Do you tip for take out?

I may or may not tip in this instance, and if I do, probably about 10%.

How about the ones where you place your order at the front, then sit down and they bring your food and drinks to you? We have a lot of those type of places now. I tip the usual 15-20% in these cases.

I don't see tip jars at the drive-through windows at my local McDonalds. And when I pay by card or Apple Pay, there is never a chance for me to include a tip on my charge. You just insert/tap the card and you are done. The same when I do drive-thru at Chik-fil-A and Raising Cane. Maybe it depends if they are corporate-owned or franchises.

I thought I had tipping figured out pre-COVID and gig economy. When I order take out, I have no idea where my tip is going. I used to order a lot of Panera and the app was set up similarly to others, but a year into COVID, a message appeared saying the “tip is not a tip for your driver.” What the literal fuck? Who is it a tip for? Where can I add a tip for my driver?

I used to have a little cash at all times doing cash back at the grocery story, but workers CLEARLY did not want to touch cash in their drawers, so I usually only have a card. I’m just so irritated the apps and online orders obscure where the money goes. It was nice to hear Sonic mentioned by a pp who has a good system.

I hate that the consumer gets to decide some else’s wage.

You can call the health department RIGHT THIS SECOND and say you saw threats on the interwebs and you think people are messing with the food and they will walk in, take a look around, see absolutely nothing going and leave. 

I had a health inspector responding to a complaint of food borne illness (aka food poisoning once) and they alleged my restaurant was dirty. The health inspector pops up out of the clear blue sky, took one look at my ice machine and saw it was immaculate (a weird indicator of overall cleanliness, I know - but if you're detailing your ice machine chances are your place is spotless). They saw the temp logs, they saw the product being made, saw the invoices, and dug sooooo deep and we had a laugh at the allegation. It was unfounded. They thanked me for my time, let me keep my A, and left shaking their heads.

It's essentially the same as saying you're going to call the police because you're mad at someone and end up shocked they didn't get arrested for annoying you. 

Here's how people can "mess" with you since you asked ... if someone nicely asks me for ranch or something, I'll give it to them if they tipped or were nice. If you came in with an attitude, then guess what ... company policy says I have to charge you for sauces and ranch is actually $2.00 a side. Now I'll be the rule follower. 

I think it's understood that people don't tip for poor service, but the people who have to tell you that are the ones going out LOOKING for the reason to take the tip away. Basically you're hell bent on making everyone else as miserable as you are. And that's okay. 

But don't say it's not because people who package your food aren't working. Simple as that.

I look at it like this ... we all have those favorite spots of ours. When you've had a long day, and you just want to order some mexican food, you just pick up the phone and someone takes care of preparing dinner. These folks show up day in and day out, you love them and the food - you go there pretty frequently after all. They're nice to you, the food is always ready, they did you a favor (just as much as you did for them by ordering), and our culture says you tip service staff. You can tip whatever you want but even just a $5 can turn someone's day around. 

It's okay to disagree with tip culture. It's okay if not every tip screen you face is worth it - I've heard of some pretty crazy tip screen scenarios. But if you're relying on a service and you get what you wanted and it's appropriate in the setting, you just leave the tip. 

Just because you get a tip prompt doesn't mean it has to be 20% every time!