*edited post title to make it clear that this is a joke
Tips keep the system afloat. The reason there aren’t mass strikes demanding an end to tips is because the system works for most.
Sure, racial minorities are significantly discriminated against and many will receive hardly minimum wage with tips but the majority of tipped workers is fine with it. And that’s all that is required for an unjust system to persist.
Tipped workers are fine with it because they make more money with tips than they would on hourly wages. This is directly the fault of people feeling the need to tip egregious amounts. If people stopped tipping, or started tipping significantly worse, tipped workers would stop being okay with it really fast, and would demand an end to the system.
If I go sit down in a restaurant and get table service, I tip, but I do that once a year, maybe. If I get delivery, I tip the driver. But I will absolutely not tip if I go into a restaurant, pick up food at the counter, and walk out. Never.
I’m confused why you draw the line there but not in the first two examples. In all your examples, those people are doing their jobs that they should be getting paid adequately for already.
I don’t like being waited on; it makes me uncomfortable, even when it’s someone’s job to do it, and I alleviate that discomfort by tipping them for it. When I put myself in that situation I feel like I’m being lazy (“I could pick this up myself, but instead I’m having someone do it for me”), and it feels appropriate that I should pay more for the privilege of being lazy. The tip is my way of saying “Sorry you’re having to do this.” It’s silly, I know it is, but you asked, so there’s your answer.
