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The phrase “tipping culture is out of control” is a well-worn one. Many consumers are truly fed up with tipping everywhere for pretty much any service.
One consumer is going viral for experiencing tipping pressures at a new type of location: drive-thrus.
Should consumers tip at the drive-thru?
Content creator Carson, who goes by “The Hear Me Out Guy” (@thehearmeoutguy) on TikTok, posted one of his patented “hear me out” takes. This time, he focused on the American cultural norm of tipping minimum-wage workers. The video has since accumulated more than 80,000 views.
“When did picking up my own food become a tipping situation?” Carson wrote in the text overlaying his video. In his caption, he added with a laughing emoji, “I don't mind tipping for service… I just need someone to explain why I'm tipping myself for picking up my own food.”
Filming in the driver's seat of his car, Carson broke down the incident that inspired his video.
“Hear me out, man,” he said. “I'm just over tipping, dude. It's been bad for so long. I used to tip because the service was good. Now I just tip because I'm scared. It's like a hostage negotiation, dude … I'm tipping before I even get my food.”
Carson's experience
Carson said it all started when he went through a drive-thru. He emphasized “drive-thru” by saying it twice, emphasizing that he did not have a sit-down restaurant experience, but tipped anyway.
“The lady goes, ‘Oh, it's gonna ask you a few questions,'” Carson said. “Oh, it's gonna ask me a few questions? You know what the questions are! You wrote the freaking test! No, I'm not tipping you in a drive through.”
But then Carson started second-guessing himself. Since he was being asked to tip before he received his food, he realized not tipping could result in consequences.
“But what if I don't?” Carson said. “Are you messing with my food? Like, dude, the way this is going, we're three years away from self checkout asking for a tip, man.”
Carson finished his video by pointing out that not only have tipping expectations become more ubiquitous, but the minimum expected rate is also steep.
“They're all starting at like … 20, 25, 30 percent,” he said. “My dude, where's the button I could just click, ‘I drove myself here and picked up my food?'”
How does tipping culture trigger discourse?
Tipping culture has been a hot topic on social media platforms like TikTok for years, with the subject also being well-litigated in the press. Yahoo News reports that “81% of [Americans] think tipping has gotten out of control, and 42% think the U.S. should ban tips altogether.” BBC News even says that the influence of American immigrants and tourists has resulted in the “'out of control' US tipping culture spreading overseas.”
@thehearmeoutguy I don't mind tipping for service… I just need someone to explain why I'm tipping myself for picking up my own food.
What did viewers say?
Carson's viewers reflected both his frustration and the ongoing discourse, with many sharing similar stories of their own.
“This happened to me tonight,” one viewer wrote. “I went to pick up Cheesecake Factory. One meal for myself. And I felt obligated to tip. But I'm not sure what I was tipping for!”
“We have a frozen yogurt place here in my city that asks for tips… like dude I had to put my ice cream in the bowl, add my own toppings, weigh it, and source the spoon to eat it,” another commented. “And you want a tip for what!?!?”
“Honestly as a server – the person who tips were invented for – everyone is asking for a tip now and it's crazy,” a third person said. “Let's go back to tipping servers & hair stylists.”
Meanwhile, other kinds of workers wanted to know why tipping expectations didn't apply to them.
“I am a nurse, where is my tip for saving someone's life?” one viewer asked. Another echoed, “I'm a truck driver. I have to drive thousands of miles a week. Where's my tip?”
Other viewers responded pointing out that “yalls salary makes up for it,” echoing another oft-covered element of this discussion: The fact that many food and service workers are tipped under the minimum wage, with some waiters being paid just over $2 an hour because their employers account for them receiving tips. This has resulted in widespread calls for employers to be held accountable by “[eliminating] US tipping culture and [paying] people a living wage.”
“All these places are run by multi millionaires and billionaires that dont want to pay there employees,” one viewer said.
Buzz News has reached out to Carson via TikTok comment.
