Janine’s husband has a bad habit of over tipping. When they ordered food over the weekend, they went to pick it up so they wouldn’t have to pay for delivery. But then he dropped ten dollars in the tip jar, which defeated the point. So she took it back out of the tip jar. He was embarrassed and they had a fight right there in the store in front of the workers. But which of them was wrong?
Jonathan: Today for panic button, we have Janine. Hey Janine.
Janine: Hey, guys. How’s it going?
Jonathan: So, Janine, you have a problem with just the tip?
Ayla: What? Just the tip?
Jonathan: Just kidding. What is the problem with tipping there?
Janine: My problem is that you have to tip for everything now.
Ayla: Yeah. I mean preach, honey. You do you.
Janine: You go get Starbucks, you walk in, you park your car. You walk inside. It’s like they’re getting paid to make that coffee. But I feel the pressure. I have to tip there. Where does it end? Are we tipping at the grocery store or are we tipping at the pharmacy? And I feel like if you get takeout and you pick it up, why do you need the tip for that?
Ayla: Really?
Janine: So I’m sick of it. And the issue is my husband. He tips for everything. Everything. He just has to give them money. And it’s this thing that he needs to be liked and pull out his wallet.
Ayla: Was he in the service industry? I feel like people who were a waiter or waitress, or hairstylist or something. They understand that they rely so much on tips. I find that people in the industry over tip.
Jonathan: Right.
Janine: I worked in the industry. And I worked for those checks.
Jonathan: Thank you Janine. I worked in the service industry as a waiter and as a delivery driver, and it angers me that people who think that they’re just standing behind the counter deserve a tip.
Ayla: But maybe the money goes to someone, somewhere, like the cook.
Janine: But he understands when you’ve worked for those tips and you see someone that just handed you your coffee while getting a tip. It’s ridiculous.
Jonathan: Okay, so what happened?
Janine: Basically, the other night we get takeout. And we go and pick it up, and I’m with him, and there’s a tip jar on the counter. He puts in a $10 bill. I mean, our takeout was probably like $15.
Jonathan: Wow. Wow. That’s generous.
Janine: We’re not rich. Let me be clear. We’re not rich people. And he’s acting like we have all the money in the world. So I reached in, and I snatched it out of the tip jar. And he got really upset. I’m embarrassing him. I can’t believe you did that. You just don’t do that.
Ayla: You physically went back in the jar? And you reached down and you took it back in front of the whole right restaurant?
Janine: In front of everybody. And it was awkward because the staff was just watching us go through this little spat over money he gave them.
Jonathan: You know, what you should have done is just make change and grab a five.
Janine: Oh.
Ayla: I swear I’ve seen that happen. But also imagine being like a musician on stage and a couple comes up and one person puts a ten in there, and then the wife says, not on my watch. They don’t deserve that. And they come back and they take the $10.
Jonathan: This seems like a personal story.
Ayla: It’s very petty. But I’m just wondering. You never know who those tips go to. Maybe someone will get it very deserving.
Janine: That’s something that’s different.
Jonathan: So Janine, are you guys fighting about this? He said you embarrassed him.
Janine: Oh, yeah. But I think he embarrasses me when he does that.
Jonathan: I agree 100%. I am 100% on your side. The first time I saw this, I was on an Amtrak train one time in the service car. And the guy that was just handing you sodas had a tip jar out. And I was like, no.
Janine: So that’s crazy.
Jonathan: Janine, thank you so much.
Janine: Thanks, guys.
