There is a piece in the newspaper today about “gifts” received by officials from people who either get or hope to get special treatment in various dealings.  The Courts are involved and it is interesting to note a division where earlier there would have been a stone wall of rectitude that officials do their work WITHOUT hope of a reward – “Just doing my job, Mam”.

We get the notion of giving a bit extra, 5 %, 10%, 15%, 18% or 20% added to the check for food service.  In some other venues, people give a higher amount in a single bill and not ask for change but say, “keep the change”.  These practices seem to stem from signs that some businesses put up suggesting: To Insure Promptness, one would indicate that more money than the bill would exchange hands.  Somewhere along the line, the practice has become institutionalized and there are a great many waitpersons who make a goodly sum by having regulars who look for them and they look out for their patrons.  Nothing wrong with this?

Well, yes.  There is something wrong when a petitioner asks for special treatment in return for a special “gift”.  Tips are expected when eating and there are some of our friends who hold the line at 10% while Carol insists on double that amount.  Some restaurants make a practice of adding 18% to bills of parties of six to eight or more automatically.  Please remember the petitioner.

I have never waited on tables but I have done a lot of “menial” jobs where tips were not part of the landscape.  I understand that waitpersons do not make much in wages but depend on tips for a better life. That is something I do not think will change soon.  In some cultures, service is a matter of pride and being offered a tip is an insult.  I think that the wages should match the kind of work that someone does and there need not be a tip because the wage is so low.

The problem of gifts given and received by people doing business together might get out of hand because the bigger the gift the bigger the expected result.  As a consequence our courts should come down hard on public officials who receive these “Tips”. The advantage of ordinary people having the same opportunities as those with more money is lost when that fact is made known.

One corollary to tipping is the practice of inside information.  The one with the inside information is tipped off and has the advantage over those who live on in ignorance of the commerce in such early information.  You and I, I suppose, would, if given the opportunity, race to the mall to take advantage of a special sale you were tipped off about – even if you were through shopping for the day.