The Matt Walsh Show - The History Of Tipping Culture, And How We Got To The ＂Tipping＂ Point

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00:00:30.400 I have a theory that for people who have finally had enough with tipping,

00:00:34.320 whether it's at the barber or restaurant or wherever,

00:00:38.340 you can trace their attitude back to one over-the-top request for gratuity that they received. 0.95

00:00:44.080 There was one request for a tip that was so galling, so ridiculous,

00:00:48.520 that they decided from that moment forward that they just weren't going to tip at all.

00:00:52.540 Or at least they dramatically scale back on their generosity.

00:00:55.400 You might even call this a tipping point that many people hit.

00:01:00.320 And for some, it's getting asked by the iPad at the coffee shop whether you'd like to tip 20% on a $6 latte.

00:01:07.540 For others, the culprit, the machine demanding the tip,

00:01:11.020 is the grocery store self-checkout,

00:01:13.680 the hopper app that you use to book your hotel,

00:01:16.400 the ATM at a Jiffy Lube,

00:01:18.020 the kiosk at the movie theater or drive-thru.

00:01:20.540 These are all real examples.

00:01:21.860 When an inanimate object is demanding that you throw in a little extra to tip who knows who,

00:01:29.480 it's extremely tempting to conclude that tipping is, in general, all of it,

00:01:33.740 a gigantic scam that no one should just ever participate in ever again.

00:01:38.300 So here's another example.

00:01:39.520 And this is one that we need to talk about in some detail.

00:01:42.080 It's a brand new prompt that Uber Eats has started adding to certain orders.

00:01:48.060 And you can see it here.

00:01:49.000 Take a look at this.

00:01:49.860 This is a screenshot from an Uber Eats pickup order.

00:01:53.600 It's the very last screen that pops up.

00:01:55.740 And it says,

00:01:56.700 Add a tip.

00:01:57.620 Restaurants are an important part of our communities.

00:01:59.700 They'll receive 100% of your tip.

00:02:01.820 And it defaults to 20%.

00:02:03.740 Yes, 20% of the order price.

00:02:06.520 Now, this solicitation won't appear every time you place a pickup order on Uber Eats.

00:02:10.560 Restaurants have the option of disabling it.

00:02:12.620 And it's probably not something that shows up in every market.

00:02:15.200 All the same, you have to marvel at the sheer audacity.

00:02:18.920 First of all, in general, restaurants already mark up their prices on Uber Eats.

00:02:23.120 If you're placing a pickup order via Uber Eats, as opposed to calling the restaurant yourself,

00:02:27.020 you're already paying a premium in most cases.

00:02:29.380 You're paying multiple premiums already.

00:02:30.680 Secondly, they're asking for a 20% tip for doing absolutely nothing besides preparing

00:02:36.180 and bagging the food.

00:02:38.260 At no point does a waiter or any kind of customer service enter into the equation.

00:02:44.820 By getting into your car and driving to the restaurant, picking up the food, returning

00:02:49.020 to your car and driving home, you are exerting yourself infinitely more than any waiter ever

00:02:55.800 does at any restaurant.

00:02:57.180 If anything, in this scenario, they should be the ones tipping you.

00:02:59.140 You took all this work off the table for them.

00:03:03.480 And while I'm at it, why are these tips expressed as a percentage in any event?

00:03:08.700 If I accept Uber's suggested tip amount, why do I have to tip $4 if I pick up $20 worth

00:03:15.220 of food, but I'm supposed to tip $20 if I pick up $100 worth of food?

00:03:19.900 From a service perspective, these two jobs are identical.

00:03:22.820 Someone has to bag the order and hand it to me when I get to the restaurant.

00:03:27.820 That's it.

00:03:28.580 Like bagging an order of food that's more expensive is not more work for the person bagging it than

00:03:35.560 bagging the order of food.

00:03:36.700 That's whether you're bagging, uh, you know, fries in a hamburger or you're putting filet

00:03:43.600 mignon in a bag.

00:03:44.780 It's the same work.

00:03:46.120 It's the same amount of work.

