Opinions Expressed in "Rants," while informed by Catholic doctrine, are merely the opinions of the author.
Why Don't We Tip at McDonald's?
So why is it that we don't tip at McDonald's? We tip at other restaurants, don't we? In fact, its expected that we tip elsewhere - there's an unwritten law in the universe that if we don't tip our waiter/waitresses, we're low down no good cheapstakes.
The convention is that at any "fast food" restaurant, where they don't bring your food to the table, you don't have to tip. Why not? What is it about bringing food to a table that makes it worthy of a tip, whereas a drivethru or a food counter is not? Is there that much less work involved in not carrying the food to our tables?
And don't they get bus-boys/girls to bring the food to the table now at most restaurants anyway? Don't they work as hard at McDonald's? They probably work harder, in poorer conditions.
Is it that McDonald's only employs students who don't need the money as much? Nope, that's not it - there are plenty of adults working there, many of them immigrants.
Other restaurants often have lower salaries for their employees, with the understanding that their income will also be suppliments by their tips. But McDonald's pays lower than anyone else, and has no tips at all.
So why shouldn't they be tipped?
If anything, I would think that the employees of McDonald's are just as deserving of a tip as anyone else, if not more-so. They probably need it more. In fact, this may be an urgent social justice issue. Perhaps we should be mounting the battle cry, rising up for our brothers and sisters for fair treatment, to ensure that they receive the tips they deserve. Brothers and sisters, throw off your French fries and unite!!
Then again, maybe its because the food sucks.