How much do you think you spent this year tipping when you really didn’t want to?
A new report says the average American shelled out $150 in “guilt tips” over the past year. That’s money handed over because the iPad spun around and you panicked.
They’re the kinds of tips no one feels good about. You know the ones: when a screen asks for 25% after you pick up your own muffin, or when you tip for a haircut that looks like a geometry project. Maybe even for “services” that don’t really need tipping at all, like an oil change.
It’s not just you getting cranky about it, either.
65% of people say they’re officially fed up with tipping culture.
And that number’s gone up the past two years. It’s become so ridiculous that nearly two-thirds of folks say they’d rather just pay higher menu prices if it meant restaurant workers got fair wages and tipping went away entirely. (Unfortunately, that dream usually crashes and burns when restaurants actually try it.)
Here’s the twist: even though everyone’s sick of it, tipping amounts are still going up. 45% of diners now leave 20% or more at restaurants, and almost a quarter tip delivery drivers that much too.
So yeah, we’re irritated, broke, and still tipping like champs. America: land of the free, home of the guilt-tipped latte.