To tip or not to tip

[Von Tonner]

Ok, I am going to hang my colours to the mast from the outset - yes, I do think "tipping" is the name of a small village hidden away in the remote hills of China somewhere!

I have no problem tipping a car-guard in a parking lot for example whose only source of income is reliant on goodwill in return for the service he is giving.

But it really irks me that in restaurants it is expected to tip the waiter. Why must someone subsidise the owners wage bill? Why must one reward someone for doing a job they are employed to do in the first place?

TIPS (To Insure Prompt Service) came into practice by some bright spark to speed up service from waiters. And hell, are we paying for it now!

In the link below a sports team tipped " $25,000 service fee for 2 hours of just drinking and not eating a single bite of food."

In SA we have CEO's of parastatals receiving astronomical year-end bonus over and above their bloated salaries - with the tax payer picking up the tab. Just another form of tipping. Even our esteemed law officers are getting in on the act - giving new meaning to what is for all intents and purpose nothing other than a common bribe.

Who do we have to thank for this practice of tipping? Apparently its history goes all the way back to Tudor England where overnight guests in private homes would leave the servants a "little something" in appreciation for services rendered.

According to the linked article this insidious practice is now starting to creep into other services as well and finding favour in more and more countries.

http://u.osu.edu/zagorsky.1/2015/01/12/tip/