My Rule for Tipping: Need + Effort, Nothing Else

My Tipping Rule:

I only tip when two things are true — the person needs it and has earned it.

• Elderly workers? Still hustling when they could be relaxing — need.
• Teens in service jobs? They’re building toward education and learning effort pays — need.
• People with disabilities? Without a doubt — need.

Great service + real need = tip. Everything else? Just the bill.

I’m not a die-hard “never tip” person. I’m not against tipping — or, using the original word, gratuity. I think it’s important, but only when it’s deserved.

I’ve even tipped in non-tipping countries when I knew servers was earning $100 a month. I can’t fix the system, but I can help one person at a time.

$5 or $10 won’t make me rich or poor — my bad investments have cost me 1,000× more. I’d rather spend that money rewarding genuine kindness and effort than blindly following an automatic tip line.