I am all for paying people fairly who have earned it. But, tip jars in fast food restaurants is just poor taste. Even at 'Pret a Manger', where nobody even takes your order, you just pull it out of a cooler and take it to a cashier, there are pre-installed tip boxes for 'encouragement'.

Who am I tipping? Why? It's like the company feels they don't pay their people fairly, and now they want me to make up the gap. Ridiculous. What about people in other professions where they're not very well paid?

Do claims adjusters get tipped? What about a marketing analyst at a consumer good products company? Do you send a 'tip' to them? If tipping is supposed to be about 'taking care' of the people who take care of us, why should it be confined to only those people we can see? Don't all of us take care of somebody in some respect or another?

Do you tip the municipal worker who maintains the water system? What about the drillers on an oil rig on the North Slope? It may seem like these are extreme examples, but everybody does some sort of service, yet mainly those who work in food service or hospitality industries, or tourism seem to expect tips. And, there are many people who work just as hard if not harder doing more important jobs (firefighters, teachers, and, yes, even corporate white-collar employees) who do not expect 'tips'. And, no, just because you wear a suit, or are in a professional job does NOT mean that you are necessarily well-paid, or that your compensation reflects all the work you do.

So, I'm sick of being asked to tip everybody, when I feel that people should just earn a wage (hourly or salaried) like most other people. And, it's not even their fault. It's just a system, whereby companies may not want to pay people the fair amount, and pass on the costs directly to the customers. Ridiculous.