Tipping

So, I go to a a baseball game... one these independent, local teams. It's a small park and the seats are nice and cheap. My friend has a coupon which makes them even cheaper and we buy the second best level of seating. $6, not bad.

We're headed down to our seats and they turn out to be third row from the field, first base side. There the kind of seats that J-Lo and Ben Affleck would get at Red Sox games, back when that was still happening.

Well, we're being led down to our seats by an usher, who graciously wipes down the seats. Now it hasn't been raining and the seats look perfectly clean to me, but I guess it's the sort of thing you do for people who can "afford" those seats. (Note: I am not one who can typically afford anything.)

So, as he's doing this I'm thinking, "Oh no. Do I have to tip this guy for wiping down the seats?" I start to think if I have any singles in my pocket. "How much tip do you give for wiping down the seats? Oh man, he's almost finished. What to do?!"

I ended up smiling, thanking him and awkwardly taking the ticket back from him. For a split second, I feel like everyone (all 12 people) in the stadium has taken notice of my lack of tipping.

So, what's the deal? Anyone know if I should tip in this position? About the only people I know that you should tip for sure are waiters/waitresses, bell-hops, taxi drivers, and bartenders. Even then I think I get it wrong. I know in New Jersey you are specifically not supposed to tip the gas station attendant, even though you can't pump your own gas - by law!

Does the fact that he held the ticket, and there is a return of the ticket after a service was rendered, indicate that I should have tipped? Is that true of any situation where anything approximately the size of money is exchanged between two people's hands? What is the standard tip for a seat wipe down?

Tipping itself is problematic for me, because there is an unwritten set of standards. Who is to really know what is an appropriate tip? Even if you think you're tipping the right amount, the receiver of the tip may feel like they're on the wrong end of the deal. Why is tipping such a standard?

Okay, I know why tipping is necessary... because wait staff get paid crap. Why is it that the service industry is immune to the minimum wage? Even with tipping I think everyone should have to make minimum wage.

I get the idea that it provides incentive for the employee to provide better service, but there are plenty of examples in the service industry where you can't tip and I'd like to expect decent service - telephoning for computer help being a prime example. If tipping means I don't have to talk to someone in another country, with a fake American name, who asks me if my computer is plugged in... well, then I'll tip over the phone.

It just seems to me that people who depend on tips are getting screwed by people like me who don't know what their doing, and I feel bad for it. I wouldn't have bought those seats if I knew I had that service and tip were involved. I'd be more than happy to sit in the bleachers, on a some what dusty seat.

Maybe that's it. Maybe there should be a tipping sticker on windows or store fronts that indicates that tipping will be involved somewhere along in the visit. Maybe it can even give a suggested amount? A tip sticker - to benefit you, so you know to tip, and to benefit the tipee, who should be able to get an appropriate tip. Hmm.