The Tipping Debate: Gratitude or Obligation?

Here in my country, tipping people for their services is considered optional, but then, reading from other people, I discovered that some countries actually make tipping mandatory and even place a percentage on it. That's really surprising to me because once tipping becomes mandatory, should it still be called tipping anymore? And the more surprising aspects of this discovery from countries that makes tipping become an obligation are that some of the employees even complain if they don't receive tips. Wow!

Tipping should be an act of gratitude, or let's say a token of appreciation we give to people when we feel so satisfied with the service they rendered to us. Tipping is not a salary but goes a long way in encouraging workers to keep doing great with their services. Some people, when they get hired, carry out their services as if it were their personal or family business. With all their hearts, they make sure to satisfy customers, doing their job diligently even beyond customers expectations. I have encountered this kind of people in my life, and sincerely, I am always moved to tip them out of my own will and not that anyone forced me.

Personally, I have also received tips in the past, and the feeling was heavenly. It gave me lots of motivation to keep up the good work I was doing. Sometimes, these tips cover lots of work expenses without me dipping my hands in my salary, and it's a whole lot of encouragement to any staff who enjoys this kind of token. I think if the situation warrants that you tip anyone for their nice services rendered to you, just do it freely to encourage such a person. It can be your workers, or a waiter; it can also be delivery personnel, taxi drivers, or even housekeepers at home. Some of these workers are really underpaid, and receiving tips can help sustain them better, but it shouldn't be mandatory. What if I had only available money for the service I received and had no extra to tip? Then I should be deprived of the service? This obviously is not sitting well with me, and I am glad that over here, it's never mandatory.

One of my extreme experiences with the tipping culture was a time I traveled to Epe here in Lagos State. You know all these road safety and police officers always standing on the road checking for car papers and the rest; it's no longer news that they have made tipping a compulsory act within their profession, not that the government ordered them to be collecting tips from road users. Most of them, either you tip them or they will waste your time as long as you cough out the money. So already, whenever we are embarking on travel, we usually keep small amounts of money in case of these officers in order to save our time from their feeling of entitlement.

So on this faithful day, we had no cash in the car, and the officers stopped us. They checked all our car papers and safety gadgets and saw that everything was intact. Instead of giving us a pass, they insisted that we tip them. We explained to them that we were rushing to the hospital to see a consultant and didn't remember to carry cash along. Like play, the officer seized my husband's car key and his driver's license pending when we do a money transfer to them. I was bitter and angry. Like this was supposed to be an optional offer, but people have decided to be taking advantage of others through their position. After some minutes of pleading with them without success, we had no option but to do a money transfer to them out of our will, and that was how they granted us access to continue with our journey.

In summary, I think tipping should be something we should do out of our own will. Also, if I find myself in a situation that warrants that I should tip a service worker, I should generously do that to encourage such a person, and the service workers, on the other hand, shouldn't depend on tips to survive but should have a neural mind as they continue to render services.

Image 1, image 2 was taken from canva