To tip, or not to tip?

I listen some to Sean Hannity and usually agree with him, though I think he tends to be a bit too argumentative. He has been bringing out a lot of bad stuff about Hillary Clinton lately, and there is a lot to be brought out. However, last week he told a news story about her that I totally disagreed with and didn't think it merited making note of, or - horror of horrors, I am about to defend Hillary Clinton - or did I think she did wrong in the one thing he focused on.

  So what did she do? Well, it is actually what she DIDN'T do. She was in a Chipotle Restaurant and did not leave a tip. Now before you side with Sean against poor misunderstood Hillary, let me describe Chipotle in case you have never been in one. It is not a sit down restaurant. It is basically a burrito version of Subway. You step up and place your order - and I think pay for it. I was only there once. Then you go down the line telling what you want on it, with a few different people helping to assemble your burrito. You go and get your own drink, sit down, and eat your large and overstuffed burrito.

 So if you side with Sean, who says he tips when he goes there, who should you tip? Should you tip the person who takes your order? Or one of the 3 or 4 people assembling your burrito? Or just the one who hands you your burrito and cup? Is it fair to single out one of them, or should you tip all of them? If so, the already over-priced burrito suddenly becomes very, very expensive.

  I have a sister who is a waitress, and my other sister was a waitress for several years also. I know from them how important it is to tip waitresses. Most, possibly all waitresses. are paid a very small amount that is way below minimum wage. They make most of their money in tips. I tip pretty well. Yesterday, I was out to eat with a friend and left a $4 tip for an $18 bill. It would have been $5 if she had been more prompt about my drink refill.......

  If a waitress does a lousy job, I may leave very little, but that has rarely happened. I once forgot to leave a tip and I felt so bad, I stopped off the next day and left it for the waitress. (My sisters trained me well). And I believe Christians should tip and tip well, unless you have really bad service. And if you are a Christian, never, ever leave a religious tract unless you tip the waitress extra well, and were the model of Christian behavior.

  But never have I left a tip at a food establishment that did not have waitresses. Is that wrong of me? I don't believe it is. People at those establishments are getting paid a regular wage and do not have to make their money from tips. And who would you tip? Granted, some restaurants have a tip jar sitting out that I assume gets split between all of the workers.

  I will make a confession here. When I am at a non-waitress establishment and there is a tip jar sitting out, it irritates me. To me, it is begging. The people are getting paid. I am already paying more than enough for my food..... why would I want to put money into a jar to reward them for doing a job they are getting paid to do?

  Confession #2: When I see those jars, I want to badly to drop a note in saying something like "Here is your tip: don't walk under ladders", or "Your tip is: It is rude to beg money." I know, that is so uncharitable and un-Christian of me. But give me credit..... I have never done that. :)

  People tip their barber or hairdresser, cab drivers, and about anyone they run into. Well, except floral delivery guys. I helped a friend out on holidays and other days she needed help, and I think I got two tips out of many deliveries I got..... so why should a fast food employee get  a tip if floral delivery guys rarely get one?

  And shouldn't I get tips? I work half of my day at work in the Emergency Room waiting room, guiding people to the right rooms to visit relatives, taking patients back in wheel chairs, and helping people in other ways. The other half of my day is spent greeting people, pushing people in wheel chairs, and giving directions. If a fast food restaurant worker deserves a tip for what he does, why shouldn't I deserve a tip? (Well. other than the fact that I wouldn't be allowed to accept any)

  And why shouldn't the cashier at a store get a tip? If you insist, like Sean Hannity, that a fast food worker should get a tip for making your food or handing it to you, then where do you draw the line at people you don't tip? And is it fair to tip Chipotle or McDonald's workers and not tip the Walmart cashier? The last Walmart cashier that waited on me (yesterday) put my bags in my cart for me.... shouldn't she warrant a tip just as much as the Chipotle workers?

  This is my opinion, and I am allowed to have one: I feel all of this tip stuff comes from the sense of entitlement that so many have. Everyone feels they are owed. They deserve certain things. They deserve more. So the tip jar was born. And bleeding hearts are suckered into putting money in and helping spoiled young people get more money for doing a simple job a monkey can do. OK, maybe a monkey couldn't do it. I wasn't fast enough for fast food, although that bad experience was almost 30 years ago.......

 Now this is a free country, so if you want to tip the Chipoltle workers, the mechanic, the construction worker holding his stop sign, your mailman, the Walmart greeter and cashier, your dentist, doctor, nurse, optometrist..... and the list goes on.... feel free to tip whoever you want. Since this is still a (somewhat) free country, I will ignore the evil tip jar and enjoy my food that I am already paying too much for, and save my tips for the people who truly need tips: waitresses. And if the day comes that all restaurants add the tip on and take that freedom from me to tip what I want to tip..... well then I may protest. But until then, I shall tip my waitresses well when they do good service. Especially if they watch those drink refills.

 And Sean Hannity,,,,, leave Hillary alone with the lack of tip at Chipoltle. She has plenty of other scandals to cover, you don't need to make a big deal about a non-scandal.