Philosophy
So I am in Lake Charles, Louisiana to give a talk tonight about Einstein and the wonderful lecture series folks have provided me with a very posh room at a hotel in town. I go down stairs for breakfast yesterday morning when the woman at the cash register asks me whether I want to put the gratuity on the room bill. I said no.
I had no problem with the lecture folks picking up the tab for my breakfast, meals were a part of the contractual understanding, but there seemed to be something odd about having them pick up my tip since that was something I was leaving in part out of expectation, but in part out of thanks to my waitress. Leaving a tip seemed to be not only the sort of thing that I needed to make sure was done, but the sort of thing that I had to actually be the one to do.
Hanno, on the other hand, argued (1) that tips are no longer thank yous but rather an excuse to limit the pay of wait staff and (2) the waitress' life is no different since she gets the same amount of money without knowing the source, so if she doesn't know the source, she can't feel slighted in any way and therefore there can't be a problem. If she doesn't care as long as she gets tipped, why should I?
We had a question a little while back about the ethics of having maids and whether cleaning up after yourself was something that merely needed doing or whether you acquire a responsibility to be the one to do it if you are physically able, and this seems a similar interest. There are acts like apologizing that I have to be the one to perform in order to have discharged my duty to do them. Accepting punishment is another. No matter how rich I am, I cannot rightfully pay someone else to do my prison time for me or to stay in my room without supper.
Three questions: (1&2) what belongs in this category and why? (3) Is tipping in there?
- Hotels And Kant
I've been fascinated by the way in which hotels now play up the fact that they send in folks to freshen up rooms less frequently as something that has environmentally friendly effects. By using less water and energy washing towels and sheets, the...
- Tipping Point And The Minimum Wage
The minimum wage for hourly employees is currently a very sad $7.25 per hour. But for many it is $2.13 an hour. That is the "tipped" minimum wage, that is, what employers can pay service workers like restaurant wait staff who regularly receive gratuities...
- The Boss And Encores
Yesterday was Bruce Springsteen's 60th birthday. Let's play with a question I thought about for my contribution to Bruce Springsteen and Philosophy. Bruce is famous for leaving it all onstage. His shows don't end when the shows end. Anyone...
- All Tipping All The Time
For whatever reason, few posts at the Playground generate as many comments as those on tipping. One post that has disappeared from the front page continues to generate discussion, so let's bring it back. Hanno asks a question that we've wrestled...
- Tipping And Sports
Chris V, the ever-generous master of virtue, asks, What's the protocol on tipping for take-out? It's not like they have to wait on you, and yet tips are the majority of a waiters pay. I generally leave %10, rounded up to the nearest dollar (as...
Philosophy
A Gratuitous Question About Gratuities
So I am in Lake Charles, Louisiana to give a talk tonight about Einstein and the wonderful lecture series folks have provided me with a very posh room at a hotel in town. I go down stairs for breakfast yesterday morning when the woman at the cash register asks me whether I want to put the gratuity on the room bill. I said no.
I had no problem with the lecture folks picking up the tab for my breakfast, meals were a part of the contractual understanding, but there seemed to be something odd about having them pick up my tip since that was something I was leaving in part out of expectation, but in part out of thanks to my waitress. Leaving a tip seemed to be not only the sort of thing that I needed to make sure was done, but the sort of thing that I had to actually be the one to do.
Hanno, on the other hand, argued (1) that tips are no longer thank yous but rather an excuse to limit the pay of wait staff and (2) the waitress' life is no different since she gets the same amount of money without knowing the source, so if she doesn't know the source, she can't feel slighted in any way and therefore there can't be a problem. If she doesn't care as long as she gets tipped, why should I?
We had a question a little while back about the ethics of having maids and whether cleaning up after yourself was something that merely needed doing or whether you acquire a responsibility to be the one to do it if you are physically able, and this seems a similar interest. There are acts like apologizing that I have to be the one to perform in order to have discharged my duty to do them. Accepting punishment is another. No matter how rich I am, I cannot rightfully pay someone else to do my prison time for me or to stay in my room without supper.
Three questions: (1&2) what belongs in this category and why? (3) Is tipping in there?
- Hotels And Kant
I've been fascinated by the way in which hotels now play up the fact that they send in folks to freshen up rooms less frequently as something that has environmentally friendly effects. By using less water and energy washing towels and sheets, the...
- Tipping Point And The Minimum Wage
The minimum wage for hourly employees is currently a very sad $7.25 per hour. But for many it is $2.13 an hour. That is the "tipped" minimum wage, that is, what employers can pay service workers like restaurant wait staff who regularly receive gratuities...
- The Boss And Encores
Yesterday was Bruce Springsteen's 60th birthday. Let's play with a question I thought about for my contribution to Bruce Springsteen and Philosophy. Bruce is famous for leaving it all onstage. His shows don't end when the shows end. Anyone...
- All Tipping All The Time
For whatever reason, few posts at the Playground generate as many comments as those on tipping. One post that has disappeared from the front page continues to generate discussion, so let's bring it back. Hanno asks a question that we've wrestled...
- Tipping And Sports
Chris V, the ever-generous master of virtue, asks, What's the protocol on tipping for take-out? It's not like they have to wait on you, and yet tips are the majority of a waiters pay. I generally leave %10, rounded up to the nearest dollar (as...