Even after becoming used to seeing tip screens pop up in more retail settings, today one local man became overwhelmed with confusion when faced with a tip screen at his grocery store’s self-checkout.
“I’m happy to tip my waiter or bartender, but I just bagged my own groceries—who am I even tipping here? Fred Meyer himself?” said John Walford, staring at the tip screen at the self-checkout. “At this stage, I’ve tipped every single person I’ve interacted with today so sure, why don’t I go tip myself—if it is going to myself? Well, whoever this tip is going to, I don’t want to seem like a cheapskate in front of the machine … okay, but only 20%.”
Even though many small businesses have removed the stress of putting it on customers to make sure their employees make a livable wage by giving them a higher guaranteed hourly wage in the first place, economists say tipping likely isn’t going away soon even at businesses reaching record profit margins.
“This past year has seen a sharp rise in tipping screens implemented in non-traditional places, like retail stores and unhinged landlords on TikTok,” said economist Brett Summers, turning an iPad screen towards our intrepid Needling reporter. “Now there’s no pressure to do so, but if you’ve enjoyed my economic expertise please feel free to select one of the gratuity options on the screen.”
Summers later predicted that the next trend will be corporate employers adding a tip line at the bottom of your next paycheck.
