In defense of the tip

Danny Meyer, the New York restaurateur, may have started something. Last week, he announced he would eliminate tipping at his 13 restaurants and raise his prices. There followed a plethora of editorials and op-ed articles, most of them in support of the new policy, some of them pointing out -- as you might have guessed -- that tipping is anti-democratic, sexist, racist and, if it does not in some way contribute to global warming, that’s only because the study has yet to be done. Still, I love tipping.

The practice originated with European aristocracy from whence the term itself comes -- “To Insure Promptitude,” thus, TIP. The Financial Times editorial where I found that fact went on to call the practice a “demeaning custom,” “outdated” and, just for good measure, “obnoxious.” That was just one of three articles the newspaper devoted to the subject. It has not been so worked up since Scotland threatened to bolt the United Kingdom.