Comparative analysis
In “Tip Jars and the New Economy” Dalton Conley claims that the economy needs to change instead of having people throw money into a tip jar. The author brings in outside sources and statistics along with his own experiences as support. Conley supports his claim by saying that, “you cannot order a coffee, buy a bagel, or pay for a photocopy without being asked to leave your change behind for ‘better service’ or, alternatively, ‘good karma.’” This suggests that even though a customer has already paid for the services he has received, it is necessary to leave behind more money after the fact, which indicates that the wages received by the employees are not substantial enough for them to survive off of. He also supports his claim by comparing the benefits of being paid with an annual salary versus being paid with hourly wages or being paid on a per-unit basis. In paragraph eleven, Conley states that the tip jar jumbles sociability and business; he states that an employee may only be friendly and courteous to a customer because of the possibility of receiving a large tip from that customer. Also in paragraph eleven, the author states that “the aspects of the servers do affect tipping…For instance; attractive females receive higher tips, according to at least one psychological study”. This means that the generosity of a tip is not always based solely upon the quality of work that has is done, but on the physical appearance of the person who serving the tipper. Another backing by Conley is the irony that the lowest paid and hardest working people do not have the ability to procure tips, such as bus boys and the workers behind the counter taking orders at fast food establishments.
Conley qualifies his statement, “as far as I can tell” talking about whether or not statistics are kept on the quantity of tip jars in consumer establishments. He does this because there could be a statistic that he had overlooked or not found and by qualifying his...