TAKEAWAY: IT’S JUST THE TIP

Servers rush past me with bowls of salad and steaming miso soup as a line of customers waiting for tables roars outside. It’s Friday night dinner rush, and as I wait for my takeout order to be ready, I am in everyone’s way. Suddenly a large Styrofoam container, filled with tuna maki so plump the fish droops off the sides of each roll to look like dangling tongues, materializes on the sushi bar.

“Number 52,” a server calls, reading from the order stub. Springing forward to pay, I make a quick decision not to tip – and I feel instantly guilty. Despite having heard that tipping with takeout is unnecessary, I can’t help but feel like I’m going to be chased out of the restaurant each time I select the fateful “no tip” option on the debit machine. Tipping 15 per cent on $45 worth of takeout feels like a lot, but I have been told that tipping any less than 15 per cent is an insult. Instead of confronting this dilemma, I usually end up ignoring it entirely and scurrying away while avoiding eye contact. Although 15 per cent has been the accepted standard for eat-in service since the 1970s, no one has ever outlined tipping etiquette for takeout.

This is unfortunate as the average hourly wage for a server in Canada is only $10.25. If we assume tipping practices in the U.S. and Canada are at all similar, it’s telling that only 14 per cent of people tip for takeout, regardless of what they order, according to a recent CNBC poll. Coupled with a PayScale study that found servers make an average of 63 per cent of their wages from gratuities, it nearly presents us with a moral obligation to tip.

The only rule for tipping on takeout seems to be that you don’t have to do it, but there is a difference between being economical and being cheap. If money was my primary concern then perhaps I should reconsider ordering $45 worth of sushi in the first place. In these situations tipping 15 per cent may seem overly generous, but adding a few extra dollars to the bill hardly makes a difference to the final amount. Yet it does help those making $10.25 an hour earn a living wage – and it helps the rest of us make eye contact on our way out the door.