I am torn. I cannot settle in my heart what I am supposed to do when the carhops come to deliver our food at Sonic. I have always thought it was kooky krazy that there's an assumption that customers are supposed to tip the carhops at Sonic. I have always thought that I was being very generous when I tip them 50 cents or a dollar. I know that they make minimum wage- but that's much better than waiters and waitresses make at restaurants. When I waited tables at Cracker Barrel I made $2.13/hour plus tips. Sonic peeps are making $7.25/hour (plus tips)!
I'm not opposed to tipping at Sonic. What I am opposed to is snippy Sonic carhops who get mad when they aren't tipped for delivering a Cherry Limeade. Pretend it costs $2.05 for a large drink. Carhops are hoping that you will tip them the change- a whopping 95 cents! That's a 25% tip... for walking a drink from inside Sonic to the car. I would rather pay them exact change so that my drink is a $2 drink instead of a $3 drink.
As I blog about this I am getting mad. I am typing really fast and loud right now. Okay, I've decided how I feel about this. My encouragement to you. Don't do it.
Am I crazy?
Sonic: To tip or not to tip?
btw-
I've been surveying people here at ABC coffee. Here are a few things I've heard so far:
"The lids are hardly ever on tightly and it always spills."
"There's always junk on the lid of my drink. It's always messy. I hate that!"
I asked one girl, "Do you tip Sonic carhops?" She said, "It depends on how close I park to the door."
Sonic: To tip or not to tip?
I struggle with this too, and go back and forth on the issue. My solution is that I have been known to drive to a Sonic with a drive thru so I can avoid the tip issue all together. Cop out, you bet, but at least it solves the tip problem!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant. I love it. I have to admit that when I would see people in the drive through at Sonic I thought, "What's the point?" Now I know. The drive through line is about to get longer.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I totally thought the same thing before too, and yes, it ruins some of the "charm" of the car hop experience, but after drinks being thrown through the window, car hops looking at me like I was nuts when asking for a napkin to clean up the lid/side of the cup, and the tip/or not tip issue, I just started going through the drive thru. Just be warned, it can be a bit slow. Ahh, the joys of Sonic!
ReplyDeleteI'll do it about 50% of the time. And yes, the reason I drive through instead of stop at a stall is to avoid the awkwardness of not tiping. And Sonic, put your lids on tighter!
ReplyDeleteYou never miss what you give away!
ReplyDeleteMy sister worked there and she got paid $2.13 an hour plus tips. If she worked the inside, then she got min. wage... which at that time was $6.25 I think.
ReplyDelete