Tipping: The "nuts & bolts" /psychology / Society
What does tipping really accomplish? Anything other than making the tipper feel better about himself or herself?
Take grass cutting at my house as an example:
I pay a company that sends out 2 or sometimes 3 workers to cut my grass. From the beginning, the work was okay sometimes and sometimes not so good. They typically rush through the job and, to make things worse, there is, from time to time, a turn-over of workers. And this is not unusual for grass cutting companies. (I know because I've been here for almost 14 years.)
Last year I decided, for the first time, to give a tip, thinking it might improve the quality of work. 2 guys showed up on the week before Christmas and I gave them $20,00 each. They seemed surprised and very appreciative. So I thought, "they will be sure to remember me and do a better job in the coming year."
Nope, the quality of work was basically unchanged. (I even had to call their employer a couple of times with a concern I had about how the job was being done.) Why didn't the tip do any good? They might have assumed that I was tipping them because I was satisfied, so they just continued to deliver the same quality of (rushed) work.
Two guys just showed up this morning and I tipped them again - $20.00 each. It has nothing to do with quality anymore. I tipped them because I realize how hard they have to work during the hot summer months and perhaps they have families to support.
Let's look at the psychology of this: Did my tip inspire them to do better? No. My tip didn't "teach" anything. If anything, it taught them that they must be doing okay. On the other hand, you might ask: What have I been taught? To some extent, I have been taught (by suggestions on this board) to be a "bleeding heart" for those who work hard and might have a family to support.
I think this has wider implications for the whole of our society. Look at the psychology of this situation: Are we teaching workers to do better, or are they teaching us to feel sorry for them? Might we, in some cases, be encouraging them to not move on to something better, by rewarding them with tips? Are we sending them a message that they should be able to support a family on whatever unskilled labor job they happen to get?
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