00:03:48.500 So they don't deserve five times the tip because the bag contains five more burritos or contains

00:03:54.580 a burrito that's five times as expensive.

00:03:56.640 But the most egregious part of this latest stunt from Uber is the message that they include

00:04:01.660 along with their solicitation.

00:04:02.740 Again, it says restaurants are an important part of our communities.

00:04:06.040 They'll receive a hundred percent of your tips.

00:04:07.560 This is a sales pitch that originated in the deepest depths of COVID lockdown hell, and

00:04:14.320 it should have stayed there.

00:04:15.380 Like you might remember that during the lockdowns, there were many efforts to guilt trip us into

00:04:20.140 showing gratitude, usually in the form of financial contributions to people who were doing the

00:04:24.720 job that they were already being paid to do.

00:04:26.680 In fact, whether you like it or not, whether you were employed or not, or had any savings or

00:04:31.360 not, your dollars went to subsidizing many of these people already, even without giving

00:04:36.400 tips.

00:04:36.680 And while you can try to make an argument for this kind of subsidy during a national

00:04:41.920 emergency, even if that national emergency was self-imposed, like the national emergency

00:04:47.880 is that the government was shutting everything down, it doesn't work when there is not an

00:04:54.600 emergency.

00:04:55.320 In the year 2025, there's nothing brave about the guy at Arby's showing up to work and putting

00:05:01.260 my sandwich in a bag.

00:05:02.580 I don't need to pad the bottom line of a fast food place owned by a private equity firm because

00:05:09.200 it's an important part of my community.

00:05:11.240 That's not how capitalism works.

00:05:13.140 It's not how common sense works.

00:05:14.640 And make no mistake, when they say that 100% of the tip for the pickup order goes to the

00:05:20.640 restaurant, they're not talking about the rank and file employees.

00:05:24.020 After all, none of those rank and file employees are doing anything to serve your order.

00:05:29.980 The accounting department is just collecting free cash.

00:05:33.900 Now, I'm harping on this example, not because Uber Eats is the worst example of the excesses

00:05:39.400 of tipping culture, although it is a really bad example, or because I think it's some great

00:05:44.060 tragedy that people are getting fleeced on their pickup orders.

00:05:46.620 And you do have a choice, after all, you can say no.

00:05:49.560 The point is to identify when tipping culture got so out of hand and how that happened.

00:05:55.800 And this tactic by Uber Eats offers a very important clue.

00:05:59.900 So here's another clue.

00:06:01.200 This is a report from CNBC.

00:06:03.500 Watch.

00:06:04.020 When those in the service industry were feeling the brunt during the coronavirus pandemic,

00:06:08.320 consumers started tipping for things they never had before.

00:06:11.020 And the percentage of remote transactions when tipping was an option in which the consumer

00:06:15.500 tipped soared from about 46% before the pandemic to around 86% in January 2022.

00:06:23.640 Another reason consumers are tipping more, newer technologies, kiosks and tablets with three

00:06:29.320 large tipping suggestions that pop up on the screen in front of you.

00:06:33.100 Three options chosen by the business.

00:06:35.460 I have not yet been to the restaurant where they recommend 5, 10 or 15% for quick takeout.

00:06:43.700 It normally always starts at 15 as a bare minimum, sometimes even starting at 20, 25 and up to three.

00:06:51.840 According to a 2022 CreditCards.com survey, 22% of respondents said when they're presented

00:06:57.460 with various suggested tip amounts, they feel pressured to tip more than they normally would.

00:07:02.120 Now, in case you missed it, before the COVID lockdowns, 46% of remote transactions in which

00:07:07.580 tipping was an option, ultimately included a tip that was paid by the customer.

00:07:12.380 And a remote transaction, of course, is any transaction where you're not there in person.

00:07:16.360 So you're ordering DoorDash or a briefs, a pizza shop, Total Wine or something like that.

00:07:21.300 But after the COVID lockdowns in 2022, fully 86% of remote transactions in which tipping was

00:07:27.580 an option included a tip.

