EDITOR'S BLOG
Are Canadians tipped off?
While surfing the internet I came across this editorial by Dennis Thompsett of the The Sun Times in Owen Sound, Ont., where he advocates for the end of tipping in Canada.
Oct. 14, 2009 – While surfing the internet I came
across this editorial by Dennis Thompsett of the The Sun Times in Owen
Sound, Ont., where he advocates for the end of tipping in Canada.
Check the editorial out. Thompsett’s main points are that Canadians
are crummy tippers; we shouldn’t have to pay the wages of the staff and are in
fact perpetuating a system of low-wage slavery. Note where he comments that
pizza joints often pay no wage to their drivers, who must then subsist entirely
off tips.
He crafts a point, but not a very balanced
one. Every restaurateur or human who’s ever worked for tips is going to have
their back up over these comments and their inaccuracies. The foodservice
industry employs hundreds of thousands of Canadians. It is not as simple to say
they all ought to just get a better paying job as Thompsett suggests.
I have met some shoddy tippers in my life,
and some are indeed Canadian. I don’t think a generous tip is mandatory—a
meagre tip can reflect poor service. Likewise, great service should be justly
rewarded. I find it a good practice in gratitude to think about how lucky I am
to be dining out or ordering-in. I could be less fortunate. Thompsett seems to
have forgotten the humans at the heart of the service, such as the kid from a
poor family who is scraping his way through college to get a better job. If he
works hard and we all tip him well, we’ve done a little part in investing in
someone’s future. There’s nothing wrong with that.
What
do you think of Thompsett’s editorial?
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