Tipping Cringe

Tipping is one of the most annoying and cringe things about US culture. It’s only gotten worse with service fees and those dreaded “suggested tip” percentage buttons at counter-service places (I always imagine alerts going off in the kitchen if I choose to be frugal that day).

So it was with stunning dread that I realized in my first season of Drink•Eat•Walk DC food tours that I am, in fact, in the tipping business. Almost 50% of my net profit last year came from tips even though I don’t really ask for them.

Yes, this obviously means I need to work on my pricing. I would LOVE to aggressively tell people not to tip me.

But tipping culture in the United States has such holding power that even those of us who don’t love it get pulled into its vortex.

However, the fun part about running this DC food tour business is that it has taught me about tipping behavior.

The overarching takeaway? The consistent inconsistency of 50%

You’d think…

• Friends and people you know would tip more often

Nope → About 50% do

• People not from the US would tip less often

Nope → About 50% do

• People from the US would tip more often

Nope → About 50% do

• Folks who clearly had a fantastic time would tip more often

Nope → About 50% do

• Couples count as two people

Nope → When they tip (50% of the time!), they only tip 50% of the average per-person tip amount

Other Learnings From the Tipping Trenches

• I assumed offering an electronic option like Venmo would increase tipping (because people could send it later, or don’t carry cash)

Nope → If they don’t hand you cash when the tour ends, it’s probably not coming

• The classic “tipshake” dominates: folded bills tucked into a guest’s palm and slipped into my hand during a goodbye handshake

It still makes me laugh.

And cringe.

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