Tip jars are a relatively new concept. But tips are always, always, a bigger benefit to the platform owner than to the writer. So I think the platforms making big money should pay writers better, don’t you?

When you adopt a tip model, the employer has no incentive to raise the writer’s pay. “Hey, let the readers pay for it!” The fact that restaurants do it is biting them in the butt now because they can’t get enough employees to serve. The pay is too low. Since their staff is too small, the service is bad, and then people don’t tip. As a result, they’ve got people quitting in the middle of shifts. Hey, here’s an idea! Pay what they can get by working at a warehouse and upgrade your Tesla next year.

It’s a system that our society should have abandoned long ago. How many stories have you seen where some jerk leaves no tip and writes a dumb or offensive message? I’ve heard other people say they don’t tip, ever.

Workers should never have to depend on other people’s whims to survive. The customers are ripped off because those who do tip pay 15 to 20% more for their meal, and the workers are getting ripped off. After all, a big percentage of what they earn is not guaranteed. The only one coming out ahead is the restaurant owner. Tipping and exploitation go hand in hand.