip. The minimum tip displayed was 20%. Or I could choose “no tip.” What do I do? C’mon, what do you think I did? I walked away sipping my $7.79 small coffee.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
The 'World's Oldest' Bartender's Very Illegal Basement Bar
A recent profile of 103-year-old Irv Koch's basement bar highlights all the ways that modern zoning codes crush novel and fun third places.
Reason
Reason
Harry Potter and Cursed Child director pushed back on making play shorter: ‘I was dragged kicking and screaming’
Play, which originally opened in 2016 as two parts, has been condensed into one production
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Smokers have a lower risk of Parkinson’s – we may have found out why
Smoking is one of the biggest causes of ill health and early death. Yet smokers seem to have a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease than non-smokers – by around half according to some studies.
The Conversation
The Conversation
NY Woman finds stolen Tamayo painting in trash; Sotheby’s sells it for $1.049 million
In 2003, Elizabeth Gibson found a brightly coloured painting in the rubbish on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. She later discovered it was Rufino Tamayo’s 1970 work “Tres Personajes”, stolen from a Houston couple in 1987. Sotheby’s planned to auction it for up to $1 million.
The Times of India
The Times of India
Jaden Newman Leaked Video Controversy: Viral Post Claims LaMelo Ball Paid Her $250K for One Encounter
A viral post claimed LaMelo Ball paid Jaden Newman $250,000 after seeing a private video, but no reliable evidence supports the alleged payment, encounter or quote.
International Business Times UK
International Business Times UK
His Wife Says Decades of Sleep Talking Nearly Went Quiet After Hypnosis Gave Her a One-Word Cue
A man's decades-long sleep talking faded after hypnosis gave his wife a librarian's "Shhhh" as a cue, a case report says. Here's what it shows.
Medical Daily
Medical Daily
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play