Tip when it’s necessary, and sometimes even when it’s not.
I’ve heard the arguments against tip jars, and I can understand why some people believe there’s no reason to tip for coffee. However, many patrons don’t just get a simple cup o’ joe—they get nonfat mochas, soy chai lattes, and all sorts of other specialty drinks that take time and technique to prepare. There’s a lot more going into that cup than one might realize. “The duties of running a coffee shop fall on all of the employees,” Renae says. That includes not only coffee preparation, but also opening and closing the store, running the cash drawers, maintaining a clean environment, and too many other responsibilities to list here. “It takes a village to get you that cup of coffee,” she says. Tipping isn’t required or always expected, but if you’re ordering something particularly complicated or have multiple drinks in the queue, it’s the considerate thing to do.
And even if you order black coffee in a to-go cup, throwing your change in the jar once in a while is always a nice gesture. Think about it this way: you’ll probably forget about that quarter by the time you’ve finished your coffee, but you’ll have made someone’s day a little brighter in the process. Few things sink morale faster than having a slew of customers who grumble at you and/or don’t tip, and if you’ve never worked in the customer-service industry, trust me when I say that it happens way more than you think. It seems unnecessary to tip for someone pouring coffee into a cup, but maybe it’ll help balance out all those who didn’t tip before you. If anything, it’s a way to occasionally say thank you to all the hardworking people who keep you caffeinated and sane.
Be patient.
“The biggest thing,” Renae advises, “is to be patient and give workers the benefit of the doubt, because they want to do right by you and make you smile if you’re nice to them.” Coffee shops can get cramped and frenzied fast, especially in the mornings, when people aren’t quite functional yet. “It can turn into a high-stress environment in a very short amount of time, so the more patient you are, the better it’s going to be for everybody,” she says. That’s good advice in any situation, really.
Unfortunately, there will always be people who are seemingly determined to make their coffee-shop encounters as difficult and rude as possible. These are the same people who’ve probably never worked in customer service, and since that’s not a mandatory job (at least not until I get my way), there’s little chance of that changing. But at least the rest of us can try to make up for them by being as pleasant as possible to the people behind the counter. Who knows? A smile or a little patience could earn you the best cup of coffee you’ve ever had.
