I Am Willing To Change My Stance On Tipping For Coffee After Reading Dante's Blog (And Not Because He Called Me a Eunuch)
As the relatively new guy (technically been here for almost a year, but have mostly been working on The Water Coolest, Barstool's Finance & Money Newsletter), I was excited to see one of the OGs (Dante the Don) so much as type my name on the very blog that made me want to buck that corporate life and make a living slinging hot takes.
ICYMI Dante wrote a definitive guide to tipping. He included a video from the podcast Large and I started back in June, The Family Office (last shameless plug, I promise)…
The TLDR is that I don't leave tips on a coffee when they hit me with the spin around iPad that conveniently suggest 15%, 20%, and 25% tips (it hides the "other" option like an "x" on an autoplay pop up ad). I didn't say it in the clip, but I am also not leaving a tip in a jar for a coffee, unless it's next level clever, like the tip jar at one of my favorite Long Island City coffee shops that said "T. HANKS [with a picture of Tom Hanks from Forrest Gump]" on it). Oh, and I'm only going 10-15% on a pickup order. I don't think in-restaurant service is up for debate… always at least 20% no matter how bad the service is.
Now back to Dante's blog (and a bit of a tangent)…
For a state school graduate (UCONN, for the record), I consider myself a relatively intelligent, well-read (technically I listen to audiobooks) person. That is until I got hung up on a word that 3 years of Hooked on Phonics couldn't have prepared me for: "eunuch."
"Can you use that in a sentence?" - you, probably
From Dante's blog: "Having said all that, this morning a tweet came across the timeline from the main account from one of the newer guys, Large’s eunuch Tyler from Barstool finance.
Now I like Tyler. I’ve never met him in person yet, but just from reading his newsletters, the handful of blogs he’s done, and seen him on their podcast, you can tell he knows his shit. Plus, most importantly, he passes the Large test. If he’s good enough for him, he’s good enough for everybody."
I obviously glazed over the kind words… and honed in on 'eunuch'.
Googled 'eunuch'
Appalled
According to Wikipedia, this would mean I have no testicles.
I promise I do, Dante. I have two kids to prove it. And before you go all "send pics or it didn't happen"… check your DM's.
But that's not the point of this blog. The point of this blog is that we have a communication problem in this country when it comes to money.
Dante brought up a really great point about tipped employees (those who are paid less hourly because it's expected that they will earn tips) vs. non-tipped employees (those who do not rely on tips to be made whole). Until he mentioned that, I kinda just assumed that coffee shop employees were non-tipped employees (i.e. they were paid a flat hourly rate that isn't dependent on my decision to not tip). Hand up, I have never worked a customer service role besides a summer at a golf course as a bag boy and everyone there tipped for fear of looking poor, not because we were "non-tipped." Perhaps it really is true: "you either grew up working a job in the service industry yourself, or had a loved one who did, and know the ropes, or you didn't and are clueless."
That said, I am willing to reconsider my stance on tipping for coffee knowing that there is no way to know whether my local barista is depending on those tips or not to get the full hourly wage they were promised. Thank you, Dante, for making me a better member of society.
But since I'm a millennial and want to pass at least some of the blame for being a shitty person…
I feel that as a human race we need to quit the fuckery when it comes to money. Talking about certain money topics feels a lot like what openly discussing sex used to be. You just didn't fucking do it. Of course, now you can get $60 million from Spotify to talk about Gluck Gluck 9000's.
Brianna and Grace posted a video about how outrageous it was that NOBODY talks about their salary/how much they're paid as influencers. I asked Large if we should share our salaries on The Family Office and the only time I've ever heard him respond quicker is when I asked him if he was down to interview a strip club CEO. For what it's worth, I wouldn't share mine either. Listen, I never said I was going to be part of the solution…
But let's start small…
If an employee is of the tipped variety, would it be so difficult to install a sign next to the obligatory choking hazard literature that indicates which type of institution you're doing business with? Or better yet, throw a note on the iPad you're going to swing around for me to sign.
If someone is working on my car, I know exactly what the hourly rate is. When I worked in consulting, clients knew exactly what my company was billing them for incredibly mediocre work. A little transparency would go a long way.
Please hold while I go write a strongly worded letter to my local representative.