00:07:29.120 This is a change that, although it's subsided somewhat over the last year, is legitimately

00:07:34.780 hard to comprehend.

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00:08:20.800 During the lockdowns, when the stock market crashed and most people trying to save as much

00:08:25.380 money as possible, tipping nearly doubled.

00:08:27.660 Now, why might that be?

00:08:29.940 As you heard, for in-person transactions, the kiosks became much more aggressive.

00:08:35.200 They began prompting customers with specific tip amounts.

00:08:39.280 So if customers didn't want to tip, they had to press a big no tip button.

00:08:44.700 In other words, customers had to take an affirmative step and press a button in order to not tip.

00:08:50.320 Whereas before, before these kiosks were invented, customers simply had to ignore the tip jar, which

00:08:56.500 is pretty easy to do, but it doesn't explain the rise in tipping for remote transactions.

00:09:01.600 It doesn't explain why people are so vulnerable to this kind of manipulation.

00:09:06.040 After all, just because a kiosk gives you the option to vaporize your own money, that doesn't

00:09:10.700 mean that it's reasonable to do it.

00:09:12.720 Something else has to be going on here.

00:09:14.620 So here's a thought.

00:09:16.600 This is a still image from a film called The Petrified Forest, which came out in 1936.

00:09:21.600 It's a crime drama featuring Humphrey Bogart.

00:09:25.000 And take a look at the sign in the background.

00:09:28.200 It reads, quote, tipping is un-American.

00:09:31.360 Keep your change.

00:09:32.760 Meaning in the establishment that's depicted in the scene, the owners were voluntarily telling

00:09:38.100 their customers not to tip.

00:09:40.200 Out of a sense of patriotism, they were declining additional income.

00:09:45.380 And yes, this is a work of fiction.

00:09:46.820 But the point is, signs like this were common at the time.

00:09:50.460 This was a minor background detail in the film.

00:09:53.420 No one in the audience thought it was unusual.

00:09:55.560 And there are plenty of nonfiction historical works that confirm this.

00:09:58.680 The author, Cary Seagrave, in his book entitled Tipping in American Social History, confirms

00:10:03.720 that in the early 1900s, quote, it was not uncommon in restaurants in cities as large as St.

00:10:08.740 Louis to see signs proclaiming, no tipping.

00:10:11.400 Tipping is not American. 0.89

00:10:12.480 A group called the Anti-Tipping Society of America formed in 1904, attracting hundreds

00:10:18.300 of thousands of members, all of whom were asked not to give a tip to anyone for 12 months.

00:10:24.220 And in June of 1908, as reported by the New York Times, one of the most prominent politicians

00:10:27.940 in the country gave the Anti-Tipping Society a big boost, even if he wasn't a member.

00:10:33.080 Talking about the Secretary of War, Republican presidential nominee, and future president,

00:10:37.060 William Howard Taft.

00:10:38.200 And here's the article from the Times, which I'm going to quote at length, because this

00:10:42.840 old-timey writing is kind of endearing in a lot of ways.

00:10:46.880 But here's what it says.

00:10:49.960 Washington, June 19th.

00:10:51.720 Secretary Taft is not only the standard bearer of the Republican Party, but he is the patron

00:10:56.200 saint of the anti-tip crusaders.

00:10:58.540 The secretary has not joined any organization for the suppression of tips, but in a quiet

00:11:03.600 way, he just stops paying when he has reached the amount indicated on his check.

00:11:07.380 His sympathy with the anti-tippers came out today in connection with his getting a haircut.

00:11:12.380 The big secretary shaves himself every morning.

00:11:14.840 Before leaving for his home in Cincinnati, the Republican nominee entered a well-known

00:11:18.200 barber shop, which he has patronized for a number of years, and had his haircut and his

00:11:22.300 clothes duly brushed by the boy in attendance.

00:11:24.860 That part over, Mr. Taft counted out 35 cents the price for the haircut, paid it, and left.

00:11:30.200 Tips nothing, replied the barber in response to a question.

