To Insure Promptness

It is commonly said that the word "tip" was originally an acronym standing for "To Insure Promptness." While this may not be accurate, the idea still holds true. Tips create a sort of unspoken contract—an incentive to make sure that the service you receive is prompt and up to par with your expectations. Unfortunately, the intention of the gratuity has been lost through the generations. In modern times, it has become the norm to think of a tip as mandatory. This should not be the case.A programmer gets paid for creating a program that functions efficiently and flawlessly. An architect gets paid for designing a building that is structurally sound and visually appealing. A mechanic gets paid for fixing a car. In the working world, you are paid for doing your job. This idea does not end when it comes to food services. The job of a waiter/waitress is to make sure your interactions are pleasant and that your wait is not too long. The job of a delivery-man is to ensure your food is warm when you receive it and that it arrives promptly. Why should we reward people who do their jobs poorly when there are people working hard to do them correctly?Tips provide an incentive for delivery-men and waiters/waitresses to work their hardest to assure quality. In the workplace, if you work hard, you reap the rewards of your work. Similarly, if a server goes over the top to make you feel welcomed, or a delivery-man arrives with a hot pizza, they should receive more than a server who snaps at you, or a delivery-man who arrives with a freezing pizza. These people will want to put in more effort and do their job well if you give them a reason to do so.This being said, one should also remember that many circumstances are out of the waiter, waitress or delivery-man’s control. A server should not be penalized if the food is of bad quality, because most chefs receive a fixed wage and do not share in the tips of the waiters and waitresses. Delivery-man should be tipped especially well, considering that they are frequently required to pay for their own gas, and if the food is late, it is often not their fault.If one has the right to withhold money from those who do their jobs poorly, he or she also has the responsibility to pay extra tip to workers with exceptional service. As many people, including Dean Cosgrove, have pointed out, tips are often what the workers live on in place of a salary, since they are not required to be paid minimum wage. It is the customer’s obligation to make sure that these waiters, waitresses and delivery-men receive extra tips for hard work and good service.Last week, Rex Tercek's article addressed the issue that Exonians are exceedingly Sibi in their actions. Often times we do not tip the men and women who deliver our food, even if they are particularly deserving of our gratitude. I would agree that there is a problem and that it needs to be addressed, but I object to the idea that the solution is mandatory tipping. It is clear from the emails that have been sent to us as a student body that we need to show more compassion through our actions, but we have to recognize that tipping is not solely an act of compassion, but also that of appreciation. As the aforementioned traditional acronym notes, tipping exists "to insure promptness,” and we should thus tip our workers with the genuine gratefulness that they deserve. 