Dollar Scholar Asks: When Is It OK Not to Tip?
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In 10th grade, I had this super-harsh history teacher who would grade our essays in purple pen. When she didn’t like something we’d written — not when the facts were wrong, mind you, just when she didn’t jibe with the phrasing — she’d scrawl “AWK” out to the side. (For a 15-year-old aspiring writer, this was a particularly brutal insult.)
Now, as an adult, I swear I can feel Mrs. McDougald’s AWKs hovering over my head any time I’m in an awkward situation — like whenever the barista at my local coffee shop spins the point-of-sale tablet around for a tip.
I freeze every time because I don’t know what the etiquette is for tipping someone who’s doing nothing more than pouring cold brew into a to-go cup and sliding it across the counter. Surely this doesn’t have to be so AWK.
When is it OK not to tip?