00:11:32.860 He has been having his hair trimmed here for three years, but never a tip did he give.

00:11:37.340 I understand that he thinks he has paid for the work when he gives the regular price, and

00:11:41.040 I guess he is right.

00:11:42.260 I know he shaves himself, for I hone his razors.

00:11:46.360 Close quote.

00:11:47.260 Now, if this kind of story were written today, you know it would have a completely different

00:11:50.460 tone.

00:11:51.500 The barber wouldn't concede that Taft was right not to tip him.

00:11:55.020 And the New York Times would publish a full front-page spread about how Taft's behavior

00:11:58.460 was a symptom of his internalized white supremacy, for which he should immediately repent, and

00:12:04.520 all that kind of stuff.

00:12:05.680 At the time, the mood was very different.

00:12:07.660 And that's because in the 1800s and early 1900s, Americans viewed tipping correctly as

00:12:13.720 a vestige of medieval times and European class hierarchies.

00:12:19.560 And these were precisely the kind of institutionalized, serenitary-based class hierarchies that the United

00:12:25.640 States was founded to eliminate.

00:12:27.220 So no one is sure when exactly the concept of tipping originated.

00:12:30.580 You'll find reports that the Romans did it, along with plenty of evidence that nobles would 1.00

00:12:34.660 tip the house staff when they were visiting friends and family.

00:12:37.820 But in the U.S., in the early centuries, most people saw tipping as fundamentally un-American,

00:12:43.180 anti-American.

00:12:44.240 They'd rather lose money than debase themselves by begging for extra cash.

00:12:49.760 And depending on who you ask, a couple of things changed in the mid-19th century to explain

00:12:53.520 the rise of tipping in American culture.

00:12:55.220 First, Americans began traveling more to Europe, so they learned all about tipping and brought 0.83

00:13:02.480 the custom back.

00:13:03.660 But the real explanation, according to various highly credible historians and tenured professors

00:13:07.300 of hotel management, is that white supremacy, that is the root of tipping culture.

00:13:13.980 Watch.

00:13:14.640 Tip stands for to ensure promptness.

00:13:16.980 Tipping may go back as far as the Roman era, but according to most experts, the practice

00:13:21.840 likely has its origins in medieval Europe.

00:13:24.040 Noblemen taking passage on roads would throw coins to the rubble to ensure safe passage. 0.97

00:13:31.880 One theory is that it evolved in eating and drinking establishments as a way to forestall

00:13:36.240 envy.

00:13:37.240 That when you're eating and drinking, you're having fun.

00:13:40.200 And the people who are serving you are not.

00:13:42.460 Fast forward to the 19th century, when waiters who received a full wage went on strike demanding

00:13:47.080 higher wages, they were replaced with women who employers could pay less. 0.99

00:13:51.620 A decade later, there was the population of newly freed slaves.

00:13:56.020 The idea from these restaurant owners was that they were giving the luxury or privilege of

00:14:00.300 a white person's tips.

00:14:01.480 So this is the one time in my entire career that I'm willing to concede an argument like

00:14:09.820 this.

00:14:10.740 Now, it doesn't make a lot of sense.

00:14:12.520 There's no logical reason why, in a white supremacist hellscape, any white person would 0.96

00:14:16.900 voluntarily tip a black person. 0.92

00:14:19.420 There's no logical reason why this arrangement would replace wages for black people, or how 0.79

00:14:25.260 it would be sustainable, or why tipping culture would continue to get worse for generations,

00:14:29.380 even as black people gained more and more rights.

00:14:32.140 None of that matters right now.

00:14:34.580 At this moment, with total sincerity and without a hint of irony whatsoever, I'm willing to

00:14:39.080 acknowledge that tipping is a white supremacist concept that has its roots in slavery.

00:14:46.300 And we'll just go with that.

00:14:49.060 Let's go with it.

00:14:50.480 And therefore, we need to abolish it entirely.

00:14:53.360 The little iPads with the suggested tips, those are definitely racist.

00:15:00.260 And those are more racist than like the N-word, uttered by the whitest guy you know, the 0.63

00:15:05.260 second he's cut off in traffic by a busted up Chevy Malibu in Compton.

00:15:09.460 I mean, it's more racist than that.

00:15:10.660 And don't get me started on mandatory tips that they make you pay in most restaurants

00:15:14.340 if you have a party of four or more.

00:15:16.760 Those mandatory gratuities for large groups are, that's like straight out of Mein Kampf,

00:15:21.980 as far as I know.

00:15:23.320 And in the name of anti-racism channeling Henry Rogers, aka Ibram X.

00:15:28.080 Kendi, we must abolish all of these expressions, these vestiges of white supremacy.

00:15:36.020 That's my argument, and I'm standing by it.

00:15:38.880 Now, that said, I understand that my timing isn't ideal.

00:15:41.200 It's not 2020 anymore.

00:15:42.200 So the odds are fairly low that anyone's going to buy this particular argument.

00:15:45.580 So in the alternative, I'll make an appeal to patriotism, as they did in the early 20th

00:15:50.400 century.

00:15:50.900 Tipping is inversely proportional to the pride Americans have in their own country.

00:15:56.240 As this country has become less patriotic, tipping has surged.

00:15:59.680 But when this country was scrappy, when we openly celebrated our distinct identity, which was

00:16:05.380 clearly superior to anything the Europeans had to offer, tipping was a moral abomination.

00:16:11.000 So that's the solution to the crisis of tipping culture.

00:16:14.460 Our problem isn't new kiosks or lockdowns.

00:16:17.720 It's the fact that when people are beaten down and lose their sense of identity, they're

00:16:22.140 more likely to open their wallets and light their own money on fire.

00:16:25.380 However, that's what you do when you have no self-esteem, no sense of identity.

00:16:31.220 It's what we did during COVID.

00:16:32.860 It's what we've done at scale ever since the allegedly progressive reforms of the mid-20th

00:16:36.740 century.

00:16:37.700 But we can put an end to this insanity just as quickly as it began.

00:16:41.400 All we have to do is channel Taft.

00:16:44.480 No matter how many people are watching or judging, all we have to do is walk in, pay for what we

00:16:50.320 ordered, and walk out. 0.66

00:16:52.360 Leave the New York Times reporter and the whiny barber behind you.

00:16:56.200 That's the way to end tipping culture. 0.96

00:16:58.680 And as Taft demonstrated, it's probably not a bad way to get ahead in life either.

00:17:03.660 Now, it's not to say that you should never tip under any circumstances.

00:17:06.480 If someone is going above and beyond performing a job that you don't want to do or you can't

00:17:10.900 do in a field where their extra effort and experience matters, in a setting where you

00:17:16.040 might come back to them for more work, then tipping can be reasonable.

00:17:20.220 But that's really about it.

00:17:23.140 And that scenario applies at most to like 1% of these kinds of situations in which you

00:17:31.500 might be asked to tip someone.

00:17:32.580 In every other case, tipping is irrational at best and a shakedown at worst.

00:17:37.800 As Americans used to recognize, we created our own country so that we could avoid shakedowns

00:17:41.900 like this.

00:17:42.660 And now that Uber Eats is demanding 20% tips on pickup orders, the shakedown has become

00:17:47.140 officially intolerable if it wasn't already.

00:17:48.980 Anyway, everyone, including service workers who genuinely earn their tips, should be outraged

00:17:54.840 by that.

00:17:55.320 Tipping is un-American, as that sign said.

00:17:58.700 And that is absolutely correct.

00:18:00.480 No, we shouldn't tax tips.

00:18:02.820 That's only because for the most part, we shouldn't have tips.

00:18:06.200 We should all be able to walk in, receive a service, pay for it, whatever the cost is,

00:18:11.660 and walk out.

00:18:13.400 And the more the service industry keeps pushing the issue, seemingly without realizing it,

00:18:18.980 the closer we're getting to that utopia.

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The Matt Walsh Show - December 27, 2025

The History Of Tipping Culture, And How We Got To The ＂Tipping＂ Point

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